CINXE.COM

<!doctype html> <html data-ytrk-page="TOPIC PAGINATED BIO LARGE_NP" class="no-js " lang="en"> <head prefix="og: //ogp.me/ns# fb: //ogp.me/ns/fb#"><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=7YQSqjSh" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy","20161120123114","https://web.archive.org/","web","https://web-static.archive.org/_static/", "1479645074"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=p7PEIJWi" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init mendel"> var Mendel = {}; var $UI = {}; (function() { var html = document.getElementsByTagName('html')[0]; html.className = html.className.replace( 'no-js', ''); })(); </script> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=Edge,chrome=1"/> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"/> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"/> <meta name="description" content="35th president of the United States (1961–63), who faced a number of foreign crises, especially in Cuba and Berlin, but managed to secure such achievements as the Nuclear Test-Ban..."/><meta name="keywords" content="John F. Kennedy, encyclopedia, encyclopaedia, britannica, article"/><link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy"/> <meta property="fb:app_id" content="178355025663364"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@britannica"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:title" content="John F. Kennedy | president of United States"/> <meta property="og:description" content="35th president of the United States (1961–63), who faced a number of foreign crises, especially in Cuba and Berlin, but managed to secure such achievements as the Nuclear Test-Ban..."/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Encyclopedia Britannica"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/34/94934-004-5DD46CF0.jpg"/> <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/jpg"/> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init opengraph"> Mendel.openGraph = { type: 'article', title: 'John F. Kennedy | president of United States', description: '35th president of the United States (1961\u201363), who faced a number of foreign crises, especially in Cuba and Berlin, but managed to secure such achievements as the Nuclear Test-Ban...', siteName: 'Encyclopedia Britannica', url: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy', image: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/34/94934-004-5DD46CF0.jpg', imageType: 'image/jpg' }; </script> <title>John F. Kennedy | president of United States | Britannica.com</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114cs_/https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto+Mono|Montserrat:400,700|Cinzel"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114cs_/https://fonts.googleapis.com/icon?family=Material+Icons"><link href="/web/20161120123114cs_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/css/libs/reset.css" rel="stylesheet"/> <link href="/web/20161120123114cs_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/css/mendel.css?v=2.51.52" rel="stylesheet"/> <link href="/web/20161120123114cs_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/css/fontello/css/mendel-icons.css" rel="stylesheet"/> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init mendel config"> Mendel.config = { page: 'NewArticle', videoPlayerId: 'UAvzrRyR', currentUrl: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy', sharedUrl: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy', userInfo: { type: 'ANONYMOUS' ,userId: '' ,currency: 'USD' ,country: 'US' ,bcomId: '-5626097730087468818' ,hasAds: true ,testVersion: 'A' }, isLoggedInAsUser: false, ads: [ { adUnit: '/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', pos: 'BOT3', size: [ 300,250 ], divId: 'div-gpt-ad-467d661e-ce71-421f-8a4e-9c5330c60087' }, { adUnit: '/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', pos: 'TOP', size: [ 728,90 ], divId: 'div-gpt-ad-43bf032b-6dbb-4fbd-9b8a-b06211472310' }, { adUnit: '/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', pos: 'BOT', size: [ 728,90 ], divId: 'div-gpt-ad-3318a727-2abe-4299-8318-a0e70c41f33b' }, { adUnit: '/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', pos: 'BOT', size: [ 300,250 ], divId: 'div-gpt-ad-1b303525-c1ba-4ce3-b1b8-9afe5b58efad' }, { adUnit: '/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', pos: 'BOT4', size: [ 300,250 ], divId: 'div-gpt-ad-9155f839-c124-4724-9bf1-97a0531c5810' }, { adUnit: '/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', pos: 'CATFISH', size: [ 728,90 ], divId: 'div-gpt-ad-661cfb9d-b6b7-423b-8bc4-b0ba3d60d73f' }, { adUnit: '/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', pos: 'BOT2', size: [ 300,250 ], divId: 'div-gpt-ad-b915f034-3d8e-44e7-915e-1ee5a27ce1c5' } ], adInfo: {"refreshType":"REGULAR","refreshTimer":120,"refreshMaxCount":8,"catfishTimeout":60,"refreshCounterStart":0,"catfishEnabled":true}, analytics: [ { type: 'google', id: 'UA-6636134-11', logClickAction: false, logPageLoad: true, logFakePageLoad: true }, { type: 'eb', logClickAction: false, logPageLoad: false, logFakePageLoad: true } ], a9Id: '3022', mendelCookie: { "pagesViewed" : 1, "currentReadingList" : null, "articleCatfishShown" : true, "surveyShown" : false }, isMobile: false, isTablet: false, isPhone: false,topicUrl: '/biography/John-F-Kennedy' ,freeTopicReason: 'PERMANENT_FREE_TOPIC' ,topicId: 314791 ,topicAkw: 'history society,government' ,template: 'BIO_LARGE' ,coreArticle: true ,hasEditMode: true ,sectionId: '314791main' ,modulesAnalytics: [ ] }; </script><script type="text/javascript" data-type="googletags"> var googletag = googletag || {}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; </script> <script async src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114js_/https://js-sec.indexww.com/ht/htw-britannica.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> googletag.cmd.push(function() { if (typeof window.headertag === 'undefined' || window.headertag.apiReady !== true) { window.headertag = googletag; } }); </script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Amazon a9"> var amznads = amznads || {}; amznads.asyncParams = { 'id': '3022', 'callbackFn': function() { try { amznads.setTargetingForGPTAsync('amznslots'); } catch (e) { /*ignore*/ } }, 'timeout': 2e3 }; (function() { var a, s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; a = document.createElement("script"); a.type = "text/javascript"; a.async = true; a.src = "//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://c.amazon-adsystem.com/aax2/amzn_ads.js"; s.parentNode.insertBefore(a, s); })(); </script> <script async="async" src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114js_/https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="load openX"> (function() { var src = '//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://merriamwebster-d.openx.net/w/1.0/jstag?nc=34444486-EB'; document.write('<scr' + 'ipt src="' + src + '"></scr' + 'ipt>'); })(); </script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init GPT slots"> var googletagSlots = []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletagSlots[ '467d661e-ce71-421f-8a4e-9c5330c60087' ] = googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', [ 300,250 ],'div-gpt-ad-467d661e-ce71-421f-8a4e-9c5330c60087') .setTargeting('POS',['BOT3']) .setTargeting( 'PAGELOAD', 'REFRESH0' ) .addService(googletag.pubads()); googletagSlots[ '43bf032b-6dbb-4fbd-9b8a-b06211472310' ] = googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', [ 728,90 ],'div-gpt-ad-43bf032b-6dbb-4fbd-9b8a-b06211472310') .setTargeting('POS',['TOP']) .setTargeting( 'PAGELOAD', 'REFRESH0' ) .addService(googletag.pubads()); googletagSlots[ '3318a727-2abe-4299-8318-a0e70c41f33b' ] = googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', [ 728,90 ],'div-gpt-ad-3318a727-2abe-4299-8318-a0e70c41f33b') .setTargeting('POS',['BOT']) .setTargeting( 'PAGELOAD', 'REFRESH0' ) .addService(googletag.pubads()); googletagSlots[ '1b303525-c1ba-4ce3-b1b8-9afe5b58efad' ] = googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', [ 300,250 ],'div-gpt-ad-1b303525-c1ba-4ce3-b1b8-9afe5b58efad') .setTargeting('POS',['BOT']) .setTargeting( 'PAGELOAD', 'REFRESH0' ) .addService(googletag.pubads()); googletagSlots[ '9155f839-c124-4724-9bf1-97a0531c5810' ] = googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', [ 300,250 ],'div-gpt-ad-9155f839-c124-4724-9bf1-97a0531c5810') .setTargeting('POS',['BOT4']) .setTargeting( 'PAGELOAD', 'REFRESH0' ) .addService(googletag.pubads()); googletagSlots[ '661cfb9d-b6b7-423b-8bc4-b0ba3d60d73f' ] = googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', [ 728,90 ],'div-gpt-ad-661cfb9d-b6b7-423b-8bc4-b0ba3d60d73f') .setTargeting('POS',['CATFISH']) .setTargeting( 'PAGELOAD', 'REFRESH0' ) .addService(googletag.pubads()); googletagSlots[ 'b915f034-3d8e-44e7-915e-1ee5a27ce1c5' ] = googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_LARGE_NON_PAG_BIO_AE', [ 300,250 ],'div-gpt-ad-b915f034-3d8e-44e7-915e-1ee5a27ce1c5') .setTargeting('POS',['BOT2']) .setTargeting( 'PAGELOAD', 'REFRESH0' ) .addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().setTargeting('dc_ref',['https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy']); googletag.pubads().setTargeting('PAGE',[1]); googletag.pubads().setTargeting( 'ARTICLE',['314791']); googletag.pubads().setTargeting( 'CAT',['history society,government']); var dartCCKey = "ccaud"; var dartCC = ""; if (typeof( ccauds ) != 'undefined') { for (var cci = 0; cci < ccauds.Profile.Audiences.Audience.length; cci++) { if (cci > 0) { dartCC += ","; } dartCC += ccauds.Profile.Audiences.Audience[cci].abbr; } } googletag.pubads().setTargeting(dartCCKey, [dartCC]); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.pubads().enableAsyncRendering(); googletag.enableServices(); }); </script><script src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114js_/https://cdn.optimizely.com/js/3788090404.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114js_/https://tags.crwdcntrl.net/c/6931/cc.js?ns=_cc6931" id="LOTCC_6931"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" data-type="lotame init">_cc6931.bcp();</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114js_/https://ad.crwdcntrl.net/5/c=6931/pe=y/var=ccauds"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init Quantcast top"> var _qevents = _qevents || []; (function() { var elem = document.createElement('script'); elem.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://secure" : "https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://edge") + ".quantserve.com/quant.js"; elem.async = true; elem.type = "text/javascript"; var scpt = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; scpt.parentNode.insertBefore(elem, scpt); })(); </script> </head> <body ng-app="mendel" data-leg="A" class="new-topic topic-bio_large non-index user-ANONYMOUS md-desktop leg-a"> <main> <div class="md-page-wrapper"> <header> <div class="header-content"> <div class="header-title"> <a class="logo-homepage" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/"> <img src="/web/20161120123114im_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/images/header/eb-logo-header.png" alt="Encyclopedia Britannica"/> </a> <div class="header-login"> <div class="grid no-gutter"> <div class="grid-fixed-width"></div> <div class="grid-xs text-left"> <a class="subscribers" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://info.eb.com/" target="_blank">School and Library Subscribers</a> </div> <div class="grid-xs-shrink text-right"> <ul class="header-login-links"> <li><a href="#" class="signup-link">JOIN</a></li> <li><a href="#" class="login-link">LOGIN</a></li> <li><a class="md-upsell-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://safe1.britannica.com/registrations2/signup.do?partnerCode=EBOPOTHERSUB_LP_MDL_A" rel="nofollow">Activate Your Free Trial!</a></li> </ul> <div class="header-login-upsell"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://safe1.britannica.com/registrations2/signup.do?partnerCode=EBOPOTHERSUB_LP_MDL_A" rel="nofollow"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://safe.britannica.com/safeimages/header_upsell_july2016.png " alt="click to become a member!"/> </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div id="header-global-nav" data-position-fixed="0"> <div class="container"> <div class="header-global-nav-content grid no-gutter"> <a class="header-global-nav-home" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/"> <img src="/web/20161120123114im_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/images/header/homepage-small-thistle-v2.png" alt="go to homepage"/> </a> <ul id="header-global-nav-buttons" data-title="navigation" class="grid no-gutter fixed-width"> <li class="grid-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/stories/browse" class="stories ">stories</a></li> <li class="grid-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/browse" class="quizzes ">quizzes</a></li> <li class="grid-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/gallery/browse" class="galleries ">galleries</a></li> <li class="grid-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/list/browse" class="lists ">lists</a></li> </ul> <div class="search-form grid-xs"> <form method="get" action="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/search" id="searchCriteria" class=""> <div class="search-box"> <label class="sr-only" for="header-query">Search</label> <input name="query" type="text" id="header-query" placeholder="Search Britannica..." class="query" maxlength="200"/> <button type="submit" class="search-submit"><span class="sr-only">Click here to search</span> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="search"></em></button> </div> </form> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="content" class="md-content content-page"> <div class="header-ad"> <div data-refresh="true" id="div-gpt-ad-43bf032b-6dbb-4fbd-9b8a-b06211472310" data-slot="TOP" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { headertag.display('div-gpt-ad-43bf032b-6dbb-4fbd-9b8a-b06211472310'); });</script> </div> </div> <div class="md-article-container container"> <h1>John F. Kennedy</h1> <div class="topic-identifier subhead">president of United States</div> <div class="md-article-content"> <div class="md-main-channels grid grid-gutter-right"> <div class="grid-md-16 grid-xs"> <button class="byline-toc activate-toc md-button md-primary md-button-sm md-button-block gutter-bottom md-visible lg-visible" data-value="left-rail"> <em class="material-icons lg-visible" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="md-byline"> <div class="grid"> <div class="written-by grid-md-100 grid-xs"> <div class="subhead">Written By:</div> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/contributor/William-Manchester/1888"> William Manchester</a> </div> <div class="last-updated grid-md-100 grid-sm-shrink xs-hidden"> <div class="subhead">Last Updated:</div> <time>6-9-2015</time> <br><a id="see-history" data-type="accordion-link" href="#Article-History" rel="nofollow">See Article History</a></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-center-channel grid-md"> <div class="md-alternate-titles"> <strong>Alternative Title:</strong> JFK</div> <article> <section id="toc314791main" data-level="intro"><div class="md-content-module-right grid-xs-ad-300"> <div class="bio-box fact-box xs-hidden gutter-bottom"> <div class="title">John F. Kennedy</div> <div class="subhead">President of United States</div> <div class="fact-box-details"> <dl class="bio-data"><dt class="bio-list">Also known as</dt><dd class="content"><ul class="bps-user-formatted-ul"><li>JFK</li><li>John Fitzgerald Kennedy</li></ul></dd><dt class="title">born</dt><dd class="content"><p>May 29, 1917</p><p><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Brookline">Brookline</a><span>, </span><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Massachusetts">Massachusetts</a></p></dd><dt class="title">died</dt><dd class="content"><p>November 22, 1963</p><p><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Dallas">Dallas</a><span>, </span><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Texas-state">Texas</a></p></dd></dl></div> </div> <div class="md-ad gutter-bottom"> <div data-refresh="true" id="div-gpt-ad-1b303525-c1ba-4ce3-b1b8-9afe5b58efad" data-slot="BOT" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { headertag.display('div-gpt-ad-1b303525-c1ba-4ce3-b1b8-9afe5b58efad'); });</script> </div> </div> <div class="similar-people md-content-module-right grid-xs-ad-300"> <div class="xs-hidden"> <div class="subhead">Related Biographies</div> <ul class="dots gutter-bottom"> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franklin-D-Roosevelt">Franklin D. Roosevelt</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lyndon-B-Johnson">Lyndon B. Johnson</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dwight-D-Eisenhower">Dwight D. Eisenhower</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Nixon">Richard Nixon</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-V-Forrestal">James V. Forrestal</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Yarborough">William Yarborough</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Kerry">John Kerry</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Creighton-Williams-Abrams-Jr">Creighton Williams Abrams, Jr.