Monday, May 29, is the birthday of John F. Kennedy, who was born 100 years ago in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was the 35th president of the United States and the first Catholic to hold the office.
Because he died so young, because he was assassinated, because a nation felt deprived of a promising leader, a mystique about his presidency emerged. Since then, much of the Kennedy aura — likened to the legendary Camelot — has faded.
Historians have reassessed his time in office and taken a more critical view of his handling of crises such as the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, his decisions to build up the U.S. military presence in South Vietnam, and the role he really played in the civil rights movement.
Click here to see 100 surprising facts about JFK.
Over time, information has emerged about how his fragile health affected his term as president, undercutting his image as a vigorous and youthful leader. Even so, his soaring oratory at his inauguration that invigorated a nation, and the inspirational speech in West Berlin that embraced a dispirited people live on and are among the greatest spoken words of American leaders.
To mark JFK’s centennial, 247 Wall St. compiled 100 facts about the president continues to infuse American politics with the legacy of his public service nearly 54 years after his death.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
1.
Kennedy’s approval rating peaked at over 80% during his presidency, and among Americans today he is the highest rated president in history, according to Gallup.
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
2.
JFK was one of nine children.
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3.
He was named after his mother’s father, John Francis Fitzgerald, the mayor of Boston.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
4.
His great-grandparents came from Ireland to escape the potato famine.
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5.
The Brookline, MA home of JFK is a national historic site.
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6.
Kennedy was the first Catholic to become president.
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7.
With an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, JFK would have been the second wealthiest president, but his premature death prevented him from inheriting much of his family’s fortune.
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
8.
He suffered in childhood from whooping cough, measles, chicken pox and scarlet fever.
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9.
JFK did not like to wear hats, and for that he was blamed for the decline of the hat industry.
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10.
Kennedy’s father Joe made his fortune in real estate, liquor, the stock market, and the then-emerging motion picture industry.
Source: Stoughton/National Archives
11.
The Kennedy family had a summer home in Hyannis Port on Cape Cod in MA.
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
12.
He attended Choate, a boarding school for boys, in CT.
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13.
“Ulysses’’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was one of Kennedy’s favorite poems.
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14.
JFK planned to attend Princeton University but was forced to withdraw because of illness.
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Source: Joseph Williams / Wikimedia Commons
15.
He entered Harvard University in 1936, following his father and older brother Joe.
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16.
His father was the first head of the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as an ambassador to United Kingdom.
Source: Florida Memory / Flickr
17.
Kennedy visited six European countries and Vatican City while he was president.
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
18.
His older brother Joe harbored ambitions to become the first Catholic president of the United States.
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19.
A back injury sustained while playing football in Harvard would cause him problems for the rest of his life.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
20.
He used a rocking chair while in office to help alleviate the constant back pain.
Source: The U.S. National Archives
21.
JFK’s favorite pet in the White House was a Welsh Terrier called “Jack’s dog.” Jackie gave the dog to JFK during the presidential campaign.
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Source: Pexels
22.
His interest in history and government was intensified by a trip to England in 1937.
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23.
His father was recalled as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1940 after he publicly expressed doubts that the British could defeat Germany.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
24.
He wrote his senior thesis on why Great Britain was unprepared for war titled “Why England Slept.’’
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Source: Owen1985 / Wikimedia Commons
25.
He tried to join the U.S. Army in April 1941 but was rejected because of his back injury.
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26.
JFK joined the Navy after graduating from Harvard. He worked in the Navy’s intelligence branch.
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27.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he requested active service and was made a lieutenant and sent to the Pacific theater of war.
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28.
He was made commander of PT 109, a patrol torpedo boat that was later sliced in two near Solomon Islands by a Japanese destroyer.
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29.
Kennedy swam 3.5 miles to an island with a wounded sailor on his back after PT 109 was sunk.
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30.
When two islanders found the crew, Kennedy etched a hidden message in a coconut that the islanders, at great peril, got to an Australian coastwatcher.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
31.
Kennedy and his crew were marooned for seven days before they were rescued by two PT boats.
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32.
