-Profiles in Courage-

John F. Kennedy
Who is JFK?
- 35th president of the U.S.
- Full Name: John Fitzgerald Kennedy
- Born 29 May 1917 in Boston
- Parents: Joseph and Rose Kennedy
- Second oldest of nine
- Kennedy’s were a wealthy political
family from Brookline,
Massachusetts
 Summary
“A volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight
United States Senators.”

“The book focuses intensely on mid-19th-century antebellum America and the

efforts of senators to delay the American Civil War.”

“It profiles senators who defied the opinions of their party and constituents to do
what they felt was right and suffered severe criticism and losses in popularity
because of their actions.”

Senators profiled: John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Sam Houston, Robert Taft
“Efforts and courage are
not enough without
purpose and direction.”
Education
Before High School High School

- Edward Devotion School - Choate (Wallingford, CT)

(Brookline) - finishing 64th in a class of 112
students
- Noble & Greenough Lower
- business manager of school
School (Dedham) yearbook
- Dexter School (Brookline) - voted the "most likely to succeed"
- Riverdale Country School
- Canterbury School (New
Milford, CT)
 Education (continued)
College Beyond College
- Harvard University (1936) - (1941) United States Naval
- Political philosophy
- Dean's List junior year
Reserve
- Senior Thesis (“Why England Slept”) - Given opportunity to lead and
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in command boats within the
government, concentrating on Reserve:
international affairs. - PT 59
- PT 98
- Stanford Graduate School of
- PT 99
Business - PT 101
- Eventually left to work with father - PT 109
 Rich Political History
Brief Family Background

P.J. Kennedy J.F. Fitzgerald Joseph Kennedy Rose Kennedy

GRANDFATHER (P) GRANDFATHER (M) FATHER MOTHER

Massachusetts State Senator U.S. Congressman & Mayor of Chairman of U.S. Securities and Granted rank of Papal countess
Boston Exchange Commission by Pope Pius XII
-JFK as a LEADER-
 - Ran against Republican Henry Cabot Lodge Jr
- Kennedy defeated Lodge by 70,000 votes for
the Senate seat
- At the start of his first term, Kennedy focused
on Massachusetts-specific issues
- Sponsored bills to help the fishing, textile
manufacturing, and watchmaking industries

Senate
- President Eisenhower's bill for the Civil Rights
Act of 1957
- Kennedy cast procedural vote against it.
- Kennedy authored A Nation of Immigrants
- Analyzed the importance of immigration in the
country's history as well as proposals to
re-evaluate immigration law.
- (1958) re-elected to a second term in the Senate
 - Took U.S. economy out of recession
- delivered one of his most famous
speeches in West Berlin in June 1963.
- oversaw the launch of the Peace Corps
(1961)
- sent young volunteers to

Presidency underdeveloped countries all over

the world.
- Equal Pay Act of 1963
- Closed gap in women’s pay
- Preserved Western democracy and
ultimately avoided nuclear war
- Negotiated first nuclear weapons treaty
in history
"Ich bin ein Berliner" (June 26, 1963)
-Death & Legacy-
 November 22nd, 1963
- He and his wife landed in Dallas that morning.
- From the airfield, they traveled in a motorcade
to the Dallas Trade Mart
- a site of one of his speaking
engagements.
- Shortly after 12:30 p.m., as the motorcade was

Assassination
passing through downtown Dallas, he was
shot.
- struck twice (neck and head)
- pronounced dead shortly after arriving at
a nearby hospital
- Lee Harvey Oswald (24 years old Communist)
was arrested for the killing
- Was later shot and fatally wounded two
days later by local nightclub owner Jack
Ruby while being led to jail.
 - Youngest to ever be elected for
president
- Entered presidency during very
turbulent time in U.S.
(democracy v. communism)

Lasting Legacy - Constantly reassured nation’s

strength
- Captures a sense of security
- Advocated for peaceful
development, showing nation
that violence isn’t always the
answer
 WWII Victory Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
American Campaign Medal

Awards & Recognition American Defense Service Medal

1945 1963
Series of medals (see top right) Presidential Medal of Freedom
“an especially meritorious contribution to the
security or national interests of the United
States, world peace, cultural or other significant
public or private endeavors”

1943 1957 1964 (A.D.)

Navy and Marine Corps Metal Pulitzer Prize Award Jane Addams Children’s Book
highest non-combat decoration “distinguished biography, Award
awarded for heroism” autobiography or memoir by an “recognizes children's books of
American author or co-authors” literary and aesthetic excellence”
 “To be courageous, these stories
make clear, requires no exceptional
qualifications, no magic formula, no
special combination of time, place
and circumstance.”
 Review

Profiles in Courage is a first hand depiction of leadership opportunities

in our world today. It is raw, it is the good and the bad things about
leadership, and it stressed the importance of passion in leaders.
 Works Cited

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/jfk-legacy/

https://learnodo-newtonic.com/jfk-accomplishments