John F. Kennedy
The 35th president of the United States
Here's a time line of Kennedy's life:
- 1917 - Born in Brookline, Massachusetts.
- 1936 - Enrolled in Harvard College.
- 1940 - Graduates cum laude from Harvard with a Bachelor of Arts in government.
- 1941 - Joined the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II. Receieved the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three stars, World War II Victory Medal for his war service.
- 1945 - Became a special correspondent for Hearst Newspapers.
- 1947 - Runs for the House of Representatives in Massachusetts and serves for six years. Joined the Education and Labor Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Focused on international affairs during his time in office.
- 1953 - Ran for Senate in Massachusetts and gets elected. Marries Jacqueline Bouvier the year after. Receieved multiple spinal operations during his first two years for his chronic lower back problems. Focused on Massachusetts-specific issues in the beginning of his first term, by sponsoring bill to help fishing, textile-manufacturing, and watchmaking industries. Voted to connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1958 - Introduced a bill to deal with the control of union abuses, but it was eventually rejected by the House of Representatives. Re-elected for a second term in the Senate.
- 1960 - Announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidental nomination.
- 1961 - Sworn in as 35th president of the United States. Approved the invasion of Cuba, which failed and led to $53 million in food and medicine being exchanged with Cuba for the release of 1,189 survivors of the invasion. Created the Peace Corps, a program where Americans volunteered to help developing nations in fields like education, famring, health care, and construction.
- 1962 - Missile sites were spotted in Cuba, which led to Kennedy approving the inspection of Soviet ships arriving of Cuba. Eventually, an agreement was reached where the missile sites would be dismantled and the U.S. would removed missiles from Italy and Turkey.
- 1963 - Delivered a speech in West Berlin to reinforce the U.S. alliance with West Germany, where he criticized communism and used the construction of the Berlin Wall as an example of the failures of communism. Decreased tax rates for income tax as well as corporal tax. Ended a period of tight fiscal policies, which kept interest rates down and encouraged the growth of the economy. Increased the funding for the Apollo space program. Kennedy was assassinated on Novemeber 22 1963 during his parade through Dallas.