- NAME – John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Library of Congress - NICKNAME(S) – Jack
- BIRTH / DEATH – May 29, 1917 Brookline, Mass. / Dallas, Texas (age 46)
- FATHER – banking, finance, real estate, chairman of the SEC, Ambassador to Great Britain (1937-41)
- MOTHER – housewife
- COLLEGE – Harvard
- WIFE – Jacqueline Lee Bouvier
- KIDS – 3 (2 boys)
- PETS – cat (Tom Kitten); canary (Robin); rabbit (Zsa Zsa); parakeets (Bluebell & Marybelle); hamsters (Debbie & Billie); Welsh terrier (Charlie); dogs and puppies – one was Pushinka (daughter of space dog Strelka, given by Khrushchev)
- RELIGION – Roman Catholic
- ANCESTRY – Irish
- AGE – 43
FIRSTS:
– first Boy Scout
– first to win the Pulitzer Prize (Profiles in Courage – a book about courageous Senators that was actually written by one of Kennedy’s speechwriters – Ted Sorenson)
– first to serve in the Navy
– first to appoint his brother to the Cabinet (Robert – Attorney General)
– first to be survived by both parents
– first to visit Austria, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ireland
– first to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
– first to receive the Purple Heart
MA AND PA: His father was born wealthy. He graduated from Harvard and became the youngest bank president in America. He quickly became a millionaire by investing in various businesses. He made a lot of money bootlegging during Prohibition. He was active in the Democratic Party. FDR appointed him chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and then Ambassador to Great Britain. His isolationist views and pessimism about Britain’s ability to win against Germany put him on the outs with the President and he resigned. His stance ended his political career. He was a distant, but respectful father. He was not a good husband as he cheated a lot on his wife, including with Hollywood star Gloria Swanson. Kennedy’s mother was the daughter of the Mayor of Boston. She was beautiful and intelligent. She graduated from high school at age 15. She taught catechism to slum kids. Very religious, she would have her own children attend mass daily. She worked for charities. She helped her son campaign and was popular. She died in 1995 at age 104, having survived sons Joseph, John, and Robert. Parents
BACKGROUND:
– joined the Navy during WWII and was awarded the Navy Cross
– 1947 – elected to the House of Representatives
– 1953 – elected to the Senate
FIRST LADY: Jacqueline Bouvier came from a wealthy family and went to several prestigious schools. She spent a year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. Her first job was as a journalist. She was a very eligible bachelorette when John met her. He was 36 and she was 24 when they got married. Jackie had two miscarriages before giving birth to Caroline and their third child, Patrick, died two days after birth. As First Lady, her pet project was renovating the White House. She pushed Congress to designate it as a national historical site and turned it into a living museum. She then conducted a live televised tour of the building. She is considered the most glamourous of all of the First Ladies and was an arbiter of fashion. After John’s death, she married a divorced Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis. Before this, she was being given $175,000 per year from the Kennedy family and the $10,000 pension for a Presidential widow. Brother-in-law Teddy negotiated the marital agreement with Onassis which resulted in a $1 million for each kid at age 21. She received the interest from the trust funds until then. She is buried next to John in Arlington National Cemetery. Kelly 339-340 / Whitcomb and Whitcomb 38
Library of Congress
TRIVIA:
– a football injury led to back problems for the rest of his life (the PT-109 incident aggravated the problem); he had two operations on his spine and during one of them he was given last rites
– He wrote a bestseller about England before WWII while he was in college. He entitled it “Why England Slept”. He donated the royalties from it to the bombed-out town of Plymouth, England
– his father was one of the richest men in America (he made a lot of money in bootlegging during Prohibition)
– Caroline had three ponies
– JFK hated wearing hats (he thought he looked silly) and his appearances in public hatless did a lot of damage to the male hat industry. When he visited Texas at the end of his life, he refused to put on a cowboy hat that was offered to him. Whitcomb and Whitcomb 62
– he changed his clothes at least twice a day and his shirt at least four times
ANECDOTES:
KENNEDY’S MEDAL CITATION – “For heroism in the rescue of three men following the ramming of his motor torpedo boat while attempting a torpedo attack on a Japanese destroyer in the Solomon Islands on the night of August 1-2, 1943, Lt. Kennedy, directed the rescue of the crew and personally rescued three men, one of whom was seriously injured. During the following six days, he succeeded in getting his crew ashore, and after swimming many hours attempting to secure aid and food, finally effected the rescue of the men. His courage, endurance and excellent leadership contributed to the saving of several lives and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Navy.” Here was Kennedy’s explanation of what he did: “It was involuntary; they sank my boat.” Facts About the President
PT-109 – Kennedy’s wooden torpedo boat was on patrol in the Solomon Islands one dark night in 1943 when it was suddenly rammed by a Japanese warship. The boat was cut in half. The crew gathered on the floating half. At dawn they swam three miles to a nearby island. Kennedy, who was a good swimmer, towed a wounded crewman by clenching his life vest strap between his teeth. It took five hours. That night, Kennedy swam into the passage with a flashlight to try to signal any passing PT boats. When he tried to swim back, the current took him around the island until he managed to get ashore. At this point, he had been in the water for 24 of the last 30 hours. When food ran out, he led the men in swimming to an island three hours away. It had plenty of coconuts. On the fourth day, he swam to another island where he found a canoe. That night he paddled into the passage, but no luck. He did manage to find some food, but on his way back to his men, the canoe swamped. He was rescued by some natives. He got the natives to carry a message (written on coconut) telling of their situation. He tried the canoe again that night, but it swamped again and he had to swim back. The next day, four natives arrived with word that the message had made it to the US Navy. That night, a PT boat picked them up. Kennedy was awarded the Navy Cross for his gallantry. President Kennedy kept the coconut on his desk in the Oval Office. maroon 65
THE WHEEL-CHAIR BRIGADE – A group of severely disabled kids in wheel-chairs visited the White House. They were given a tour, but there was to be no meeting with the President because he was having lunch and then had a scheduled press conference at the State Department. Suddenly, JFK appeared through a doorway and insisted on meeting each of the kids. He skipped his lunch for them and was late for the press conference, but the reactions of the children was priceless. After talking to one little boy, the President rushed into his office and returned with an old PT-boat skipper’s hat. He put it on the beaming boy’s head. Later, Kennedy explained that the boy’s father had been on PT-boats in the war and had not survived. Kelly 227
WHITE HOUSE WALL PAPER – As part of her effort to redecorate the White House, Jackie searched for antiques to make the White House into a living museum. When she heard of an historic house that was being torn down that had classic wall paper depicting George Washington and Revolutionary soldiers fighting the British, she had it expertly removed and reinstalled in the dining room at a cost of $12,500. JFK hit the roof when he heard the cost and learned from newspapers that a cheaper reproduction was available. Jackie’s response was that her wallpaper was more colorful. Betty Ford had the wallpaper taken down because she did not like looking at men being killed while she ate. Barbara Bush had it put back up, which led to an embarrassing moment when the Queen of England visited. Whitcomb and Whitcomb 97