John F. Kennedy: Inaugural Address

About the Author

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917, to Joseph Patrick Kennedy, a businessman and later a diplomat, and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. He was brought up with his three brothers and five sisters in an atmosphere of intellectual stimulation and affluence. Kennedy attended the Choate preparatory school in Connecticut and graduated from Harvard in 1940. He traveled extensively throughout Europe and Latin America. Uncertain of what career to pursue but certain of America's future involvement in World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Frustrated by office work in navy intelligence, he pressed for active duty; in 1942 he was assigned to motor torpedo boat training, and in March 1943 he assumed the command of his own patrol torpedo (PT) boat in the South Pacific. On August 2, 1943, the Japanese destroyer Amagiri rammed Kennedy's boat. His leadership and physical efforts to save a crewman by towing him to safety made Kennedy a war hero, and he received U.S. Navy and Marine Corps medals. The majority of the crew was rescued, but Kennedy had aggravated a chronic back injury and saw no more active duty. He was retired from the service in March 1945 with the rank of full lieutenant.

Although Kennedy began pursuing a career in journalism, his father encouraged him to enter politics. In 1946 he sought the Democratic nomination for Congress in the eleventh Massachusetts district. Hard campaigning, his war record, and family support resulted in his nomination and subsequent victory in November, when he was elected to the Eightieth Congress. After three terms in the House, he ran for the Senate in 1952 and defeated the incumbent, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on September 12, 1953. They had four children, but only two survived infancy.

As a senator, Kennedy served on a number of key committees. His back problems required surgeries, however, and he spent months recuperating, during which he wrote Profiles in Courage (1956). Back in Congress, he supported social welfare legislation and sponsored several bills, including one for federal financial aid to education. His work in Congress and his book attracted national attention, and he was narrowly defeated at the 1956 Democratic National Convention by Estes Kefauver in the race to become the running mate of the Democratic presidential nominee, Adlai E. Stevenson. Encouraged by his increasing national visibility, Kennedy began planning his own presidential campaign. Reelected to the Senate in 1958 by a huge majority, he began a program of speaking at various venues around the country. He declared his candidacy on January 2, 1960, and on July 13, 1960, at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, he was nominated for president on the first ballot. As with previous campaigns, Kennedy's run for the presidency was driven by hard work and the extensive resources, in both people and funds, of the Kennedy family. The campaign also featured the first televised presidential debates. During the four debates, Kennedy's youth, wit, and use of language bested his Republican opponent, Richard M. Nixon. Kennedy won the general election by only one-tenth of 1 percent of the popular vote; the margin in the Electoral College was more decisive: Kennedy earned 303 electoral votes, Nixon 219.

On January 20, 1961, Kennedy, the youngest man and first Roman Catholic ever elected president, was sworn into office by Chief Justice Earl Warren. In his Inaugural Address, Kennedy emphasized America's global role and obligation to humanitarian concerns. Begun on a high note, Kennedy's presidency lasted just over a thousand days. He had some successes, such as with the establishment of the Peace Corps and the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963), but failures as well, such as with the Bay of Pigs invasion and his inability to downsize American involvement in Vietnam. His biggest challenge was the Cuban missile crisis, which brought America to the brink of war when a U.S. spy plane took reconnaissance photographs of missile bases being constructed in Cuba. Kennedy worked for civil rights by issuing various executive orders, and he appointed an unprecedented number of African Americans to public office. On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.