The coconut husk became a paperweight on his desk when he became president.
Source: Erik Charlton / Flickr
33.
The wreck of PT 109 was eventually discovered in a National Geographic expedition by noted explorer Robert Ballard in 2002.
Source: U.S. Navy
34.
JFK was awarded Navy and Marine Corps medal for courage when he returned from the Pacific.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
35.
A plane flown by JFK’s older brother Joe blew up during a dangerous mission in Europe in 1944, the first of many Kennedy clan tragedies.
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36.
Kennedy’s sister Kathleen, who had married into a British aristocratic family, was killed in a plane crash in 1948.
Source: Sharon Mollerus / Flickr
37.
JFK’s political career began when he ran for a congressional seat in 1946 and at age 29 won the first of three terms.
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38.
During his term as congressman, he opposed the Korean War and was against any U.S. fighting in Asia.
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39.
He became Massachusetts senator in 1952.
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40.
Kennedy donated his entire congressman’s salary, and later his president’s salary, to charity.
Source: Toni Frissell collection, U.S. Library of Congress
41.
He married Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953, and they would raise two children, John Jr. and Caroline. Patrick Bouvier Kennedy lived a few days after his birth in 1963. Another child was stillborn in 1956.
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
42.
JFK allegedly had an affair with actress Marilyn Monroe.
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43.
One of his legs was shorter than the other, contributing to his chronic back pain.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
44.
His back problems became more serious in the 1950s, and he had several operations.
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Source: U.S. Embassy New Delhi / Flickr
45.
Kennedy also suffered from Addison’s disease, a condition of the adrenal glands characterized by a deficiency of the hormones needed to regulate blood sugar, sodium, and potassium.
Source: Tom Margie / Flickr
46.
Kennedy wrote “Profiles in Courage,’’ which won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957, though much of the book may have been ghostwritten by Theodore Sorensen.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
47.
Kennedy received the Catholic sacramental last rites on three different occasions before he was assassinated.
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48.
He was nominated for president in 1960, defeating, among others, Hubert Humphrey and Lyndon Johnson, each of whom would run for president in the 1960s.
Source: MattRocker / Wikimedia Commons
49.
Kennedy addressed voters’ concerns about his religion in a speech in Houston in September 1960, emphasizing his support for the separation of church and state.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
50.
During the West Virginia primary, the Kennedy campaign mailed 50,000 personally addressed letters signed by FDR Jr. to impress West Virginia families.
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51.
Kennedy faced Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the first televised presidential debate that probably swung the election in his favor. The first debate was viewed by 70 million people.
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52.
The JFK presidential campaign song “High Hopes’’ was sung by Frank Sinatra.
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53.
He was the youngest man elected president, at age 43.
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54.
He defeated Nixon in a tightly contested race, winning by fewer than 120,000 votes.
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55.
His inauguration speech sought a new activism among Americans and is among the most quoted inauguration speeches of any president.
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56.
He was the first president to dance with an African-American woman at the inaugural ball.
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57.
Alan Shepard became the first American in space during Kennedy’s first year as president.
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58.
Kennedy was so alarmed by the cost of the space program that by September 1963 he proposed that the United States and Soviet Union partner on a joint expedition to the moon.
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59.
His speech in 1962 on the steps of the Schöneberger City Hall in Berlin, which ended with the words “Ich bin ein Berliner,” would immortalize him.
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60.
His executive order in January 1962 allowed federal workers to collectively bargain for the first time.
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61.
Kennedy named his brother Robert as U.S. attorney general. President Johnson in 1967 signed into law a nepotism statute that prevents a president from naming a family member to the Cabinet.
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
62.
He faced the Bay of Pigs crisis — a failed attempt by the CIA to remove Fidel Castro from power in Cuba within a few months of his presidency.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
63.
Kennedy smoked four to five cigars a day and preferred H. Upmann Petits.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
64.
The Cuban Missile crisis in October 1962, which lasted 13 days, brought the world to the brink of nuclear armageddon.
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65.
JFK bought 1,200 hand-rolled Cuban cigars just before his administration imposed an embargo on the Caribbean island.
