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JFK: The younger years
A picture of JFK (sitting in the middle of the picture, just to the left of dad).
JFK was born on the 29th of May, 1917 in Brookline, Massachussets. -
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JFK's lifetime
This is the official timeline of JFK's life, from birth 'till death. -
Harvard
JFK enrolled in Harvard University. It shoould be noted that he previously attended Princeton for about two monts. He was also a horrible student before attending Harvard, but afterward he shaped into a model stufent. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Brought the US into WWII and was a huge reason for the Kennedy brothers to enlist. -
PT-109 Incident
While patrolling for the Japanese "Tokyo Express, JFK and his PT crew was cut in half by a Japanese destroyer. In the subsequent hours, JFK saved one member of his crew and led the eleven others to a small island a few miles away, where they were picked up on August 8th by Allied forces. JFK was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, along with a Purple Heart, -
Post-war years
War correspodant; covered the Potsdam Conference -
House of Represenatives
Ran against and won the seat from Republican opponent James Michael Curley. He held the spot until January 3rd, 1953; when he did not run for reelection. -
US Senate
Ran against Republican candidate Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. JFK's victory ensured the Kennedy legacy would continue, and the Lodge's flame was more or less extinguished. JFK's tenure as a Senator was marred by injuries; he was rarely seen in the Senate chambers due to back problems. -
Pulitzer Prize Winner
JFK's biographical book, Profiles in Courage, was nominated for and won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. JFK wrote it whilst bedridden from a back surgery. -
Beginning of an Era
JFK initiates his bid for presidency, running for the Democratic party. He would go on to win it. -
1961 State of the Union
State of the Union adress. JFK outlines co-operation in psace, as well as how to stop communism and poverty, oppressiom, and tyranny from destroying the world. JFK also outlined a plan to thaw out the Cold War and an end to escilation in armed conflict. He also included how to help the Civil Rights activists, and promoted equality. -
Welcome home, Mr. President
JFk is sworn in at noon on the WHite House lawn as the 35th President. At the time, he was the youngest to ever be elected President. -
domestic Peace Corps
Undated record of JFK's proposal for a domestic Peace Corps. -
Civil Rights
On March 6, 1961, Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925 which required government contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." It established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. -
Bay of Pigs
JFK approved the Bay of Pigs Invasion in an attempt to dethrone Cuban dictator Fidle Castro. Due to numerous logistical and moles in the operation, however, the event became a national embarresment and the attackers were quickly slaughtered. -
Meeting Commies
Meets Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna to try to thaw out the Cold War. Due to a loss in translation, however, JFK interpreted the Premier's speech as a personal challenge. It would set the stage for more escalation. -
Vienna Nuke pact
Kruschev and Kennedy agree on an informal standard for nuclear testing, as welll as the gradual decline of nuclear weapons. -
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is launched to help aid impovershed and war torn countries; by th ened of the year 5,000 active members had been enlisted. -
Beginning of Vietnam invlovement
With increasing threats after having the Laos civil warrage on and political instability in Southeastern Asia, Kennedy dispatched VP Lyndon B. Johnson to go make things all nicey nicey with Laos and Vietnam. It was the beginning of US invlovement into what would later be the disasterous Vietnam conflict. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
A CIA U-2 spy planes took photographs of intermediate-range ballistic missile sites being built in Cuba by the Soviets. The photos were shown to Kennedy on October 16; a consensus was reached that the missiles were offensive in nature and thus posed an immediate nuclear threat. JFK faced a crisis moment; stop the Soviets and Cubans and risk an apocolyptic WW3 or let the enemy slip past. -
Almost
US is ordered on DEFCON 3, the highest level of danger the US had ever faced up to that point. It was during these tense moments that Soviet ships loaded with ICBM's faced iff against US warships whilst trying to enter Cuban waters. Trying to avert a third world war that could possibly have ended all life as we knew it on planet Earth, the Soviet commander steered his ships around and headed back to Moscow. -
More Civil Rights
In yet another historic move, Kennedy signed Executive Order 11063, prohibiting racial discrimination in federally supported housing or "related facilities". He may have done this out of the kindness of his heart or as a presidential PR stunt, but regardless, JFK signed it in, making way for more historic changes to equality in the US. -
Space Race
In a cabinet speech, JFK outlined the important philosophical, psychological, political, and military reasons why getting to the moon first was a huge thing to do. The Apollo project was greenlit. -
1963 State of the Union
JFK outlines his ideas for domestic policy, including reducing income tax rates to 14-65%, and corp. tax rates at 70%. -
American speech
Kennedy spoke on his "Strategy of Peace" plan, which outlined the idea of gradual decline of nuclear and conventional weapons, as well as an end to hostilities in both Asia and with the USSR. -
Assasination
In one of the most sad and controversial moments in American history, Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy in his motorcade whilst on a campaign tour in the Daley Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy got shot in the head and was pronounced dead upon arrival to a nearby hospital. The events surrounding his death remain controversial to this day, with many detailing that it was part of some bigger conspiracy. Whatever the case, we will never truly know for sure what happened that day.
