Born May 29th, 1917 in Brookline Massecheusetts, a suburb of Boston, John Fitzgerald Kennedy came into this world a young man of priviledge. His parents, Joe and Rose Kennedy, gave birth to nine children total, and young Jack was the second of them. Joseph Kennedy held a very influential, powerful, respected seat in the government, acting as the United States' Ambassador to Great Britain. This allowed John to travel the world, and witness first-hand the fear-inspiring might of Axis Germany as it came closer and closer to war time. In 1940, John graduated from Harvard, and shortly thereafter he enlisted in the Navy. He served as the commanding officer on PT-109, a small torpedo boat used for sinking Japanese ships. One eventful night, his boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. Although he was severely wounded, suffering injuries that would haunt him the rest of his life, John led his surviving crewmates to safety through treacherous waters. he entered World War II the adventerous son of an advantageous Irish-Catholic business man and polititian. He returned home a decorated wartime hero.
After a short stint of reporting for the newspapers owned by media magnate William Randolph Hearst, John became a Democratic congressman for Boston. In 1952 he advanced to hold a seat in the United States Senate, and shortly thereafter he married Jaqueline Bouvier. In 1960 he won the seat of President of the United States, with the narrowist margin of victories in the 20th century, over Richard Nixon. During his presidency he was faced with a multitude of challenges. He sought to bring the situation in Vietnam to an end by returning our troops to American soil. He encouraged the exploration of space and set the groundworking challenge for NASA to reach the moon before the Soviet Union. He advocated civil rights and liberties, and called for new civil rights legislation to bring equality, justice, and peace to the forefront of our nation's ideals and social, cultural achievements. But without question, his most recognizable act as President of the United States involved Russian missles on a small island 90 miles off the coast of Florida... the Cuban Missile Crisis. John F. Kennedy faced the possible annihalation of the human race by means of nuclear holocaust. After the failed "Bay of Pigs Invasion," where American-trained Cuban refugees attempted to overthrow the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, the Cold War between democracy and communism was on the brink of becoming hot. Allegedly by order of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, nuclear anti-personnel missiles were shipped by way of sea vessels to Cuba, and sites were aimed at North American cities. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and President John F. Kennedy, the two American figures most commonly associated with this event, were faced with an incredibly difficult problem. How can the United States stop the missiles from being used, while maintaining peace and avoiding a nuclear winter? The answer presented itself by using an outdated naval maneuver... American ships would surround and thus blockade Cuba, not allowing for any ships to enter. As difficulties arose by slow communication between the White House and the Russian Kremlin, the world found itself on the razor-sharp knife's edge of nuclear war. Thankfully, Russian ships bound for Cuba and stocked with Nuclear weaponry were given the order at the very last second to turn around and head home. If those ships had encountered the blockade, the American ships could have fired on and sunk the Russian ships, causing an international incident that was capable of sparking World War III. And what would have happened after that? Use the darkest corner of your imagination.
Then another event occured that would forever be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of the United States. On November 22, 1963, while President Kennedy's motorcade was passing through Dealey Park in Dallas, Texas, shots rang out that would alter the face of our nation forever. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President, was shot and killed. In the hours following the shooting, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the assassination of President Kennedy. Two days later, Oswald himself was shot to death by Jack Ruby. a Federal investigation into the assassination issued the "Warren Report," a study and seemingly conclusive documentation of the events that lead up to and developed during the assassination of Kennedy. It was after this document was officially released that conspiracies began to run rampant. |
