Who Is John F. Kennedy?
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, commonly known as John F. Kennedy or JFK, served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. John F. Kennedys name has been trending worldwide again since current U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the release of JFK files dozens of thousands of files linked to the assassination of the former U.S. president, the Associated Press reported. The Early Life of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. He studied at Harvard University and graduated in 1940. JFKs mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, documented that her son, when he was a child, suffered from several illnesses, including whooping cough, measles, scarlet fever, and chickenpox, according to the JFK Library. After graduating from Harvard, JFK joined the U.S. Navy and was marked as a heroic person in 1943 when his PT boat was attacked by a Japanese destroyer and sunk. Kennedy, who was injured in the incident, led the survivors through perilous waters to safety, The White House Archive revealed. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his courage. John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier, 24, a writer with the Washington TimesHerald. He was 36 years old when he married. What Were JFKs Hobbies During his youth, before becoming an American politician, John F. Kennedy was a good tennis, basketball, football, and golf player. In addition, the late U.S. president loved to read. Who Is John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy was named after his grandfather, John Francis Fitzgerald, also known as Honey Fitz, who served as the mayor of Boston and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. John Francis Fitzgerald is the father of his mother, Rose. Despite being named John F. Kennedy in official papers, his family and friends used to call him Jack, the JFK Library added. When Did JFK Become a U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts first became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953. He was then elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts from 1953 to 1960, according to the U.S. Senate. Kennedy became very popular in the U.S. Senate after working on the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor and Management Field, a committee that investigated corruption in American labor unions. Did JFK Write Books According to the JFK Library, the former U.S. president wrote three books during his life: Why England Slept 1940 Profiles in Courage 1956 A Nation of Immigrants 1958 John F. Kennedy gained much fame after winning the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for his book Profiles in Courage. The book discusses multiple American senators who risked their careers to fight for the things they believed in. In the same year, he chaired a special committee to choose the Senates Famous Five and became a father for the first time after having Caroline. When Was JFK Elected as President John F. Kennedy became a famous politician. According to the JFK Library, he was nearly chosen to run for vice president in 1956. However, he wanted to run for the next U.S. presidential race. In July 1960, the Democratic Party picked JFK to run in the presidential election. Kennedy asked Lyndon B. Johnson, a senator from Texas, to be his vicepresidential running mate. Kennedy beat Republican candidate Richard M. Nixon by a narrow margin on Nov. 8, 1960, and became the youngest president ever at the age of 43. Furthermore, as the youngest president in American history, JFK was also the first Catholic president. Before his January inauguration, Kennedy welcomed John Jr., his second child. When Was John F. Kennedy Assassinated President Kennedy was in Texas preparing to give political speeches on Nov. 21, 1963. However, while passing through Dallas crowds the day after arriving in Texas, the former president was shot and died a few hours later. Texas police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine who had positioned himself on the sixth floor of a building as a sniper, and charged him with the murder. On Nov. 24, nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald to silence the only person who could have known more about JFKs assassination. The U.S. government, led by President Lyndon B. Johnson, formed the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination, the Associated Press reported. What Are the JFK Files Current U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the release of thousands of pages of files linked to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in March 2025. The documents, totaling about 80,000 pages, will be publicly shared for the first time. Previously, some of the documents were kept secret due to national security concerns, CBS News reported. According to The Guardian, the papers include PDFs of multiple memos, including one with the heading Secret and handwritten notes from a 1964 interview by a Warren Commission researcher who questioned a CIA employee, Lee Wigren. Do JFK Files Have New Information About His Assassination According to an initial review by CBS News, the newly released papers did not appear to have any significant new revelations about the former presidents assassination. Where to Read the JFK Files The JFK Files were uploaded to a portal maintained by the National Archives and are accessible to anyone under the records called The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection, CBS News reported. What Are the NotSoFamiliar Facts About JFK John had eight siblings: Joe, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean, and Teddy. JFK had a daily subscription to the New York Times when he was young. His favorite school subjects were history and English. He suffered a disk injury in his spine while playing football. His father served as U.S. ambassador to England. Read More Who Is Jeffrey Epstein What Remarkable Successes Did Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Achieve What To Know About the 2025 Golden Globes