John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kennedy. John was named after his mother's father John Francis Fitzgerald who was the mayor of Boston. Friends and family started calling him Jack when he was little and it just stuck. When he was three, John's family moved into a new home that had twelve rooms and a great big front porch. John was the second oldest of nine children that lived in the Kennedy household. With so many children to play with, John was always busy doing something. John had any older brother named Joe Jr. who he played with most of the time. John and Joe played hard and enjoyed competing against each other. Joe Sr. encouraged competition especially with the boys. Joe had very high expectations and wanted them to win at everything they did. John was the only competition that Joe Jr. had to his throne of oldest child so competition was always very strong.

John's grandfathers had done very well for themselves by both being well respected politicians in Boston. So, because of everything his family had done previously in life, they were able to enjoy a very comfortable life. When the children were not in school the family would go to their summer house in Hyannis Port. The Kennedy's had everything they could ever need and more.

John F. Kennedy had many friends and was very popular at the all boys' boarding school he went to in Connecticut. He played many sports including football, basketball, tennis and golf. Though he was not the best student in his class he always very tried hard. John graduated from boarding school in 1936 and enrolled at Harvard University. His father became the Ambassador to England and the whole family moved there except him and his brother Joe Jr. John and Joe went to visit their family during that summer and when John went back to school he was very eager to learn more about history and government. He had learned a lot on his vacation in England with his family and in his senior year wrote a thesis paper that was later published called "Why Great Britain was unprepared for the war with Germany". In June 1940 he graduated from Harvard and he and his brother both joined the Navy. John was a Lieutenant on a PT-109 boat that scouted for enemy ships during WWII. During a mission his boat was cut in two by a battleship and he was able to save two of his crewman and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corp. Medal of Honor. John's brother did not favor so well and his plane was shot down during battle and he did not survive.

After the war, John's father spoke to him about getting involved in politics. Since he was little, his father had always groomed him and his brother for greatness. It was inevitable that with his brother's passing that he wouldn't get involved with politics like his father and grandfathers. In 1946 John ran for congress and he won by a large margin. John then went on to serve three terms in the House of Representatives and in 1952 was elected to the U.S. Senate. Soon after becoming a Senator, John married his sweetheart Jacqueline Bouvier a writer from the Washington Times-Herald. John was becoming a popular politician in Washington. On July 13, 1960 John was nominated by the Democratic Party to run for President. November 8th, 1960 John F. Kennedy beat Richard Nixon to become the youngest President