John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father was Joseph Patrick Kennedy and his mother was Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy. He was a graduate of Harvard College and he served as our nation’s 35^th President from January 20, 1961 to November 22, 1963.

     Mr. Kennedy was an author (Profiles In Courage) and a public official. He was a decorated World War II hero, having commanded a U.S. Navy Patrol Torpedo Boat (PT-109) in battle in the South Pacific. After the war, Mr. Kennedy was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. In the 1960 Presidential election, Senator Kennedy beat Vice-President Nixon. In 1961, President Kennedy, in an address to Congress, dedicated our nation “to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” In 1962, the Soviet Union attempted to install nuclear ballistic missiles in nearby Cuba. Mr. Kennedy, in what is known as the “Cuban Missile Crisis,” ordered a naval blockade and forced Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to remove those missiles.

     Mr. Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. They had three children: Caroline, John, Jr. and Patrick (died in infancy).

     President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. He was 46 years old. He did not live to see Americans set foot upon the Moon (July 20, 1969).