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66.
The Cuban Missile crisis led to the creation of the nuclear test ban treaty with the Soviet Union.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
67.
He sent federal marshals to protect rights of an African-American student seeking to attend the University of Mississippi.
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68.
His dinner for Nobel Prize winners in 1962 included Ralph Bunche, the widows of Ernest Hemingway and George Marshall, author Pearl Buck, and scientist Linus Pauling.
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69.
Kennedy proposed a plan to reduce personal and business taxes in 1962 that eventually passed in 1964. Many economists credit the cuts for propelling the American economy in the 1960s.
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70.
During the Kennedy administration, U.S. economic growth averaged 4.3% annually.
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71.
Kennedy enjoyed watching westerns as well as motion picture epics such as “Spartacus” and “The Longest Day.”
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72.
Kennedy had a hand in the making of the film “Seven Days in May” about an attempted military coup d’etat in the U.S. Kennedy went to Hyannis Port and turned over the White House to the
filmmakers.
Source: Jon S / Flickr
73.
JFK read as many as six newspapers a day, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and the Chicago Tribune.
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74.
Kennedy’s favorite books included James Bond thrillers.
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75.
Kennedy increased America’s military involvement in Vietnam
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76.
There was at least one assassination attempt on Kennedy before Dallas.
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77.
Kennedy was on his way to the Dallas Trade Mart for a luncheon when he was shot.
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78.
Kennedy was killed in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, the fourth American president assassinated.
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79.
News of the assassination caused the New York Stock Exchange to halt trading.
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80.
Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for killing the president a day after the assassination.
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81.
The murder weapon was an Italian carbine rifle Oswald had bought for $19.95.
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
82.
Dallas businessman Abraham Zapruder filmed the assassination on his 8 mm home movie camera and eventually sold the footage to Life magazine for $150,000.
Source: David Erickson / Flickr
83.
Oswald would be slain a day later by Jack Ruby while being transferred to county jail from city jail.
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84.
The circumstances of the assassination spawned a cottage industry of conspiracy theories.
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85.
At the time, assassination of a president was not a federal offense; Oswald would have been tried in Texas.
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86.
Jackie Kennedy removed her wedding ring and put it on her husband’s finger to be buried with him. Later she had an aide retrieve it.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
87.
The pink suit Jackie Kennedy wore in Dallas was never cleaned and is in the National Archives.
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Source: Jim Bowen / Wikimedia Commons
88.
The Texas School Book Depository’s sixth floor, from which Oswald shot Kennedy, is now a museum dedicated to JFK’s assassination.
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89.
The lying-in-state of Kennedy’s body in the Capitol Rotunda was modeled on that of Abraham Lincoln funeral in 1865 at the insistence of Kennedy’s widow.
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90.
The caisson that bore Kennedy’s body also carried the remains of Franklin Roosevelt.
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91.
Delegates from 82 countries, including eight heads of state and 10 prime ministers, attended the funeral.
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
92.
The first letters Lyndon Johnson wrote as president were to Caroline and John Jr. Kennedy.
Source: thesmuggler- Night of the Swallow" / Flickr
93.
Caroline Kennedy is now the United States ambassador to Japan.
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94.
JFK is buried in Arlington National Cemetery along with his wife Jackie, his son Patrick who died in infancy, and the stillborn child. His brothers Joseph, Robert, and Edward are also buried
in Arlington.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
95.
Kennedy is the only president who was outlived by his grandmother, 98-year-old Mary Josephine Fitzgerald.
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96.
Kennedy’s mother Rose outlived three of her four sons as well as one daughter. She died in 1995 at the age of 104.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
97.
In an interview with writer Theodore White for Life Magazine a week after the assassination, Jacqueline Kennedy said, “Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot,” forging the myth in American culture.
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98.
Idlewild Airport in New York City was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on Dec. 24, 1963.
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99.
A trove of about 3,600 classified files pertaining to the Kennedy assassination is set to be released by the National Archives no later than October 2017.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
100.
JFK created the Peace Corps by executive order.
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