</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Hinman-Moorer">Thomas Hinman Moorer</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harry-S-Truman">Harry S. Truman</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom firstpar"><strong><span class="srTitle">John F. Kennedy</span></strong><strong>, </strong>in full <span class="alternate">John Fitzgerald Kennedy</span>, byname <span class="alternate">JFK</span> (born <span>May 29, 1917</span>, <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Brookline"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/81244/Brookline">Brookline</span></a>, <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Massachusetts"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/368402/Massachusetts">Massachusetts</span></a>, U.S.—died <span>November 22, 1963</span>, <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Dallas"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/150206/Dallas">Dallas</span></a>, <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Texas-state"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/589288/Texas">Texas</span></a>) 35th <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/president-government-official"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/475206/president">president</span></a> of the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/616563/United-States">United States</span></a> (1961–63), who faced a number of foreign crises, especially in <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/145542/Cuba">Cuba</span></a> and <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Berlin"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/62055/Berlin">Berlin</span></a>, but managed to secure such achievements as the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and the Alliance for Progress. He was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. (For a discussion of the history and nature of the presidency, <em>see</em> <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/presidency-of-the-United-States-of-America"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/717803/presidency-of-the-United-States-of-America">presidency of the United States of America</span></a>.)</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/John-F-Kennedy/126870" data-id="126870" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/34/94934-004-5DD46CF0.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">John F. Kennedy.</div><div class="credit"><em>White House Collection</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Key-events-in-the-life-of-John-F-Kennedy/155274" data-id="155274" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/18/139918-004-63E715F8.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Key events in the life of John F. Kennedy.</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div></section><section data-level="1" id="toc3866"><h2 class="h2">Early life</h2><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">The second of nine children, Kennedy was reared in a family that demanded intense physical and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="intellectual">intellectual</a> competition among the siblings—the family’s touch football games at their Hyannis Port retreat later became legendary—and was schooled in the religious teachings of the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/507284/Roman-Catholicism">Roman Catholic church</span></a> and the political precepts of the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Democratic-Party"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/157244/Democratic-Party">Democratic Party</span></a>. His father, <a name="ref672633" id="ref672633" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-P-Kennedy"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/314858/Joseph-P-Kennedy">Joseph Patrick Kennedy</span></a>, had acquired a multimillion-dollar fortune in banking, bootlegging, shipbuilding, and the film industry, and as a skilled player of the stock market. His mother, Rose, was the daughter of John F. (“Honey Fitz”) Fitzgerald, onetime mayor of <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Boston"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/74844/Boston">Boston</span></a>. They established trust funds for their children that guaranteed lifelong financial independence. After serving as the head of the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Securities-and-Exchange-Commission"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/532039/Securities-and-Exchange-Commission-SEC">Securities and Exchange Commission</span></a>, Joseph Kennedy became the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, and for six months in 1938 John served as his secretary, drawing on that experience to write his senior thesis at <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Harvard-University"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/256300/Harvard-University">Harvard University</span></a> (B.S., 1940) on Great Britain’s military unpreparedness. He then expanded that thesis into a best-selling book, <em><a name="ref245000" id="ref245000" class="idxref"></a>Why England Slept</em> (1940).</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/The-birthplace-of-US-President-John-F-Kennedy-Brookline-Massachusetts/22829" data-id="22829" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/55/30255-004-8ADBE32F.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">The birthplace of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Brookline, Massachusetts.</div><div class="credit"><em>D. Hanley/Photo Researchers</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Kennedy-family-photo-1931-Rosemary-Joseph-Jr/119463" data-id="119463" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/38/119138-004-781BBE0B.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Kennedy family photo <em>c.</em> 1931: (left to right) Rosemary; Joseph, Jr.; Kathleen; Patricia; Rose; …</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/John-F-Kennedy-photographed-with-the-Dexter-School-football-team/119464" data-id="119464" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/37/119137-004-EAFE1BC3.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">John F. Kennedy (seated, front row, far right) photographed with the Dexter School football team.</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/A-young-John-F-Kennedy-dressed-in-a-police-officer/119593" data-id="119593" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/55/119155-004-2BAA4CCD.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">A young John F. Kennedy dressed in a police officer costume.</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">In the fall of 1941 Kennedy joined the U.S. Navy and two years later was sent to the South Pacific. By the time he was discharged in 1945, his older brother, Joe, who their father had expected would be the first Kennedy to run for office, had been killed in the war, and the family’s political standard passed to John, who had planned to pursue an academic or journalistic career.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/John-F-Kennedy-commanding-the-US-Navy-torpedo-boat-PT/119456" data-id="119456" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/42/119142-004-D15E53B9.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">John F. Kennedy commanding the U.S. Navy torpedo boat PT-109, 1943.</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><div class="md-sidebar-news-features md-content-module-right grid-xs-ad-300"> <div class="md-ad gutter-bottom"> <div data-refresh="true" id="div-gpt-ad-b915f034-3d8e-44e7-915e-1ee5a27ce1c5" data-slot="BOT2" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { headertag.display('div-gpt-ad-b915f034-3d8e-44e7-915e-1ee5a27ce1c5'); });</script> </div> </div> <div class="xs-hidden gutter-bottom"> <div class="subhead"> Britannica Stories</div> <ul> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/story/high-temperatures-shock-the-arctic" class="BEHIND_THE_NEWS grid no-gutter"> <div class="grid-xs middle-xs"> <div> <div class="md-story-title">In The News / Science</div> High Temperatures Shock the Arctic</div> </div> <div class="grid-xs-shrink middle-xs"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/35/192735-117-B2C6C47D.jpg" alt="Temperature Anomaly for November 18 2016"/> </div> </a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/story/why-doesnt-the-u.s.-use-the-metric-system" class="DEMYSTIFIED grid no-gutter"> <div class="grid-xs middle-xs"> <div> <div class="md-story-title">Demystified / Science</div> Why Doesn’t the U.S. Use the Metric System?</div> </div> <div class="grid-xs-shrink middle-xs"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/34/191934-117-5CAF7C34.jpg" alt="Centimetres vs inches, metal rulers on a white background with clipping path."/> </div> </a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/story/snuffing-out-smoking" class="SPOTLIGHT grid no-gutter"> <div class="grid-xs middle-xs"> <div> <div class="md-story-title">Spotlight / Health & Medicine</div> Snuffing Out Smoking</div> </div> <div class="grid-xs-shrink middle-xs"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/90/192490-117-F529A8BC.jpg" alt="Pack of cigarettes"/> </div> </a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/story/the-case-of-the-disappearing-shipwrecks" class="BEHIND_THE_NEWS grid no-gutter"> <div class="grid-xs middle-xs"> <div> <div class="md-story-title">In The News / History</div> The Case of the Disappearing Shipwrecks</div> </div> <div class="grid-xs-shrink middle-xs"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/09/192709-117-6028F857.jpg" alt="HNLMS DE RUYTER arrived in Sydney on 3 October 1930. The ships berthed in West Circular Quay and The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the ’unfamiliar spectacle’ of the Dutch squadron arrival."/> </div> </a> </li> </ul> <div class="text-right"> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/stories/browse?type=all">See All Stories <em class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></a> </div> </div> </div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">John Kennedy himself had barely escaped death in battle. Commanding a patrol torpedo (PT) boat, he was gravely injured when a Japanese destroyer sank it in the Solomon Islands. Marooned far behind enemy lines, he led his men back to safety and was awarded the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism. He also returned to active command at his own request. (These events were later depicted in a Hollywood film, <em>PT 109</em> [1963], that contributed to the Kennedy mystique.) However, the further injury to his back, which had bothered him since his teens, never really healed. Despite operations in 1944, 1954, and 1955, he was in pain for much of the rest of his life. He also suffered from <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/science/Addison-disease"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/5449/Addison-disease">Addison’s disease</span></a>, though this <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affliction" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="affliction">affliction</a> was publicly concealed. “At least one-half of the days he spent on this earth,” wrote his brother Robert, “were days of intense physical pain.” (After he became president, Kennedy combated the pain with injections of amphetamines—then thought to be harmless and used by more than a few celebrities for their energizing effect. According to some reports, both Kennedy and the first lady became heavily dependent on these injections through weekly use.) None of this prevented Kennedy from undertaking a strenuous life in politics. His family expected him to run for public office and to win.</p></section><section data-level="1" id="toc3867"><h2 class="h2">Congressman and senator</h2><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/usa-facts" class="test-your-knowledge md-content-module-left grid-md-shrink lg-visible md-visible"> <div class="subhead">Test Your Knowledge</div> <div class="image-wrapper"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/65/164565-118-778BFB4E.jpg" alt="Betsy Ross showing George Ross and Robert Morris how she cut the stars for the American flag; George Washington sits in a chair on the left, 1777; by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (published c. 1932)."/> <div class="title">USA Facts</div> </div> </a><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">Kennedy did not disappoint his family; in fact, he never lost an election. His first opportunity came in 1946, when he ran for Congress. Although still physically weak from his war injuries, he campaigned aggressively, bypassing the Democratic organization in the Massachusetts 11th congressional district and depending instead upon his family, college friends, and fellow <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/navy"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/407061/navy">navy</span></a> officers. In the Democratic primary he received nearly double the vote of his nearest opponent; in the November election he overwhelmed the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Republican-Party"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/498842/Republican-Party">Republican</span></a> candidate. He was only 29.</p><div class="quiz-list-module md-content-module-right grid-xs-ad-300"> <div class="md-ad gutter-bottom"> <div data-refresh="true" id="div-gpt-ad-467d661e-ce71-421f-8a4e-9c5330c60087" data-slot="BOT3" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { headertag.display('div-gpt-ad-467d661e-ce71-421f-8a4e-9c5330c60087'); });</script> </div> </div> <div class="xs-hidden gutter-bottom"> <div class="subhead">Britannica Lists & Quizzes</div> <ul> <li> <a class="grid no-gutter quiz" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/designing-life-a-quiz-about-genetic-engineering"> <div class="image-wrapper grid-xs-33 middle-xs"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/73/151873-131-8F1BD5BC.jpg" alt="An illustration of strands of DNA."/> </div> <div class="grid-xs middle-xs"> <div class="description"> <div class="category">Science Quiz</div> Designing Life: A Quiz About Genetic Engineering<em class="material-icons" data-icon="casino"></em> </div> </div> </a> </li> <li> <a class="grid no-gutter list" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/list/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-hamilton-burr-duel-according-to-hamiltons-burr-"> <div class="image-wrapper grid-xs-33 middle-xs"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/61/150961-131-746CE3FF.jpg" alt="Alexander Hamilton, colour mezzotint."