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John F. Kennedy—known in his family as Jack—is born in Brookline, Massachusetts, a wealthy suburb of Boston. He is the second of Rose and Joseph Kennedy's nine children.
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Jack Kennedy begins high school at Choate, an elite boarding school in Connecticut. Despite his high intelligence and academic potential, Jack earns only mediocre grades.
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John F. Kennedy graduates from Harvard with a degree in International Affairs. His senior thesis, a critique of Britain's preparedness for World War II, will later serve as the foundation for his first book, Why England Slept.
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On the eve of America's entry into World War II, JFK enlists in the Navy. His older brother, Joe Jr., is already training to be a navy pilot.
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After an eight-week training course in Rhode Island, Kennedy is assigned to take command of a patrol boat stationed in the South Pacific. He sails west from San Francisco, but does not arrive at his final destination—the Solomon Islands—for another month and a half.
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Kennedy's patrol boat, (PT 109, collides with a Japanese destroyer. Two of his men are killed instantly; the remaining crewmembers, including Kennedy himself, are severely injured. Jack orders all the men to abandon ship and leads them to shore on a nearby island.
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With the help of his father's campaign financing, Jack is elected to the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts' 11th District.
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Jack Kennedy's younger brother, Bobby, becomes his campaign manager in the 1952 Senate race, signaling the birth of an enduring political partnership between the two brothers.
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Largely due to Bobby Kennedy's effective strategic planning in the campaign, John F. Kennedy is elected to the United States Senate. Joe Sr., Jack, and Bobby all consider the Senate seat to be a key step in Jack's political ascendancy.
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John F. Kennedy marries Jacqueline Bouvier, a beautiful young journalist from a wealthy New England family.
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At the Democratic National Convention, Jack unsuccessfully vies for the vice presidential spot on Adlai Stevenson's ticket. Another senator, Estes Kefauver, earns the VP nomination.
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Kennedy gains a plum assignment to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, allowing him to gain valuable political experience and increase his prestige within Congress.
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Jack and Jackie's first child, Caroline Kennedy, is born in New York City.
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John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon participate in the first-ever televised presidential debate. The debate, which showcases Jack's youth and charm, marks a turning point in the campaign.
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John F. Kennedy is elected the 35th President of the United States, defeating his Republican opponent, Richard Nixon, by a slim margin of only 118,000 votes nationwide.
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Jack and Jackie's second child—and first son—is born. He is named John F. Kennedy, Jr., after his father.
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JFK is sworn into the Presidency and delivers his inaugural address, a landmark speech in which he urges Americans to seek out opportunities to serve their country.
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John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps by executive order.
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Kennedy announces his goal of putting a man on the moon.
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After a week of extreme U.S.-Soviet tension, the Cuban Missile Crisis ends when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev finally agrees to remove the missiles from Cuba.
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In a televised address to the nation, Kennedy proposes the enactment of civil rights legislation, marking his first decisive action on civil rights.
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U.S. and Soviet officials sign the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, agreeing not to test nuclear bombs in air, space, or water.
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Lee Harvey Oswald shoots and kills John F. Kennedy in Dallas, where the president is campaigning for re-election.
