John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (1917 – 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his death in 1963. After military service as commander of the Motor Torpedo Boats PT-109 and PT-59 during World War II in the South Pacific, Kennedy represented Massachusetts' 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat. Thereafter, he served in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated Vice President and Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. At 43 years of age, he is the youngest to have been elected to the office, and is the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize.Events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, and early stages of the Vietnam War. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.

Articles by this Author

JFK Writes about Our Nation’s Memory, Winter 2010 | Vol. 59, No. 4

Forty seven years ago, the president wrote for American Heritage that the study of history is no mere pastime but the means by which a nation establishes its sense of identity and purpose

On History, February 1964 | Vol. 15, No. 2

"Americans are united by their history and by a faith in progress, justice, and freedom," writes President Kennedy

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