what did kennedy want to tell us before he died

Life of John F. Kennedy

Growing Up in the Kennedy Family

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, who was a very disciplined and organized woman, made the post-obit entry on a notecard, when her second child was born:

John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Born Brookline, Mass. (83 Beals Street) May 29, 1917

In all, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy would have 9 children, four boys and five girls. She kept notecards for each of them in a small wooden file box and made a point of writing down everything from a doctor's visit to the shoe size they had at a particular historic period. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was named in honor of Rose's male parent, John Francis Fitzgerald, the Boston Mayor popularly known equally Honey Fitz. Before long, family unit and friends called this small blueish-eyed baby, Jack. Jack was not a very salubrious baby, and Rose recorded on his notecard the childhood diseases from which he suffered, such as: "whooping cough, measles, craven pox."

On February 20, 1920 when Jack was not yet three years old, he became sick with scarlet fever, a highly contagious and and then potentially life-threatening affliction. His male parent, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, was terrified that little Jack would die. Mr. Kennedy went to the hospital every 24-hour interval to be past his son's side, and about a month later Jack took a turn for the better and recovered. Simply Jack was never very healthy, and considering he was always suffering from one ailment or another his family unit used to joke about the dandy chance a mosquito took in biting him – with some of his claret the mosquito was well-nigh certain to die!

When Jack was three, the Kennedys moved to a new home a few blocks away from their old house in Brookline, a neighborhood only outside of Boston. Information technology was a lovely house with twelve rooms, turreted windows, and a large porch. Full of energy and ambition, Jack'due south begetter worked very difficult at condign a successful businessman. When he was a educatee at Harvard College and having a difficult time fitting in as an Irish gaelic Catholic, he swore to himself he would make a million dollars past the age of 35. There was a lot of prejudice against Irish Catholics in Boston at that time, but Joseph Kennedy was determined to succeed. Jack's neat-grandparents had come up from Ireland and managed to provide for their families, despite many hardships. Jack's grandfathers did even better for themselves, both becoming prominent Boston politicians. Jack, considering of all his family had done, could savor a very comfortable life. The Kennedys had everything they needed and more than.

By the time Jack was eight there were seven children altogether. Jack had an older brother, Joe; four sisters, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, and Patricia; and a younger brother, Robert. Jean and Teddy hadn't been born however. Nannies and housekeepers helped Rose run the household.

At the terminate of the schoolhouse year, the Kennedy children would go to their summer home in Hyannis Port on Cape Cod where they enjoyed swimming, sailing, and playing affect football. The Kennedy children played hard, and they enjoyed competing with one another. Joseph Sr. encouraged this competition, peculiarly amongst the boys.

He was a male parent with very high expectations and wanted the boys to win at sports and everything they tried. As he often said, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Only sometimes these competitions went too far. One time when Joe suggested that he and Jack race on their bicycles, they collided head-on. Joe emerged unscathed while Jack had to have 20-eight stitches. Because Joe was two years older and stronger than Jack, whenever they fought, Jack would ordinarily get the worst of information technology. Jack was the simply sibling who posed whatsoever real threat to Joe's dominant position every bit the oldest child.

Jack was very popular and had many friends at Choate, a boarding schoolhouse for adolescent boys in Connecticut. He played tennis, basketball game, football, and golf and also enjoyed reading. His friend Lem Billings remembers how unusual it was that Jack had a daily subscription to theNew York Times. Jack had a "clever, individualist heed," his Head Master once noted, though he was non the best pupil. He did non always work as hard as he could, except in history and English language, which were his favorite subjects.

"Now Jack," his begetter wrote in a letter i day, "I don't want to give the impression that I am a nagger, for goodness knows I call up that is the worse affair any parent can be, and I also feel that you know if I didn't really experience you had the goods I would be most charitable in my attitude toward your failings. After long experience in sizing up people I definitely know y'all have the goods and yous can go a long way…Information technology is very difficult to make up fundamentals that yous have neglected when you lot were very young, and that is why I am urging you to practise the best you tin can. I am not expecting too much, and I will not exist disappointed if you lot don't turn out to exist a existent genius, simply I think you lot can be a really worthwhile citizen with good judgment and understanding."

Jack graduated from Choate and entered Harvard in 1936, where Joe was already a educatee. Like his brother Joe, Jack played football. He was not as good an athlete as Joe simply he had a lot of decision and perseverance. Unfortunately, one day while playing he ruptured a disk in his spine. Jack never really recovered from this blow and his back connected to carp him for the balance of his life.

The two eldest boys were attractive, agreeable, and intelligent immature men and Mr. Kennedy had high hopes for them both. Yet, it was Joe who had announced to everyone when he was a immature male child that he would be the showtime Cosmic to go President. No one doubted him for a moment. Jack, on the other manus, seemed somewhat less aggressive. He was active in pupil groups and sports and he worked hard in his history and regime classes, though his grades remained simply average.