/> </div> <div class="grid-xs middle-xs"> <div class="description"> <div class="category">History List</div> 10 Things You Need to Know About the Hamilton-Burr Duel, According to <i>Hamilton</i>’s Burr <em class="material-icons" data-icon="list"></em> </div> </div> </a> </li> <li> <a class="grid no-gutter quiz" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/wine-regions-and-varieties-fact-or-fiction"> <div class="image-wrapper grid-xs-33 middle-xs"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/09/192409-131-92CDACF6.jpg" alt="wine, grapes, barrel"/> </div> <div class="grid-xs middle-xs"> <div class="description"> <div class="category">Food Quiz</div> Wine Regions and Varieties: Fact or Fiction?<em class="material-icons" data-icon="casino"></em> </div> </div> </a> </li> <li> <a class="grid no-gutter list" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/list/11-of-the-worlds-most-famous-warplanes"> <div class="image-wrapper grid-xs-33 middle-xs"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/49/106949-131-0783F166.jpg" alt="U.S. Air Force B-52G with cruise missiles and short-range attack missiles."/> </div> <div class="grid-xs middle-xs"> <div class="description"> <div class="category">History List</div> 11 of the World’s Most Famous Warplanes<em class="material-icons" data-icon="list"></em> </div> </div> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">Kennedy served three terms in the House of Representatives (1947–53) as a bread-and-butter liberal. He advocated better working conditions, more public housing, higher wages, lower prices, cheaper rents, and more Social Security for the aged. In <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/foreign-policy"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/213380/foreign-policy">foreign policy</span></a> he was an early supporter of <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/Cold-War"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/125110/Cold-War">Cold War</span></a> policies. He backed the <a name="ref245001" id="ref245001" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/Truman-Doctrine"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/607195/Truman-Doctrine">Truman Doctrine</span></a> and the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/Marshall-Plan"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/366654/Marshall-Plan">Marshall Plan</span></a> but was sharply critical of the Truman administration’s record in Asia. He accused the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/US-Department-of-State"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/563814/US-Department-of-State">State Department</span></a> of trying to force <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chiang-Kai-shek"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/110142/Chiang-Kai-shek">Chiang Kai-shek</span></a> into a coalition with <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mao-Zedong"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/363395/Mao-Zedong">Mao Zedong</span></a>. “What our young men had saved,” he told the House on January 25, 1949, “our diplomats and our President have frittered away.”</p><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">His congressional district in Boston was a safe seat, but Kennedy was too ambitious to remain long in the House of Representatives. In 1952 he ran for the U.S. <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Senate-United-States-government"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/534345/Senate">Senate</span></a> against the popular incumbent, <a name="ref672634" id="ref672634" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Cabot-Lodge-United-States-senator-1902-1985"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/345963/Henry-Cabot-Lodge">Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.</span></a> His mother and sisters Eunice, Patricia, and Jean held “Kennedy teas” across the state. Thousands of volunteers flocked to help, including his 27-year-old brother Robert, who managed the campaign. That fall the Republican presidential candidate, General <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dwight-D-Eisenhower"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/181476/Dwight-D-Eisenhower">Dwight D. Eisenhower</span></a>, carried Massachusetts by 208,000 votes; but Kennedy defeated Lodge by 70,000 votes. Less than a year later, on September 12, 1953, Kennedy <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enhanced" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="enhanced">enhanced</a> his electoral appeal by marrying Jacqueline Lee Bouvier (<a name="ref245002" id="ref245002" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jacqueline-Kennedy-Onassis"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/428919/Jacqueline-Kennedy-Onassis">Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis</span></a>). Twelve years younger than Kennedy and from a socially prominent family, the beautiful “Jackie” was the perfect complement to the handsome politician; they made a glamorous couple.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Jacqueline-Kennedy-1961/67638" data-id="67638" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/88/73688-004-3D89D292.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Jacqueline Kennedy, 1961.</div><div class="credit"><em>White House photo/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Pres/151351" data-id="151351" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/58/146458-004-46EE8090.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Pres. John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, in the Blue Room of the White House at …</div><div class="credit"><em>Robert Knudsen—Official White House Photo/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">As a senator, Kennedy quickly won a reputation for responsiveness to requests from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituents" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="constituents">constituents</a>, except on certain occasions when the national interest was at stake. In 1954 he was the only <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/New-England"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/411409/New-England">New England</span></a> senator to approve an extension of President Eisenhower’s reciprocal-trade powers, and he vigorously backed the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, despite the fact that over a period of 20 years no Massachusetts senator or congressman had ever voted for it.</p><div class="connect md-content-module-right grid-xs-ad-300 text-center"> <div class="md-ad gutter-bottom"> <div class="google-ad-iframe" data-refresh="false" data-info="passback ARTICLE_RR"> <script type="text/javascript"> googletag.pubads().definePassback( '34444486/EB_HOUSE/ARTICLE_RR', [300,250] ) .display(); </script> </div> </div> <div class="xs-hidden"> <div class="subhead md-blue">Connect with Britannica</div> <div class="md-social-toolbar-circle center-xs inverted" data-value="connect"> <a class="ui-icon-facebook center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="facebook" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.facebook.com/BRITANNICA/" target="_blank"><span>Facebook</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-twitter center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="twitter" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://twitter.com/britannica" target="_blank"><span>Twitter</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-youtube-play center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="youtube" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.youtube.com/c/encyclopaediabritannica" target="_blank"><span>YouTube</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-instagram center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="instagram" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.instagram.com/britannica/" target="_blank"><span>Instagram</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-pinterest center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="pinterest" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.pinterest.com/britannica/" target="_blank"><span>Pinterest</span></a> </div></div> </div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">To the disappointment of liberal Democrats, Kennedy soft-pedaled the demagogic excesses of Senator <a name="ref245003" id="ref245003" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-McCarthy"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/353904/Joseph-McCarthy">Joseph R. McCarthy</span></a> of <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Wisconsin"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/645844/Wisconsin">Wisconsin</span></a>, who in the early 1950s conducted witch-hunting campaigns against government workers accused of being communists. Kennedy’s father liked McCarthy, contributed to his campaign, and even entertained him in the family’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compound" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="compound">compound</a> at Hyannis Port on <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Cape-Cod"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/123862/Cape-Cod">Cape Cod</span></a> in Massachusetts. Kennedy himself disapproved of McCarthy, but, as he once observed, “Half my people in Massachusetts look on McCarthy as a hero.” Yet, on the Senate vote over condemnation of McCarthy’s conduct (1954), Kennedy expected to vote against him. He prepared a speech explaining why, but he was absent on the day of the vote. Later, at a National Press Club Gridiron dinner, costumed reporters sang, “Where were you, John, where were you, John, when the Senate <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/censured" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="censured">censured</a> Joe?” Actually, John had been in a hospital, in critical condition after back surgery. For six months afterward he lay strapped to a board in his father’s house in <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Palm-Beach-Florida"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/440057/Palm-Beach">Palm Beach</span></a>, Florida. It was during this period that he worked on <em><a name="ref245004" id="ref245004" class="idxref"></a>Profiles in Courage</em> (1956), an account of eight great American political leaders who had defied popular opinion in matters of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conscience" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="conscience">conscience</a>, which was awarded a <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pulitzer-Prize"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/483089/Pulitzer-Prize">Pulitzer Prize</span></a> in 1957. Although Kennedy was credited as the book’s <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/art/author"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/44635/author">author</span></a>, it was later revealed that his assistant Theodore Sorensen had done much of the research and writing.</p><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">Back in the Senate, Kennedy led a fight against a proposal to abolish the electoral college, crusaded for labour reform, and became increasingly committed to <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-rights"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/119317/civil-rights">civil rights</span></a> legislation. As a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in the late 1950s, he advocated extensive <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/foreign-aid"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/213344/foreign-aid">foreign aid</span></a> to the emerging nations in Africa and Asia, and he surprised his colleagues by calling upon France to grant Algerian independence.</p><div class="trending-topics md-content-module-right grid-xs-ad-300"> <div class="md-ad gutter-bottom"> <div data-refresh="true" id="div-gpt-ad-9155f839-c124-4724-9bf1-97a0531c5810" data-slot="BOT4" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { headertag.display('div-gpt-ad-9155f839-c124-4724-9bf1-97a0531c5810'); });</script> </div> </div> <div class="xs-hidden"> <div class="subhead">Trending Topics</div> <ul class="dots gutter-bottom"> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/Open-Door-policy">Open Door policy</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Code-of-Justinian">Code of Justinian</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Daoism">Daoism</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I">World War I</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1860">United States presidential election of 1860</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Eyjafjallajokull-volcano">Eyjafjallajökull volcano</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/American-civil-rights-movement">American civil rights movement</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Muhammad">Muhammad</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johannes-Kepler">Johannes Kepler</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/Haiti-earthquake-of-2010">Haiti earthquake of 2010</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">During these years his political outlook was moving leftward. Possibly because of their father’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dynamic" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="dynamic">dynamic</a> personality, the sons of Joseph Kennedy matured slowly. Gradually John’s stature among Democrats grew, until he had inherited the legions that had once followed Governor <a name="ref245005" id="ref245005" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adlai-Stevenson"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/565962/Adlai-Stevenson">Adlai E. Stevenson</span></a> of Illinois, the two-time presidential candidate who by appealing to idealism had transformed the Democratic Party and made Kennedy’s rise possible.</p></section><section data-level="1" id="toc3868"><h2 class="h2">Presidential candidate and president</h2><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">Kennedy had nearly become Stevenson’s vice presidential running mate in 1956. The <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charismatic" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="charismatic">charismatic</a> young New Englander’s near victory and his televised speech of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concession" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="concession">concession</a> (Estes Kefauver won the vice presidential nomination) brought him into some 40 million American homes. Overnight he had become one of the best-known political figures in the country. Already his campaign for the <a name="ref1218562" id="ref1218562" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1960"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/1579694/United-States-presidential-election-of-1960">1960</span></a> nomination had begun. One newspaperman called him a “young man in a hurry.” Kennedy felt that he had to redouble his efforts because of the widespread <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conviction" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="conviction">conviction</a> that no Roman Catholic candidate could be elected president. He made his 1958 race for reelection to the Senate a test of his popularity in Massachusetts. His margin of victory was 874,608 votes—the largest ever in Massachusetts politics and the greatest of any senatorial candidate that year.