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American History.United States: General History and Description.Late Twentieth Century, 1961-2000.John F. Kennedy's Administration, 1961-1963.
John Fitzgerald KennedyJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy

was born into a politically active family. His paternal grandfather, Patrick J. Kennedy, was a Massachusetts State Senator, as was his maternal grandfather, John F. Fitzgerald, who also served in the U.S. House of Representatives. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, was a self-made millionaire who served as the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and as U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain. Although John was initially slated to become a writer or a teacher, the death of his brother Joseph in World War II led him into the "family business."

Chronology of His Life and Career
May 29, 1917 Born in Brookline, Massachusetts.
1930 Sent to the Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut.
1931 Transferred to Choate Academy in Wallingford, Connecticut.
1935 Studied at the London School of Economics.
1936 Entered Harvard University.
1940 Published his senior thesis, Why England Slept, which subsequently became a best-seller.
1940 Graduated cum laude from Harvard.
1940 Studied at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
1941 Enlisted in the U.S. Navy.
August 2, 1943 A PT boat commanded by Kennedy was cut in two by a Japanese destroyer off the Solomon Islands.
1945 Worked as a reporter for the Hearst newspapers.
1946 Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
1952 Elected to the U.S. Senate
September 12, 1953 Married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier.
1956 Made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic vice-presidential nomination.
1957 Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for his book Profiles in Courage (1956).
1962 Elected President of the United States.
November 22, 1963 Assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

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This page was last updated on 08/16/2011.