Late in 1937, Mr. Kennedy was appointed United States Administrator to England and moved there with his whole family unit, with the exception of Joe and Jack who were at Harvard. Because of his father's job, Jack became very interested in European politics and world affairs. Afterward a summer visit to England and other countries in Europe, Jack returned to Harvard more eager to learn about history and government and to go along up with current events.

Joe and Jack frequently received letters from their begetter in England, who informed them of the latest news regarding the conflicts and tensions that everyone feared would soon blow upwards into a full-calibration state of war. Adolph Hitler ruled Germany and Benito Mussolini ruled Italian republic. They both had strong armies and wanted to take land from other countries. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and World War Ii began.

By this time, Jack was a senior at Harvard and decided to write his thesis on why Nifty U.k. was unprepared for war with Germany. It was subsequently published equally a volume called Why England Slept. In June 1940, Jack graduated from Harvard. His father sent him a cablegram from London: "TWO THINGS I ALWAYS KNEW Most Yous ONE THAT YOU ARE SMART TWO THAT Y'all ARE A SWELL GUY Dear DAD."

Globe War 2 and a Time to come in Politics

Soon after graduating, both Joe and Jack joined the Navy. Joe was a flyer and sent to Europe, while Jack was made Lieutenant (Lt.) and assigned to the Southward Pacific equally commander of a patrol torpedo gunkhole, the PT-109.

Lt. Kennedy had a coiffure of twelve men whose mission was to cease Japanese ships from delivering supplies to their soldiers. On the night of August 2, 1943, Lt. Kennedy's coiffure patrolled the waters looking for enemy ships to sink. A Japanese destroyer suddenly became visible. But it was traveling at full speed and headed straight at them. Holding the wheel, Lt. Kennedy tried to swerve out of the way, but to no avail. The much larger Japanese warship rammed the PT-109, splitting it in half and killing two of Lt. Kennedy's men. The others managed to spring off as their boat went up in flames. Lt. Kennedy was slammed difficult against the cockpit, once again injuring his weak dorsum. Patrick McMahon, 1 of his crew members, had horrible burns on his confront and hands and was fix to give up. In the darkness, Lt. Kennedy managed to discover McMahon and haul him back to where the other survivors were clinging to a piece of the boat that was still afloat. At sunrise, Lt. Kennedy led his men toward a minor island several miles away. Despite his ain injuries, Lt. Kennedy was able to tow Patrick McMahon ashore, a strap from McMahon's life jacket clenched between his teeth. Six days later two native islanders found them and went for aid, delivering a message Jack had carved into a piece of coconut crush. The next twenty-four hour period, the PT-109 crew was rescued. Jack'southward blood brother Joe was non so lucky. He died a year later when his plane blew upwards during a dangerous mission in Europe.

When he returned abode, Jack was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his leadership and courage. With the state of war finally coming to an cease, information technology was time to cull the kind of work he wanted to do. Jack had considered becoming a teacher or a writer, merely with Joe's tragic death suddenly everything changed. After serious discussions with Jack about his future, Joseph Kennedy convinced him that he should run for Congress in Massachusetts' eleventh congressional commune, where he won in 1946. This was the beginning of Jack's political career. As the years went on, John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, served 3 terms (half dozen years) in the House of Representatives, and in 1952 he was elected to the United states Senate.

Soon later beingness elected senator, John F. Kennedy, at 36 years of age, married 24 year-old Jacqueline Bouvier, a writer with theWashington Times-Herald. Unfortunately, early on in their spousal relationship, Senator Kennedy'south back started to injure again and he had two serious operations. While recovering from surgery, he wrote a volume near several United states of america Senators who had risked their careers to fight for the things in which they believed. The book, calledProfiles in Courage, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957. That same yr, the Kennedys' first child, Caroline, was born.

John F. Kennedy was becoming a popular politico. In 1956 he was almost picked to run for vice president. Kennedy nonetheless decided that he would run for president in the next election.

He began working very long hours and traveling all around the United States on weekends. On July 13, 1960 the Democratic party nominated him as its candidate for president. Kennedy asked Lyndon B. Johnson, a senator from Texas, to run with him equally vice president. In the full general ballot on November 8, 1960, Kennedy defeated the Republican Vice President Richard M. Nixon in a very close race. At the age of 43, Kennedy was the youngest human elected president and the beginning Cosmic. Before his inauguration, his second child, John Jr., was born. His father liked to phone call him John-John.

John F. Kennedy Becomes The 35th President of the U.s.

John F. Kennedy was sworn in equally the 35th president on Jan twenty, 1961. In his inaugural oral communication he spoke of the need for all Americans to be active citizens. "Ask non what your land tin do for you, ask what you can do for your state," he said. He as well asked the nations of the world to join together to fight what he called the "common enemies of human: tyranny, poverty, illness, and state of war itself." President Kennedy, together with his wife and two children, brought a new, youthful spirit to the White House. The Kennedys believed that the White House should be a identify to celebrate American history, culture, and achievement. They invited artists, writers, scientists, poets, musicians, actors, and athletes to visit them. Jacqueline Kennedy also shared her married man's involvement in American history. Gathering some of the finest art and furniture the The states had produced, she restored all the rooms in the White Firm to make information technology a place that truly reflected America's history and artistic inventiveness. Everyone was impressed and appreciated her hard work.

