John F. Kennedy, whose ancestors came from Ireland, was the first Roman Catholic to become President of the United States. Aged 43 at the time of his election in 1960, he was also the youngest person ever elected to the country's highest office, although he was not the youngest to serve in it.

The War Years

Out of college, (in 1940, he graduated from Harvard cum laude, “with honor”) Kennedy was uncertain about his future. He thought about attending Yale Law School, went to business school at Stanford University for six months instead, then toured South America. In 1941 he tried to enlist in the Army but was rejected because of his old back injury. After five months of exercise to strengthen his back, he was accepted for service by the Navy.

Kennedy found his assignments, mostly paperwork, dull. When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, he applied for sea duty, underwent torpedo boat training, and was commissioned an ensign. The next year he shipped out for the South Pacific. There he became the central figure in one of the dramatic episodes of the war.

His Administration

Kennedy’s major problems as president were the Cold War with the Soviet Union and its Communist allies, the resistance of southerners in his own party to the demands of blacks for full civil rights, and unemployment. Soon after taking office in 1961, he had to deal with two dangerous confrontations with the Soviet Union.

Tragedy Strikes

On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was in Dallas, Texas, on a political tour of the state. Accompanied by Mrs. Kennedy and Texas governor John B. Connally, he was riding in an open car in a motorcade when shots rang out, striking the president in the head and neck. Kennedy was rushed to the hospital, but he died soon after without regaining consciousness. Governor Connally was also wounded but he recovered. As the news was relayed to a shocked nation,Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president and flown to Washington, D.C.