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/John-F-Kennedy-1961/12304" data-id="12304" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/14/10514-004-AD670053.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">John F. Kennedy, 1961.</div><div class="credit"><em>AP</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">A steady stream of speeches and periodical profiles followed, with photographs of him and his wife appearing on many a magazine cover. Kennedy’s carefully calculated pursuit of the presidency years before the first primary established a practice that became the norm for candidates seeking the nation’s highest office. To transport him and his staff around the country, his father bought a 40-passenger Convair aircraft. His brothers <a name="ref245014" id="ref245014" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-F-Kennedy"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/314866/Robert-F-Kennedy">Robert</span></a> (“Bobby,” or “Bob”) and <a name="ref672636" id="ref672636" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ted-Kennedy-American-senator"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/314783/Ted-Kennedy">Edward</span></a> (“Teddy,” or “Ted”) pitched in. After having graduated from Harvard University (1948) and from the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/University-of-Virginia"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/630010/University-of-Virginia">University of Virginia</span></a> Law School (1951), Bobby had embarked on a career as a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Justice" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="Justice">Justice</a> Department attorney and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/counsellor" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="counsellor">counsellor</a> for congressional committees. Ted likewise had graduated from Harvard (1956) and from Virginia Law School (1959). Both men were <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/astute" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="astute">astute</a> campaigners.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/John-F-Kennedy/12307" data-id="12307" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/99/1899-004-5293D7E2.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">John F. Kennedy.</div><div class="credit"><em>© Arthur Rickerby—Black Star/PNI</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">In January 1960 John F. Kennedy formally announced his presidential candidacy. His chief rivals were the senators <a name="ref672637" id="ref672637" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hubert-Humphrey"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/276362/Hubert-Humphrey">Hubert H. Humphrey</span></a> of <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Minnesota"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/384342/Minnesota">Minnesota</span></a> and <a name="ref245006" id="ref245006" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lyndon-B-Johnson"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/305362/Lyndon-B-Johnson">Lyndon B. Johnson</span></a> of Texas. Kennedy knocked Humphrey out of the campaign and dealt the religious taboo against Roman Catholics a blow by winning the primary in Protestant <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/West-Virginia"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/640396/West-Virginia">West Virginia</span></a>. He tackled the Catholic issue again, by avowing his belief in the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/separation-marriage"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/535011/separation">separation</span></a> of church and state in a televised speech before a group of Protestant ministers in Houston, Texas. Nominated on the first ballot, he balanced the Democratic ticket by choosing Johnson as his running mate. In his acceptance speech Kennedy declared, “We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier.” Thereafter the phrase <a name="ref245007" id="ref245007" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-Frontier"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/411508/New-Frontier">“New Frontier”</span></a> was associated with his presidential programs.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Scenes-from-the-1960-Democratic-Party-primary-elections-which-US/67726" data-id="67726" data-type="video" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/47/72947-049-F4DC337D.jpg" alt=""><em class="md-play material-icons" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Scenes from the 1960 Democratic Party primary elections, which U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy used to …</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Scenes-from-the-1960-Democratic-National-Convention-which-nominated-as/67725" data-id="67725" data-type="video" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/48/72948-049-8C08BE80.jpg" alt=""><em class="md-play material-icons" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Scenes from the 1960 Democratic National Convention, which nominated as candidate for president …</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">Another phrase—“the Kennedy style”—encapsulated the candidate’s emerging identity. It was glamorous and elitist, an amalgam of his father’s wealth, John Kennedy’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charisma" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="charisma">charisma</a> and easy wit, Jacqueline Kennedy’s beauty and fashion sense (the suits and pillbox hats she wore became widely popular), the charm of their children and relatives, and the erudition of the Harvard advisers who surrounded him (called the “best and brightest” by author <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Halberstam"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/1340213/David-Halberstam">David Halberstam</span></a>).</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Button-from-John-F-Kennedys-1960-US-presidential-campaign/67710" data-id="67710" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/47/73647-004-0B5C8546.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Button from John F. Kennedy’s 1960 U.S. presidential campaign.</div><div class="credit"><em>Americana/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">Kennedy won the general election, narrowly defeating the Republican candidate, Vice President <a name="ref245008" id="ref245008" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Nixon"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/416465/Richard-Nixon">Richard M. Nixon</span></a>, by a margin of less than 120,000 out of some 70,000,000 votes cast. Many observers, then and since, believed vote fraud contributed to Kennedy’s victory, especially in the critical state of Illinois, where Joe Kennedy enlisted the help of the ever-powerful <a name="ref672638" id="ref672638" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-J-Daley"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/150147/Richard-J-Daley">Richard J. Daley</span></a>, mayor of Chicago. Nixon had defended the Eisenhower record; Kennedy, whose slogan had been “Let’s get this country moving again,” had deplored unemployment, the sluggish economy, the so-called missile gap (a presumed Soviet superiority over the United States in the number of nuclear-armed missiles), and the new communist government in Havana. A major factor in the campaign was a unique series of four televised debates between the two men; an estimated 85–120 million Americans watched one or more of the debates. Both men showed a firm grasp of the issues, but Kennedy’s poise in front of the camera, his tony Harvard accent, and his good looks (in contrast to Nixon’s “five o’clock shadow”) convinced many viewers that he had won the debate. As president, Kennedy continued to exploit the new medium, sparkling in precedent-setting televised weekly press conferences.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/The-televised-debate-between-presidential-candidates-John-F-Kennedy-and/128619" data-id="128619" data-type="video" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/95/128995-049-08B8C3B0.jpg" alt=""><em class="md-play material-icons" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">The televised debate between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon was a …</div><div class="credit"><em>Stock footage courtesy The WPA Film Library</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li data-map="true"><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Results-of-the-American-presidential-election-1960-Presidential-Candidate-Political/67691" data-id="67691" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/40/73740-004-F4190B88.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Results of the American presidential election, 1960…</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><div class="audio-media md-box inverted light gutter-bottom grid-xs"><div class="box-body"><ul><li><div class="title">Listen: Kennedy, John F.</div><audio src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/71/70171-005-3DC75C23.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" controls></audio><div class="description">U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy, delivering his inaugural address, January 20, 1961.</div></li></ul></div></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">He was the youngest man and the first Roman Catholic ever elected to the presidency of the United States. His administration lasted 1,037 days. From the onset he was concerned with <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/international-relations"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/291225/20th-century-international-relations">foreign affairs</span></a>. In his memorable inaugural address, he called upon Americans “to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle…against the common enemies of man: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tyranny" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="tyranny">tyranny</a>, poverty, disease, and war itself.” He declared:<blockquote class="bps-article-qt"><p>In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it.…The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.</p></blockquote></p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/US-Pres/152833" data-id="152833" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/72/146472-004-66E99776.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy delivering his inaugural address, Washington, D.C., January 20, 1961.</div><div class="credit"><em>CWO Donald Mingfield—U.S. Army Signal Corps/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/John-F-Kennedy-being-sworn-in-as-US-president-January/119458" data-id="119458" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/47/119147-004-D84DC549.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">John F. Kennedy being sworn in as U.S. president, January 20, 1961.</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/US-Pres/156020" data-id="156020" data-type="video" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/03/149203-049-9D233C04.jpg" alt=""><em class="md-play material-icons" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy delivering his inaugural address, Washington, D.C., January 20, …</div><div class="credit"><em>© John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, Massachusetts</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">The administration’s first brush with foreign affairs was a disaster. In the last year of the Eisenhower presidency, the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Central-Intelligence-Agency"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/102438/Central-Intelligence-Agency-CIA">Central Intelligence Agency</span></a> (CIA) had equipped and trained a brigade of anticommunist <a name="ref245009" id="ref245009" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Cuba"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/145602/history-of-Cuba">Cuban</span></a> exiles for an invasion of their homeland. The <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Joint-Chiefs-of-Staff"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/305624/Joint-Chiefs-of-Staff">Joint Chiefs of Staff</span></a> unanimously advised the new president that this force, once ashore, would spark a general uprising against the Cuban leader, <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fidel-Castro"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/98822/Fidel-Castro">Fidel Castro</span></a>. But the <a name="ref245010" id="ref245010" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/Bay-of-Pigs-invasion"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/56682/Bay-of-Pigs-invasion">Bay of Pigs invasion</span></a> was a fiasco; every man on the beachhead was either killed or captured. Kennedy assumed “sole responsibility” for the setback. Privately he told his father that he would never again accept a Joint Chiefs recommendation without first challenging it.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/A-group-of-captured-US-backed-Cuban-exiles-known-as/110200" data-id="110200" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/94/114694-004-DE798B11.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">A group of captured U.S.-backed Cuban exiles, known as Brigade 2506, being lined up by Fidel …</div><div class="credit"><em>Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><div class="audio-media md-box inverted light gutter-bottom grid-xs"><div class="box-body"><ul><li><div class="title">Listen: Kennedy, John F.; Cuban missile crisis</div><audio src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/73/70173-005-944C3863.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" controls></audio><div class="description">U.S. President John F. Kennedy, delivering a televised address to the nation on Soviet missiles in …</div></li></ul></div></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">The Soviet premier, <a name="ref245011" id="ref245011" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nikita-Sergeyevich-Khrushchev"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/316972/Nikita-Sergeyevich-Khrushchev">Nikita Khrushchev</span></a>, thought he had taken the young president’s measure when the two leaders met in Vienna in June 1961. Khrushchev ordered a <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Berlin-Wall"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/62202/Berlin-Wall">wall</span></a> built between East and <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/West-Berlin"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/640094/West-Berlin">West Berlin</span></a> and threatened to sign a separate peace treaty with <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/German-Democratic-Republic"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/230706/German-Democratic-Republic">East Germany</span></a>. The president activated <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Blueshirt"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/70386/Blueshirt">National Guard</span></a> and reserve units, and Khrushchev backed down on his separate peace threat. Kennedy then made a dramatic visit to West Berlin, where he told a cheering crowd, “Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein [I am a] Berliner.’ ” In October 1962 a buildup of Soviet short- and intermediate-range nuclear <a name="ref245012" id="ref245012" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/Cuban-missile-crisis"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/145654/Cuban-missile-crisis">missiles</span></a> was discovered in Cuba. Kennedy demanded that the missiles be dismantled; he ordered a “quarantine” of Cuba—in effect, a blockade that would stop Soviet ships from reaching that island. For 13 days nuclear war seemed near; then the Soviet premier announced that the offensive weapons would be withdrawn. (<em>See</em> <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/Cuban-missile-crisis"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/145654/Cuban-missile-crisis">Cuban missile crisis</span></a>.) Ten months later Kennedy scored his greatest foreign triumph when Khrushchev and Prime Minister <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harold-Macmillan"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/355161/Harold-Macmillan">Harold Macmillan</span></a> of Great Britain joined him in signing the <a name="ref672639" id="ref672639" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/event/Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/421810/Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty">Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty</span></a>. Yet Kennedy’s commitment to combat the spread of <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/communism"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/129104/communism">communism</span></a> led him to escalate American involvement in the conflict in <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/628349/Vietnam">Vietnam</span></a>, where he sent not just supplies and financial assistance, as President Eisenhower had, but 15,000 military advisers as well.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Under-US-President-John-F-Kennedy-the-number-of-U/72052" data-id="72052" data-type="video" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/17/78017-049-8AF733E2.jpg" alt=""><em class="md-play material-icons" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Under U.S. President John F. Kennedy, the number of U.S. advisers to the South Vietnamese military …</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/President-John-F-Kennedy-announcing-the-US-naval-blockade-of/74998" data-id="74998" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/98/1898-004-B8A73F63.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">President John F. Kennedy announcing the U.S. naval blockade of Cuba on October 22, 1962.</div><div class="credit"><em>© Archive Photos</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/US-President-John-F-Kennedy-signing-the-Nuclear-Test-Ban/119459" data-id="119459" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/45/112545-004-2E91D35F.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">U.S. President John F. Kennedy signing the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, October 7, 1963.</div><div class="credit"><em>National Archives and Records Administration</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Overview-of-the-Cuban-missile-crisis-and-its-effect-on/195697" data-id="195697" data-type="video" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/67/180267-049-693854BC.jpg" alt=""><em class="md-play material-icons" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Overview of the Cuban missile crisis and its effect on Germany, 1962.</div><div class="credit"><em>Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/John-F-Kennedy-visiting-West-Berlin-in-June-1963-and/195631" data-id="195631" data-type="video" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/68/180268-049-81783DC7.jpg" alt=""><em class="md-play material-icons" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">John F. Kennedy visiting West Berlin in June 1963 and delivering his “Ich bin ein …</div><div class="credit"><em>Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">Because of his slender victory in 1960, Kennedy approached Congress warily, and with good reason; Congress was largely indifferent to his legislative program. It approved his <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alliance-for-Progress"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/16355/Alliance-for-Progress">Alliance for Progress</span></a> (Alianza) in <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Latin-America"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/331694/history-of-Latin-America">Latin America</span></a> and his <a name="ref245013" id="ref245013" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Peace-Corps"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/447718/Peace-Corps">Peace Corps</span></a>, which won the enthusiastic endorsement of thousands of college students. But his two most cherished projects, massive income tax cuts and a sweeping civil rights measure, were not passed until after his death. In May 1961 Kennedy committed the United States to land a man on the Moon by the end of the decade, and, while he would not live to see this achievement either, his <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advocacy" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="advocacy">advocacy</a> of the space program contributed to the successful launch of the first American manned spaceflights.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/President-John-F-Kennedy-rallying-the-United-States-to-support/16627" data-id="16627" data-type="video" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/52/21952-049-680DAC32.jpg" alt=""><em class="md-play material-icons" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">President John F. Kennedy rallying the United States to support NASA’s Apollo program to land human …</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/US-President-John-F-Kennedy-speaking-about-the-U/119453" data-id="119453" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/39/119139-004-042E6FF8.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">U.S. President John F. Kennedy speaking about the U.S. space program at Rice University, Houston, …</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Historical-news-footage-outlining-the-goals-of-the-Peace-Corps/128179" data-id="128179" data-type="video" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/91/128991-049-E1AE64E4.jpg" alt=""><em class="md-play material-icons" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Historical news footage outlining the goals of the Peace Corps.</div><div class="credit"><em>Stock footage courtesy The WPA Film Library</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">He was an immensely popular president, at home and abroad. At times he seemed to be everywhere at once, encouraging better physical fitness, improving the morale of government workers, bringing brilliant advisers to the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/White-House-Washington-DC"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/642311/White-House">White House</span></a>, and beautifying Washington, D.C. His wife joined him as an advocate for American <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="culture">culture</a>. Their two young children, Caroline Bouvier and John F., Jr., were familiar throughout the country. The charm and optimism of the Kennedy family seemed <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contagious" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="contagious">contagious</a>, sparking the idealism of a generation for whom the Kennedy White House became, in journalist Theodore White’s famous <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analogy" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="analogy">analogy</a>, Camelot—the magical court of Arthurian <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legend" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="legend">legend</a>, which was celebrated in a popular Broadway musical of the early 1960s.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/US-President-John-F-Kennedy-with-first-lady-Jacqueline-Kennedy/86949" data-id="86949" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/38/91238-004-AD344E5A.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">U.S. President John F. Kennedy with first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, 1961.</div><div class="credit"><em>Art Rickerby—Time Life Pictures/Getty Images</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/US-President-John-F-Kennedy-attending-the-dedication-of-Whiskeytown/119461" data-id="119461" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/78/114878-004-7F624BFE.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">U.S. President John F. Kennedy attending the dedication of Whiskeytown Dam on the Trinity River in …</div><div class="credit"><em>Art Rickerby—Time Life Pictures/Getty Images</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">Joseph Kennedy, meanwhile, had been incapacitated in Hyannis Port by a stroke, but the other Kennedys were in and out of Washington. Robert Kennedy, as John’s attorney general, was the second most powerful man in the country. He advised the president on all matters of foreign and domestic policy, national security, and political affairs.</p><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">In 1962 Ted Kennedy was elected to the president’s former Senate seat in Massachusetts. Their sister Eunice’s husband, <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/R-Sargent-Shriver"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/542097/R-Sargent-Shriver">Sargent Shriver</span></a>, became director of the Peace Corps. Their sister Jean’s husband, Stephen Smith, was preparing to manage the Democratic Party’s 1964 presidential campaign. Another sister, Patricia, had married Peter Lawford, an English-born actor who served the family as an unofficial envoy to the entertainment world. All Americans knew who Rose, Jackie, Bobby, and Teddy were, and most could identify Bobby’s wife as Ethel and Teddy’s wife as Joan. But if the first family had become American royalty, its image of perfection would be tainted years later by allegations of marital infidelity by the president (most notably, an affair with motion-picture icon Marilyn Monroe) and of his association with members of organized crime.</p></section><section data-level="1" id="toc3869"><h2 class="h2">Assassination</h2><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">President Kennedy believed that his Republican opponent in 1964 would be Senator <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barry-Goldwater"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/237955/Barry-Goldwater">Barry Goldwater</span></a> of Arizona. He was convinced that he could bury Goldwater under an avalanche of votes, thus receiving a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandate" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="mandate">mandate</a> for major legislative reforms. One obstacle to his plan was a feud in Vice President Johnson’s home state of Texas between Governor <a name="ref245015" id="ref245015" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Bowden-Connally-Jr"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/132912/John-Bowden-Connally-Jr">John B. Connally, Jr.,</span></a> and Senator <a name="ref245016" id="ref245016" class="idxref"></a>Ralph Yarborough, both Democrats. To present a show of unity, the president decided to tour the state with both men. On Friday, November 22, 1963, he and Jacqueline Kennedy were in an open limousine riding slowly in a motorcade through downtown Dallas. At 12:30 <span class="bps-small-text">pm</span> the president was struck by two rifle bullets, one at the base of his neck and one in the head. He was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Governor Connally, though also gravely wounded, recovered. Vice President Johnson took the oath as president at 2:38 <span class="bps-small-text">pm</span>. <a name="ref245017" id="ref245017" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lee-Harvey-Oswald"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/434542/Lee-Harvey-Oswald">Lee Harvey Oswald</span></a>, a 24-year-old Dallas citizen, was accused of the slaying. Two days later Oswald was shot to death by <a name="ref245018" id="ref245018" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jack-Ruby"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/512051/Jack-Ruby">Jack Ruby</span></a>, a local nightclub owner with connections to the criminal underworld, in the basement of a Dallas police station. A presidential commission headed by the chief justice of the United States, <a name="ref1109177" id="ref1109177" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Earl-Warren"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/636023/Earl-Warren">Earl Warren</span></a>, later found that neither the sniper nor his killer “was part of any <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conspiracy" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="conspiracy">conspiracy</a>, domestic or foreign, to assassinate President Kennedy,” but that Oswald had acted alone. The <a name="ref245019" id="ref245019" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Warren-Commission"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/636051/Warren-Commission">Warren Commission</span></a>, however, was not able to convincingly explain all the particular circumstances of Kennedy’s murder. In 1979 a special committee of the U.S. House of Representatives declared that although the president had undoubtedly been slain by Oswald, acoustic analysis suggested the presence of a second gunman who had missed. But this declaration did little to squelch the theories that Oswald was part of a conspiracy involving either CIA agents angered over Kennedy’s handling of the Bay of Pigs fiasco or members of organized crime seeking revenge for Attorney General Bobby Kennedy’s relentless criminal investigations. Kennedy’s assassination, the most <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/notorious" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="notorious">notorious</a> political murder of the 20th century, remains a source of bafflement, controversy, and speculation.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/US-President-John-F-Kennedy-and-first-lady-Jacqueline-Kennedy/119462" data-id="119462" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/84/114884-004-E7C040BC.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">U.S. President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy minutes before the president was …</div><div class="credit"><em>Bettmann/Corbis</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/The-front-page-of-the-Chicago-Tribune-on-November-23/119588" data-id="119588" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/51/119151-004-997E4AE9.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">The front page of the <em>Chicago Tribune</em> on November 23, 1963, the day …</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Jacqueline-Kennedy-and-Lady-Bird-Johnson-standing-by-US-President/57174" data-id="57174" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/55/66755-004-9FC494EC.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Jacqueline Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson standing by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson as he takes …</div><div class="credit"><em>Lyndon B. Johnson Library Photo</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/President-John-F-Kennedys-body-being-carried-by-pallbearers-into/119582" data-id="119582" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/40/119140-004-0EAC5782.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">President John F. Kennedy’s body being carried by pallbearers into the U.S. Capitol rotunda, …</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/The-body-of-President-John-F-Kennedy-lying-in-state/119584" data-id="119584" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/49/119149-004-728B19AE.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">The body of President John F. Kennedy lying in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, November 24, 1963.</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/President-John-F-Kennedys-funeral-procession-on-its-way-to/119586" data-id="119586" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/50/119150-004-5A3B5CDD.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">President John F. Kennedy’s funeral procession on its way to Arlington National Cemetery, November …</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">John Kennedy was dead, but the Kennedy mystique was still alive. Both Robert and Ted ran for president (in 1968 and 1980, respectively). Yet tragedy would become nearly synonymous with the Kennedys when Bobby, too, was assassinated on the campaign trail in 1968.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Portrait-of-President-John-F-Kennedy-by-Aaron-Shikler-1970/119591" data-id="119591" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/52/119152-004-E43D397C.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">Portrait of President John F. Kennedy by Aaron Shikler, 1970.</div><div class="credit"><em>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">Jacqueline Kennedy and her two children moved from the White House to a home in the Georgetown section of Washington. Continuing crowds of the worshipful and curious made peace there impossible, however, and in the summer of 1964 she moved to <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/New-York-City"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/412352/New-York-City">New York City</span></a>. Pursuit continued until October 20, 1968, when she married <a name="ref672640" id="ref672640" class="idxref"></a><a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle-Socrates-Onassis"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/428916/Aristotle-Socrates-Onassis">Aristotle Onassis</span></a>, a wealthy Greek shipping magnate. The Associated Press said that the <a class="md-crosslink" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/marriage"><span property="about" href="https://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/366152/marriage">marriage</span></a> “broke the spell of almost complete <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adulation" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="adulation">adulation</a> of a woman who had become virtually a legend in her own time.” Widowed by Onassis, the former first lady returned to the public eye in the mid-1970s as a high-profile book editor, and she remained among the most admired women in the United States until her death in 1994. As an adult, daughter Caroline was jealous of her own privacy, but <a name="ref672641" id="ref672641" class="idxref"></a>John Jr.—a lawyer like his sister and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/debonair" class="md-dictionary-link" data-term="debonair">debonair</a> and handsome like his father—was much more of a public figure. Long remembered as “John-John,” the three-year-old who stoically saluted his father’s casket during live television coverage of the funeral procession, John Jr. became the founder and editor-in-chief of the political magazine <i>George</i> in the mid-1990s. In 1999, when John Jr., his wife, and his sister-in-law died in the crash of the private plane he was piloting, the event was the focus of an international media watch that further proved the immortality of the Kennedy mystique. It was yet another chapter in the family’s “curse” of tragedy.</p><div class="other-media gutter-bottom"><ul><li><figure data-layout="column" class="center-xs middle-xs"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/John-F-Kennedy-Jr/72148" data-id="72148" data-type="image" class="media-overlay-link"><div class="image-wrapper"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/97/74197-004-7BF627DD.jpg" alt=""><em class="material-icons" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></div></a><figcaption class="text-center"><div class="description"><div class="description-text">John F. Kennedy, Jr., with his mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, at the John F. Kennedy Library …</div><div class="credit"><em>David M. Tenenbaum/AP</em></div></div></figcaption></figure></li></ul></div><span class="bps-article-author"><a class="md-author-link" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/contributor/William-Manchester/1888">William Manchester</a></span><span class="bps-article-author"><a class="md-author-link" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopdia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica</a></span></section><section data-level="1" id="toc277410"><h2 class="h2">Cabinet of President John F. Kennedy</h2><p class="md-content-block gutter-bottom">The table provides a list of cabinet members in the administration of President John F. Kennedy.<div class="bps-topic-table-wrapper md-content-block flex"><div class="bps-topic-table" id="toc9398240"> <div class="oec-table-wrapper-title"><div>Cabinet of President John F. Kennedy</div></div><div class="oec-table-wrapper"><table class="oec_table" summary="Cabinet of President John F. Kennedy"> <tbody> <tr class="oec_section_header"> <td colspan="2">January 20, 1961-November 22, 1963</td> </tr> <tr class="oec_odd"> <td scope="row">State</td> <td><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513082/Dean-Rusk" class="bps-topic-link">Dean Rusk</a></td> </tr> <tr class="oec_even"> <td scope="row">Treasury</td> <td>C. (Clarence) Douglas Dillon</td> </tr> <tr class="oec_odd"> <td scope="row">Defense</td> <td><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/355213/Robert-S-McNamara" class="bps-topic-link">Robert S. McNamara</a></td> </tr> <tr class="oec_even"> <td scope="row">Attorney General</td> <td><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/314866/Robert-F-Kennedy" class="bps-topic-link">Robert F. Kennedy</a></td> </tr> <tr class="oec_odd"> <td scope="row">Interior</td> <td>Stewart Lee Udall</td> </tr> <tr class="oec_even"> <td scope="row">Agriculture</td> <td>Orville Lothrop Freeman</td> </tr> <tr class="oec_odd"> <td scope="row">Commerce</td> <td>Luther Hartwell Hodges</td> </tr> <tr class="oec_even"> <td scope="row">Labor</td> <td><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/237458/Arthur-J-Goldberg" class="bps-topic-link">Arthur Joseph Goldberg</a><br> W. (William) Willard Wirtz (from September 25, 1962)</td> </tr> <tr class="oec_odd"> <td scope="row">Health, Education, and Welfare</td> <td>Abraham Alexander Ribicoff<br> Anthony Joseph Celebrezze (from July 31, 1962)</td> </tr> <tr class="oec_even"> <td colspan="2"></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> </div></div></p></section></article> <div class="md-content-footer"> <div class="footer-feedback-link md-link"> <div class="md-feedback-cta grid no-gutter"> <div class="feedback grid-xs-shrink middle-xs"> <div class="title"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="chat"></em> Feedback </div> </div> <div class="description grid-xs"> <span>Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article!</span> <span>Contact our editors with your feedback.</span> </div> </div> </div> <h2>Additional Media</h2> <div class="md-view-all-media"> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos" class="view-all center-xs middle-xs"> <div class="text text-center"> View<br/> all<br/> media </div> <em class="material-icons md-36" data-icon="chevron_right"></em> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/History-of-the-American-human-spaceflight-program-in-the-1960s/161595" class="media-overlay-link" data-id="161595"> <div class="video-wrapper"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/89/152189-049-47AC6771.jpg" alt="History of the American human spaceflight program in the 1960s."/> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Narrator-Robert-De-Niro-conductor-Keith-Lockhart-and-narrators-Ed/148842" class="media-overlay-link" data-id="148842"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/65/143765-004-6AD48ABD.jpg" alt="Narrator Robert De Niro, conductor Keith Lockhart, and narrators Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman receive applause after the world premiere of The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers, composed by Peter Boyer with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus on May 18, 2010."/> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/The-arms-of-US-President-John-F-Kennedy-The-gold/1873" class="media-overlay-link" data-id="1873"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/99/1199-004-4AB12F13.jpg" alt="The arms of U.S. President John F. KennedyThe gold helmets are a variant of the three silver helmets of an ancient Kennedy coat. The border of the shield was added as a further difference. The olive branches and sheaf of arrows are derived from those of the Great Seal of the United States. The mantling is blazoned as argent and gules; this is exceptional to the rule that the principal tinctures of the arms (in this case, or and sable) be repeated. No motto was included in the grant. The diagonal orientation of the shield is called couché and is optional in all depictions of arms."/> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/John-F-Kennedy/137001" class="media-overlay-link" data-id="137001"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/37/95437-004-20700622.jpg" alt="John F. Kennedy."/> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos/Teenage-future-president-Bill-Clinton-as-a-delegate-to-the/159488" class="media-overlay-link" data-id="159488"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/06/126206-004-2787CC59.jpg" alt="Teenage future president Bill Clinton, as a delegate to the American Legion Boys Nation, shaking hands with Pres. John F. Kennedy in Washington, D.C., 1963. "/> </div> </a> </div> <div class="md-more-about"> <h2>More about <span>John F. Kennedy</span></h2> <div class="gisted-more-about md-content-block"> <div class="md-more-about-subtitle">67 References found in Britannica Articles</div><div class="index-entry-main"><strong>Assorted References</strong></div><ul class="dots"><li>ancestral home (<em>in </em><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/New-Ross#ref885257">New Ross</a>) </li><li>birthplace (<em>in </em><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/Brookline#ref46974">Brookline</a>) </li><li>coat of arms (<em>in </em><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/heraldry#ref19980">heraldry: General considerations</a>) (<em>in </em><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/heraldry#ref19995">heraldry: Banners and standards</a>) </li><li>defeat of Humphrey in West Virginia (<em>in </em><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/place/West-Virginia/Cultural-life#ref952604">West Virginia: Postwar period</a>) </li><li>Kennedy-Nixon debates (<em>in </em><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/art/television-in-the-United-States/The-year-of-transition-1959#ref1057314">Television in the United States: The Kennedy-Nixon debates</a>) </li><li>popularity of James Bond novels (<em>in </em><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ian-Fleming#ref748422">Ian Fleming</a>) </li><li>Air Force One (<em>in </em><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Air-Force-One#ref1109725">Air Force One (aircraft): A new look under Kennedy</a>) </li></ul><div class="more-index text-center gutter-bottom"><button class="md-button more-about-more">View More</button></div></div> <div class="full-more-about md-content-block template-ajax-loaded-content"></div> </div> <div class="md-info-accordion"> <h2 id="Additional-Information" class="md-accordion-title no-ad" data-url="/ajax/topic/314791/article-additional-information">Additional Information</h2> <div class="md-accordion md-content-block template-ajax-loaded-content ADDITIONAL_INFORMATION"></div> <h2 id="Additional-Reading" class="md-accordion-title no-ad" data-url="/ajax/topic/314791/article-bibliography">Additional Reading</h2> <div class="md-accordion md-content-block template-ajax-loaded-content BIBLIOGRAPHY"></div> <h2 id="External-Links" class="md-accordion-title no-ad" data-url="/ajax/topic/314791/article-websites">External Links</h2> <div class="md-accordion md-content-block template-ajax-loaded-content WEBSITES"><div class="md-content-box-subcontent"> <ul class="md-external-websites"> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/people/john_f_kennedy" target="_blank">British Broadcasting Corporation - History - Biography of John F Kennedy</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/presidents/john-f-kennedy.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Maps of World - Biography of John F. Kennedy</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://millercenter.org/president/kennedy" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Miller Center - University of Virginia - Biography of John Fitzgerald Kennedy</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/kennedys-bio-john-fitzgerald/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Public Broadcasting Service - American Experience - Biography of John F. Kennedy</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://spartacus-educational.com/USAkennedyJ.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Spartacus Educational - Biography of John Fitzgerald Kennedy</a> <span class="md-external-website-review">Political profile of this 35th president of United States, who signed Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, faced Cuban missile crises, and involved his country in the conflict in Vietnam. </span></li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/johnfkennedy" target="_blank">The White House - Biography of John F. Kennedy</a> <span class="md-external-website-review">Site selected for the Presidency of the United States</span></li> </ul> </div> <h3 class="md-topic-subpage-title">Britannica Web sites</h3> <p class="bps-topic-student-sites">Articles from Britannica encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.</p><dl class="bps-topic-web-sites bps-lk-student"><dt><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://kids.britannica.com/ebk/article-9345489/John-F-Kennedy" target="_blank">John F. Kennedy - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)</a></dt><dd><p>John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States. He was an immensely popular leader. His assassination in 1963 shocked the nation and the world.</p></dd><dt><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://kids.britannica.com/ebi/article-9275246/John-F-Kennedy" target="_blank">John F. Kennedy - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)</a></dt><dd><p>(1917-63). In November 1960, at the age of 43, John F. Kennedy became the youngest man ever elected president of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt had become president at 42 when President William McKinley was assassinated, but he was not elected at that age. On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was shot to death in Dallas, Texas, the fourth United States president to die by an assassin’s bullet.