The White House likewise seemed like a fun place considering of the Kennedys' two young children, Caroline and John-John. There was a pre-school, a pond pool, and a tree-firm outside on the White House backyard. President Kennedy was probably the busiest man in the land, only he still found time to laugh and play with his children.

Nevertheless, the president also had many worries. 1 of the things he worried most virtually was the possibility of nuclear war between the U.s. and the Soviet Marriage. He knew that if there was a war, millions of people would dice. Since World War II, in that location had been a lot of anger and suspicion between the two countries but never whatsoever shooting betwixt Soviet and American troops. This 'Cold War', which was different any other war the world had seen, was really a struggle betwixt the Soviet Marriage's communist system of authorities and the United states' autonomous system. Because they distrusted each other, both countries spent enormous amounts of money building nuclear weapons. There were many times when the struggle betwixt the Soviet Wedlock and the U.s. could have ended in nuclear war, such equally in Cuba during the 1962 missile crunch or over the divided city of Berlin.

President Kennedy worked long hours, getting upwards at vii and non going to bed until eleven or twelve at night, or later. He read six newspapers while he ate breakfast, had meetings with important people throughout the day, and read reports from his advisers. He wanted to make sure that he made the best decisions for his state. "I am asking each of you lot to be new pioneers in that New Frontier," he said. The New Borderland was not a place but a way of thinking and acting. President Kennedy wanted the United states of america to motion forward into the hereafter with new discoveries in science and improvements in didactics, employment and other fields. He wanted democracy and liberty for the whole world.

One of the start things President Kennedy did was to create the Peace Corps. Through this program, which even so exists today, Americans can volunteer to work anywhere in the world where assistance is needed. They tin assist in areas such as pedagogy, farming, health care, and construction. Many young men and women take served equally Peace Corps volunteers and have won the respect of people throughout the earth.

President Kennedy was also eager for the United states to lead the mode in exploring space. The Soviet Union was alee of the United States in its space program and President Kennedy was determined to grab up. He said, "No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space." Kennedy was the first president to inquire Congress to corroborate more than 22 billion dollars for Project Apollo, which had the goal of landing an American man on the moon earlier the stop of the decade.

President Kennedy had to deal with many serious problems hither in the United States. The biggest problem of all was racial bigotry. The US Supreme Court had ruled in 1954 that segregation in public schools would no longer be permitted. Blackness and white children, the determination mandated, should become to schoolhouse together. This was at present the law of the land. Nevertheless, at that place were many schools, especially in southern states, that did not obey this law. At that place was also racial segregation on buses, in restaurants, motion picture theaters, and other public places.

Thousands of Americans joined together, people of all races and backgrounds, to protest peacefully this injustice.

Martin Luther Rex Jr. was i of the famous leaders of the motility for ceremonious rights. Many ceremonious rights leaders didn't remember President Kennedy was supportive enough of their efforts. The President believed that belongings public protests would only anger many white people and brand information technology even more than difficult to convince the members of Congress who didn't concord with him to pass civil rights laws. Past June 11, 1963, however, President Kennedy decided that the time had come up to take stronger action to help the civil rights struggle. He proposed a new Civil Rights bill to the Congress, and he went on television asking Americans to terminate racism. "One hundred years of delay accept passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free," he said. "This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds…[and] on the principle that all men are created equal." President Kennedy made information technology articulate that all Americans, regardless of their skin color, should bask a skilful and happy life in the U.s.a..

The President is Shot

On Nov 21, 1963, President Kennedy flew to Texas to give several political speeches. The next day, as his car drove slowly by cheering crowds in Dallas, shots rang out. Kennedy was seriously wounded and died a brusque time later. Inside a few hours of the shooting, police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald and charged him with the murder. On Nov 24, some other man, Jack Ruddy, shot and killed Oswald, thus silencing the but person who could have offered more information about this tragic issue. The Warren Commission was organized to investigate the assassination and to clarify the many questions which remained.

The Legacy of John F. Kennedy

President Kennedy's decease caused enormous sadness and grief amongst all Americans. Most people nonetheless remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Washington for the President's funeral, and millions throughout the world watched it on television.

Equally the years have gone by and other presidents have written their capacity in history, John Kennedy's brief time in role stands out in people's memories for his leadership, personality, and accomplishments. Many respect his coolness when faced with difficult decisions--like what to practise about Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962. Others adore his ability to inspire people with his eloquent speeches. However others call up his pity and his willingness to fight for new government programs to help the poor, the elderly and the sick were nigh important. Like all leaders, John Kennedy made mistakes, merely he was ever optimistic about the future. He believed that people could solve their mutual problems if they put their country'south interests first and worked together.

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Source: https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy