John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. The youngest ever elected to the presidency and the first of the Roman Catholic faith, John F. Kennedy won the election of November 1960 by a razor-thin margin, but after taking the charge of office he received the support of most Americans. They admired his winning personality, his lively family, his intelligence, and his tireless energy. During times of political stress, John F Kennedy displayed courage by using his intuition and not personal beliefs to secure the goodwill of the country. It was this strong characteristic of John F Kennedy that made him a respected and honoured legend in the history of America.
[...] The Berlin Issue From the late spring of 1961 until the late fall of 1962, President Kennedy engaged in a great test of strength with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The confrontation began on the question of Berlin, when in June 1961 the president spent two days in Vienna discussing the major issue with the Soviet leader. For some time Khrushchev had threatened to sign a peace treaty with the East German government that would give it control over access routes to Berlin. [...]
[...] In 1957 also, Kennedy obtained membership in the powerful Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where he supported most of the Democratic policies. His emphasis shifted from military programs to economic aid to underdeveloped areas. In 1958 and 1959 he devoted much time and energy to labour reform legislation (soon after becoming a senator he had been appointed to the Labour and Public Welfare Committee), but in the end he was forced to accept the Landrum-Griffin bill, which incorporated some of his reforms but was less favourable to labour. [...]
[...] His father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, graduated from Harvard, became a bank president at the age of 25, and married the daughter of John Francis (‘Honey Fitz') Fitzgerald, mayor of Boston. John was born on May in Brookline, Massachusetts. As an infant he lived in a comfortable but modest frame house in the suburb of Boston. As the family grew and the father's income increased, the Kennedys moved to larger, more impressive homes, first in Brookline, then in suburbs of New York City. [...]
[...] In accepting the nomination, Kennedy declared that "We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier," thus giving a name to his program. In the campaign against his Republican opponent, Vice President Richard M. Nixon, he took positions that, while middle-of-the-road, were somewhat more liberal than those held by Nixon, and defended them vigorously in an exhaustive campaign across the nation. When he appeared in a series of television debates with Vice President Nixon, his matured appearance undercut Republican arguments that he was too young and inexperienced for such high office. [...]
[...] When the Communist Chinese invaded the northern border of India in 1962, Kennedy authorized the immediate air-lifting of arms to India. Kennedy felt, however, that more than force was needed to meet the Communist threat in Asia, and he directed reshaping of economic aid to make it more effective. On a global scale, Kennedy established the Peace Corps in March 1961. Through this program, headed by his brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, many young Americans were encouraged to contribute their skills to "the great common task of bringing to the humankind a decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace." Relations with Europe Kennedy emphasized that the United States must act in cooperation with a strong and united Western Europe, in order to meet the Communist threat. [...]
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