</p></dd></dl></div> <h2 id="Article-Contributors" class="md-accordion-title no-ad" data-url="/ajax/topic/314791/article-contributors">Article Contributors</h2> <div class="md-accordion md-content-block template-ajax-loaded-content CONTRIBUTORS"></div> <h2 id="Article-History" class="md-accordion-title no-ad" data-url="/ajax/topic/314791/article-history">Article History</h2> <div class="md-accordion md-content-block template-ajax-loaded-content HISTORY"></div> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="grid-xs-ad-300 md-hidden"></aside> </div> </div></div></div> </div> <noscript> </noscript> <div id="md-media-overlay" class="ui-hidden"> <a href="#" class="md-media-overlay-close" title="Close"> <em class="material-icons md-36" data-icon="close"></em> </a> <div class="md-media-overlay-title"> <div class="subtitle">MEDIA FOR:</div> <div class="maintitle">John F. Kennedy</div> </div> <div class="md-media-overlay-content-container"> <a href="#" class="md-media-overlay-arrow md-media-overlay-previous" title="Previous media"><em class="material-icons md-48" data-icon="chevron_left"><span>Previous</span></em></a> <div id="md-media-container" data-layout="column" class="md-media-wrapper center-xs middle-xs"></div> <a href="#" class="md-media-overlay-arrow md-media-overlay-next" title="Next media"><em class="material-icons md-48" data-icon="chevron_right"><span>Next</span></em></a> <div id="md-media-overlay-caption"> <div id="md-media-overlay-count"></div> <div id="md-media-overlay-caption-title"></div> <div class="md-media-overlay-credit-caption fancy-scrollbar white"> <div id="md-media-overlay-caption-text"></div> <div id="md-media-overlay-credit"></div> <div id="md-media-overlay-license"></div> </div> <div class="md-social-toolbar-circle center-xs inverted colored" data-value="share" title="John F. Kennedy"> <a class="ui-icon-facebook center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="facebook" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.facebook.com/BRITANNICA/" target="_blank"><span>Facebook</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-twitter center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="twitter" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://twitter.com/britannica" target="_blank"><span>Twitter</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-gplus center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="googleplus" href target="_blank"><span>Google+</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-linkedin center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="linkedin" href target="_blank"><span>LinkedIn</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-pinterest center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="pinterest" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.pinterest.com/britannica/" target="_blank"><span>Pinterest</span></a> </div></div> <div class="md-media-overlay-toolbar"> <a id="md-media-overlay-toolbar-print" href="#" target="_blank" title="Print" rel="nofollow"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="print"></em></a> <span id="md-media-overlay-toolbar-citations" title="Citation"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="bookmark"></em></span> <span id="md-media-overlay-toolbar-email" title="Email"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="mail_outline"></em></span> </div> <div id="md-media-overlay-citations" class="md-media-overlay-box ui-hidden"> <div class="md-media-overlay-citations-menu"> <div id="md-media-overlay-citations-close" class="md-media-overlay-box-close"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="close"></em></div> <em>Citation</em> <ul class="md-media-overlay-citations-select"> <li data-value="mla">MLA</li> <li data-value="apa">APA</li> <li data-value="harvard">Harvard</li> <li data-value="chicago">Chicago</li> </ul> </div> <div id="md-media-overlay-citations-text"></div> </div> <div id="md-media-overlay-email" class="md-media-overlay-box ui-hidden"> <em>Email</em> <div id="md-media-overlay-email-close" class="md-media-overlay-box-close"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="close"></em></div> <form id="md-media-overlay-email-form"> <input type="hidden" name="assembly_id"/> <input type="hidden" name="page_id"/> <label for="md-media-overlay-email-to">To:</label> <input type="text" id="md-media-overlay-email-to" name="to" placeholder="Enter an email address" required="true" data-validation="email"/> <label for="md-media-overlay-email-from">From:</label> <input type="text" id="md-media-overlay-email-from" name="from" placeholder="Enter an email address" required="true" data-validation="email"/> <label for="md-media-overlay-email-comment">Comment:</label> <textarea id="md-media-overlay-email-comment" name="comment" placeholder="Add a comment"></textarea> <input type="submit" value="SEND"/> </form> </div> <div id="md-media-overlay-submit-email" class="md-media-overlay-box ui-hidden"> <div class="md-media-overlay-submit-email-ok ui-hidden">You have successfully emailed this.</div> <div class="md-media-overlay-submit-email-error">Error when sending the email. Try again later.</div> <input type="button" value="OK" class="md-button md-primary"/> </div> </div> <div class="md-vertical-media-strip ui-hidden"></div> <div id="md-media-overlay-ad"> <iframe id="media-overlay-ad-iframe" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" width="160" height="600"></iframe> </div> </div> <div id="md-edit-mode" class="ui-hidden"> <div class="md-modal-header"> <div class="md-modal-title md-heading-3">Edit Mode</div> </div> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="content-page"> <div class="grid"> <div class="grid-xs"> <div class="edit-title md-heading-1">John F. Kennedy</div> <div class="topic-identifier subhead">President of United States</div> </div> <div class="grid-xs-shrink"> <button class="md-edit-tips md-button md-link" type="button"><em class="material-icons" data-icon="info_outline"></em> Tips for Editing</button> <button class="md-close-modal md-button md-link" type="button">Leave Edit Mode</button> <button class="md-button md-primary" type="submit" disabled>Submit</button> </div> </div> <div class="grid grid-gutter-right"> <div class="grid-xs-ad-300"> <div class="md-heading-3">Table of Contents</div> <div class="md-edit-mode-toc"></div> </div> <div class="grid-xs"> <div class="md-edit-mode-editable md-article-content" placeholder="Loading article content..."></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="md-edit-tips" class="md-edit-mode-modal ui-hidden"> <div class="md-modal-header"> <div class="md-modal-title md-heading-3">Tips For Editing</div> </div> <div class="md-modal-body"> <p> We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. </p> <p> <ol> <li>Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience.</li> <li>You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered.</li> <li>Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources.</li> <li>At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.)</li> </ol> </p> <p> Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. </p> </div> </div><div id="md-edit-leave" class="md-edit-mode-modal ui-hidden"> <div class="md-modal-header"> <div class="md-modal-title md-heading-3">Leave Edit Mode</div> </div> <div class="md-modal-body text-center"> <p>You are about to leave edit mode.</p> <p>Your changes will be lost unless you select "Submit".</p> <div class="text-center"> <button class="md-leave md-button md-link">Leave Edit Mode</button> <button class="md-submit md-button md-primary">Submit</button> </div> </div> </div><div id="md-edit-confirmation" class="md-edit-mode-modal ui-hidden"> <div class="md-modal-header"> <div class="md-modal-title md-heading-3">Thank You for Your Contribution!</div> </div> <div class="md-modal-body"> <p>Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article.</p> <p>Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed.</p> <div class="text-center"> <button class="md-button md-primary">OK, Continue to Article</button> </div> </div> </div><div id="md-edit-error" class="md-edit-mode-modal ui-hidden"> <div class="md-modal-header"> <div class="md-modal-title md-heading-3">Uh Oh</div> </div> <div class="md-modal-body text-center"> <p>There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later.</p> <button class="md-button md-primary">Close</button> </div> </div><div class="footer-ad"> <div data-refresh="true" id="div-gpt-ad-3318a727-2abe-4299-8318-a0e70c41f33b" data-slot="BOT" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { headertag.display('div-gpt-ad-3318a727-2abe-4299-8318-a0e70c41f33b'); });</script> </div> </div> <div class="md-pinboard"> <div class="container"> <h2>Keep Exploring Britannica</h2> <div class="pinboard"> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/list/10-places-every-lit-lover-should-see" class="item list"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/76/176576-118-37BA2933.jpg" alt="Window of City Lights bookstore, San Francisco."/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">International Literary Tour: 10 Places Every Lit Lover Should See</div> <div class="description">Prefer the intoxicating aroma of old books over getting sunburned on sweltering beaches while on vacation? Want to see where some of the world’s most important publications were given life? If so, then...</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="list"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham-Lincoln" class="item topic"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/34/78134-004-8587374E.jpg" alt="Abraham Lincoln, photograph by Mathew Brady."/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">Abraham Lincoln</div> <div class="description">16th president of the United States (1861–65), who preserved the Union during the American Civil War and brought about the emancipation of the slaves. (For a discussion of the history and nature of the...</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="insert_drive_file"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/list/8-banned-books-through-time" class="item list"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/34/166534-118-4FEF7F1D.jpg" alt="The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)"/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">Bad Words: 8 Banned Books Through Time</div> <div class="description">There are plenty of reasons why a book might be banned. It may subvert a popular belief of a dominating culture, shock an audience with grotesque, sexual, or obscene language, or promote strife within...</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="list"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bill-Clinton" class="item topic"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/15/62215-004-39D48102.jpg" alt="Bill Clinton, 1997."/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">Bill Clinton</div> <div class="description">42nd president of the United States (1993–2001), who oversaw the country’s longest peacetime economic expansion. In 1998 he became the second U.S. president to be impeached; he was acquitted by the Senate...</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="insert_drive_file"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/history-lesson-fact-or-fiction" class="item quiz"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/93/125393-118-6F894124.jpg" alt="Ax."/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">History Lesson: Fact or Fiction?</div> <div class="description">Take this History True or False Quiz at Encyclopedia Britannica to test your knowledge of Pakistan, the Scopes monkey trial, and more historic facts.</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="casino"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/topic/National-Museum-of-African-American-History-and-Culture" class="item topic"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/91/191691-004-EA2DF164.jpg" alt="The National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C."/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)</div> <div class="description">NMAAHC museum of the Smithsonian Institution located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., that presents the history, art, and culture of African American people from slavery to the present day. It...</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="insert_drive_file"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barack-Obama" class="item topic"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/19/101219-004-9F07ECDB.jpg" alt="Barack Obama."/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">Barack Obama</div> <div class="description">44th president of the United States (2009–) and the first African American to hold the office. Before winning the presidency, Obama represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate (2005–08). He was the third...</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="insert_drive_file"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ronald-Reagan" class="item topic"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/12/3712-004-00766B9B.jpg" alt="Ronald Reagan."/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">Ronald Reagan</div> <div class="description">40th president of the United States (1981–89), noted for his conservative Republicanism, his fervent anticommunism, and his appealing personal style, characterized by a jaunty affability and folksy charm....</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="insert_drive_file"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/journey-through-europe-fact-or-fiction" class="item quiz"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/27/129527-118-52D907DF.jpg" alt="Side view of bullet train at sunset. High speed train. Hompepage blog 2009, geography and travel, science and technology passenger train transportation railroad"/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">Journey Through Europe: Fact or Fiction?</div> <div class="description">Take this Geography True or False Quiz at Encyclopedia Britannica to test your knowledge of Sweden, Italy, and other European countries.</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="casino"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/list/11-presidential-pets" class="item list"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/26/109326-118-A5352012.jpg" alt="A pet macaw. Large colourful parrot native to tropical America. Bird, companionship, bird, beak, alert, squawk. For AFA new year resolution."/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">11 Popular—Or Just Plain Odd—Presidential Pets</div> <div class="description">In late 2013, Sunny Obama, the first family’s second Portuguese Water Dog, created quite a stir when she accidentally knocked over a young guest at a White House Christmas event. This presidential pooch...</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="list"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/exploring-europe-fact-or-fiction" class="item quiz"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/51/70351-118-56C75F75.jpg" alt="European Union. Design specifications on the symbol for the euro."/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">Exploring Europe: Fact or Fiction?</div> <div class="description">Take this Geography True or False Quiz at Encyclopedia Britannica to test your knowledge of Ireland, Andorra, and other European countries.</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="casino"></em> </div> </a> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-W-Bush" class="item topic"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/78/73178-004-5BD5A891.jpg" alt="George W. Bush."/> <div class="content"> <div class="title">George W. Bush</div> <div class="description">43rd president of the United States (2001–09), who led his country’s response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and initiated the Iraq War in 2003. Narrowly winning the electoral college vote...