PATH TO THE PRESIDENT

Jack joined the U.S. Navy in 1941 and two years later
was sent to the South Pacific, where he was given
command of a Patrol-Torpedo (PT) boat. In August
1943, a Japanese destroyer struck the craft, PT-109,
in the Solomon Islands. Kennedy helped some of his
marooned crew back to safety, and was awarded the
Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism. His older
brother, Joe Jr., was not so fortunate: He was killed in

The
August 1944 when his Navy airplane exploded on a
secret mission against a German rocket-launching site.
A grieving Joe Sr. told Jack it was his duty to fulfill the
destiny once intended for Joe Jr.: to become the first
Catholic president of the United States.

Commission in 1934 and in 1937 was named U.S. Abandoning plans to be a journalist, Jack left the Navy

Great
ambassador to Great Britain. As a student at Harvard
University, Jack traveled in Europe as his father’s secre-
tary. His senior thesis about British’s unpreparedness for
war was later published as an acclaimed book, “Why
England Slept” (1940).
by the end of 1944. Less than a year later, he was back
in Boston preparing for a run for Congress in 1946. As
a moderately conservative Democrat, and backed by
his father’s fortune, Jack won his party’s nomination
handily and carried the mostly working-class Eleventh
District by nearly three to one over his Republican
opponent in the general election.

Debate
JFK and Nixon battled in front of the nation for the presidency

E
lected in 1960 as the 35th president of the United
States, 43-year-old John F. Kennedy became the
youngest man and the first Roman Catholic to
hold that office. He was born into one of America’s
wealthiest families and parlayed an elite education
and a reputation as a military hero into a successful
run for Congress in 1946 and for the Senate in 1952.
As president, Kennedy confronted mounting Cold War
tensions in Cuba, Vietnam and elsewhere. He also led a
renewed drive for public service and eventually provided
federal support for the growing civil rights movement.
His assassination on November 22, 1963, in Dallas,
Texas, sent shockwaves around the world and turned
the all-too-human Kennedy into a larger-than-life he-
roic figure. To this day, historians continue to rank him
among the best-loved presidents in American history.
Born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts,
John F. Kennedy (known as Jack) was the second of
nine children. His parents, Joseph and Rose Kennedy,
were members of two of Boston’s most prominent Irish
Catholic political families. Despite persistent health
problems throughout his childhood and teenage years
(he would later be diagnosed with a rare endocrine
disorder called Addison’s disease), Jack led a privileged
youth, attending private schools such as Canterbury and
Choate and spending summers in Hyannis Port on Cape
Cod. Joe Kennedy, a hugely successful businessman
and an early supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt, was
appointed chairman of the Securities and Exchange
Glued to the set the first televised presidential
debate preempted The Andy Griffith Show and
commanded a huge audience.
Offering a young, energetic al-
ternative to Nixon and the status
quo, Kennedy benefited from
his performance (and telegenic
appearance) in the first-ever tele-
vised debates, watched by mil-
lions of viewers.

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