</div> </div> <div class="icon-container text-right"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="insert_drive_file"></em> </div> </a> </div> <div class="text-center"> <button class="md-button md-primary md-button-lg">View More</button> </div> </div> </div> <div class="catfish text-center"> <span class="close material-icons" data-icon="close"></span> <div data-refresh="true" id="div-gpt-ad-661cfb9d-b6b7-423b-8bc4-b0ba3d60d73f" data-slot="CATFISH" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { headertag.display('div-gpt-ad-661cfb9d-b6b7-423b-8bc4-b0ba3d60d73f'); });</script> </div> </div></main> <footer id="md-footer" class="footer-wrapper hide-on-edit"> <div class="footer-bck"> <div class="md-social-toolbar-circle center-xs colored" data-value="connect"> <div class="share-label xs-hidden">Stay Connected</div> <a class="ui-icon-facebook center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="facebook" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.facebook.com/BRITANNICA/" target="_blank"><span>Facebook</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-twitter center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="twitter" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://twitter.com/britannica" target="_blank"><span>Twitter</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-youtube-play center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="youtube" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.youtube.com/c/encyclopaediabritannica" target="_blank"><span>YouTube</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-instagram center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="instagram" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.instagram.com/britannica/" target="_blank"><span>Instagram</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-pinterest center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="pinterest" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.pinterest.com/britannica/" target="_blank"><span>Pinterest</span></a> <a class="ui-icon center-xs middle-xs" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://safe.britannica.com/customer/mailinglist/" title="Newsletters" target="_blank"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="drafts"><span>Newsletters</span></em> </a> </div><br/> <ul class="md-footer-slim"> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://corporate.britannica.com/" target="_blank">About Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://corporate.britannica.com/privacy.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">About Our Ads</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://corporate.britannica.com/publishing-partner-program" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Partner Program</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://corporate.britannica.com/contact/consumer/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://corporate.britannica.com/privacy.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Privacy Policy</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://corporate.britannica.com/termsofuse.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Terms of Use</a></li> </ul> ©2016 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. </div> </footer><div class="navigation-bar flex" data-pinned-when="120"> <div class="grid no-gutter"> <div class="main-tools grid-sm-shrink grid-xs middle-xs"> <div class="md-logo md-nav-item"> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/"> <img src="/web/20161120123114im_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/images/header/pinned-header-thistle.jpg" alt="go to homepage"/> </a> </div> <div class="md-nav-item menu" data-popover=".menu-popover"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="menu"></em> <div class="title xs-hidden">Menu</div> <div class="menu-popover md-popover text-left" data-clear="true"> <div class="popover-body"> <ul> <li><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/stories/browse">Stories</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/browse">Quizzes</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/gallery/browse">Galleries</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/list/browse">Lists</a></li> <li><hr></li> <li><strong><a href="#" class="login-link">Login</a></strong></li> <li><strong><a href="#" class="signup-link">Join</a></strong></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-nav-item xs-hidden search" data-popover=".search-popover"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="search"></em> <div class="title xs-hidden">Search</div> <div class="search-popover md-popover text-left"> <form method="get" action="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/search"> <label class="sr-only" for="navbar-search">Search</label> <input class="search form-control" id="navbar-search" placeholder="Search..." name="query"> <button class="material-icons" type="submit">search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div class="topic-title-container gray grid-xs xs-hidden middle-xs has-toc"> <div class="topic-title-wrapper"> <div class="topic-title">John F. Kennedy</div> <div class="md-alternative-titles">president of United States</div></div> <div data-layout-sm="column" class="md-toc-toggle grid-xs middle-xs" data-popover=".md-table-of-contents"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="toc"></em> <div class="title"> <small> <span class="lg-visible md-visible">Table of Contents</span> <span class="lg-hidden md-hidden">Contents</span> </small> <div class="section md-visible lg-visible"></div> </div> </div> <div class="md-table-of-contents md-popover"> <ul class="toc-ul"><li class="lv1" data-section="314791main" data-toc="toc314791main"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy">Introduction</a></li><li class="lv1" data-section="314791main" data-toc="toc3866"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy#toc3866">Early life</a></li><li class="lv1" data-section="314791main" data-toc="toc3867"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy#toc3867">Congressman and senator</a></li><li class="lv1" data-section="314791main" data-toc="toc3868"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy#toc3868">Presidential candidate and president</a></li><li class="lv1" data-section="314791main" data-toc="toc3869"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy#toc3869">Assassination</a></li><li class="lv1" data-section="314791main" data-toc="toc277410"><a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy#toc277410">Cabinet of President John F. Kennedy</a></li></ul></div></div> <div class="additional-tools gray grid-xs-shrink center-xs middle-xs"> <a class="md-nav-item media" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/images-videos"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="collections"></em> <div class="xs-hidden">Media</div> </a> <a class="md-nav-item print xs-hidden" href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/print/article/314791" target="_blank" data-popover=".print-popover"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="print"></em> <div>Print</div> <div class="print-popover md-popover text-left"> <div class="popover-body"> <div class="title">Print</div> Please select which sections you would like to print: <form action="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/print/article/314791" method="post" target="_blank"> <input type="hidden" name="topicId" value="314791"/> <ul id="print-box-items"></ul> <input type="submit" class="md-button md-primary md-disabled" value="Print"/> </form> </div> </div></a> <div class="md-nav-item cite xs-hidden" data-popover=".citation-popover"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="bookmark"></em> <div class="xs-hidden">Cite</div> <div class="citation-popover md-popover text-left"> <div class="popover-body"> <div class="title">Cite</div> <ul> <li> <strong>Contributor:</strong> <a href="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/contributor/William-Manchester/1888">William Manchester</a></li> <li> <strong>Article Title:</strong> John F. Kennedy</li> <li> <strong>Website Name:</strong> Encyclopædia Britannica </li> <li> <strong>Publisher:</strong> Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. </li> <li> <strong>Date Published:</strong> June 09, 2015</li> <li> <strong>URL:</strong> https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy</li> <li> <strong>Access Date:</strong> November 20, 2016</li> </ul> </div> </div></div> <div class="md-nav-item share" data-popover=".share-popover"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="share"></em> <div class="xs-hidden">Share</div> <div class="share-popover md-popover text-left"> <div class="popover-body"> <div class="title">Share</div> <div class="md-social-toolbar-circle center-xs inverted" data-value="share"> <a class="ui-icon-facebook center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="facebook" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.facebook.com/BRITANNICA/" target="_blank"><span>Facebook</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-twitter center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="twitter" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://twitter.com/britannica" target="_blank"><span>Twitter</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-gplus center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="googleplus" href target="_blank"><span>Google+</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-linkedin center-xs middle-xs" data-provider="linkedin" href target="_blank"><span>LinkedIn</span></a> <a class="ui-icon-mail center-xs middle-xs" data-email target="_blank"><span>Email</span></a> </div></div> </div></div> <div class="md-nav-item feedback xs-hidden" data-popover=".feedback-popover"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="chat"></em> <div class="xs-hidden">Feedback</div> <div class="feedback-popover md-popover text-left"> <div class="popover-body"> <form method="post" action="/web/20161120123114/https://www.britannica.com/submission/feedback/314791"> <div class="title">Feedback</div> <label for="feedback">Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article.</label> <div class="type-menu"> <label for="feedback-type">Select feedback type:</label> <select id="feedback-type" class="md-form-control" name="feedbackTypeId" required> <option value="" selected="selected">Select a type (Required)</option> <option value="1">Factual Correction</option> <option value="2">Spelling/Grammar Correction</option> <option value="3">Link Correction</option> <option value="4">Additional Information</option> <option value="5">Other</option> </select> </div> <textarea id="feedback" class="form-control" name="feedback" maxlength="3000" required></textarea> <p>If you are interested in being contacted for follow-up or potentially receiving contributor credit for implemented edits, please <a href="#" class="signup-link">register</a> or <a href="#" class="login-link">login</a>.</p> <div class="text-center gutter-bottom"> <button class="md-button md-primary" type="submit">Submit Feedback</button> </div> <div>If you prefer to suggest your own revision of the article, you can <a href="#" class="md-edit-mode">go to edit mode</a> (requires login).</div> </form> <div class="success-messaging ui-hidden"> <div class="title">Thank you for your feedback</div> <p>Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.</p> <a class="promo" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/http://corporate.britannica.com/publishing-partner-program/" target="_blank"> Join <strong>Britannica's Publishing Partner Program</strong> and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work! </a> </div> </div> </div></div><div class="md-nav-item xs-visible modal-search"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="search"></em> <div class="navigation-modal-search ui-hidden text-left"> <div class="search-area grid no-gutter middle-xs"> <div class="grid-xs-shrink"> <em class="search material-icons" data-icon="search"></em> </div> <div class="grid-xs"> <label class="sr-only" for="navbar-search-mobile">Search</label> <input class="form-control" id="navbar-search-mobile" placeholder="Search Britannica..."> </div> <div class="grid-xs-shrink"> <em class="close material-icons" data-icon="close"></em> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="md-email-modal" class="ui-hidden"> <div class="md-modal-header"> <div class="md-modal-title">Email this page</div> </div> <div class="md-modal-body"> <form method="post" id="md-email-form"> <div class="grid no-gutter"> <div class="grid-sm-offset-16 grid-sm-66"> <div class="form-group"> <label class="sr-only" for="md-email-form-to">Email to</label> <input id="md-email-form-to" class="form-control" type="email" name="to" placeholder="To *" title="Email of recipient" required> </div> </div> <div class="grid-sm-offset-16 grid-sm-66"> <div class="form-group"> <label class="sr-only" for="md-email-form-from">Email from</label> <input id="md-email-form-from" class="form-control" type="email" name="from" placeholder="From *" title="Your email" required> </div> </div> <div class="grid-sm-offset-16 grid-sm-66"> <div class="form-group"> <label class="sr-only" for="md-email-form-subject">Subject</label> <input id="md-email-form-subject" class="form-control" type="text" name="subject" placeholder="Subject"> </div> </div> <div class="grid-sm-offset-16 grid-sm-66"> <div class="form-group"> <label class="sr-only" for="md-email-form-comments">Comments</label> <textarea id="md-email-form-comments" class="form-control" maxlength="900" name="comments" placeholder="Write your email"></textarea> </div> </div> </div> <input id="md-email-form-url" type="hidden" name="url"> <input id="md-email-form-title" type="hidden" name="title"> <div class="text-center"> <div class="close md-button md-link">Cancel</div> <button class="md-button md-primary" type="submit">Send</button> </div> </form> </div> </div> <div id="loginbox-dialog" class="ui-hidden"> <div class="mobile-loginbox-dialog-close">×</div> <div id="loginbox-dialog-iframe-container"></div> </div><script type="text/javascript" src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114js_/https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.2.4/jquery.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">window.jQuery || document.write('<script src="/resources/js/libs/jquery-2.2.4.min.js"><\/script>');</script> <script src="/web/20161120123114js_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/js/mendel.js?v=2.51.52"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114cs_/https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/jquery.slick/1.6.0/slick.css"/> <script src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114js_/https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/jquery.slick/1.6.0/slick.min.js"></script> <script src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114js_/https://content.jwplatform.com/libraries/UAvzrRyR.js"></script> <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161120123114js_/https://cdn.rawgit.com/germanysbestkeptsecret/Wookmark-jQuery/2.1.2/wookmark.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" data-type="init page"> $( function() { Mendel.Page.init(); if ($.isDefined(Mendel.NewArticlePage)) { Mendel.NewArticlePage.init(); } }); </script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init Quantcast bottom"> _qevents.push( { qacct:"p-fePJXh17dNmkk"} ); </script> <noscript> <div style="display: none;"> <img src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114im_/https://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-fePJXh17dNmkk.gif" height="1" width="1" alt="Quantcast"/> </div> </noscript> <noscript><iframe src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114if_/https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= '//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-5W6NC8');</script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="load analytics"> (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114/https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); </script> <script src="//web.archive.org/web/20161120123114js_/https://www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="eb stats"> var EBStat={accountId:-1,host:'www.britannica.com',domain:'www.britannica.com'}; try{writeStat(null,{accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'www.britannica.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''});} catch(err){} </script> </body> </html>