Lived

May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963

Home State

Massachusetts

Party

Democratic

Vice President

Lyndon B. Johnson

John F. Kennedy was the youngest elected President and the first Catholic, whose brief presidency was cut short by assassination in Dallas. He faced down the Soviet Union in the Cuban Missile Crisis, established the Peace Corps, committed the nation to a lunar landing, and sent the first federal civil rights legislation of the 1960s to Congress. His administration also approved the Bay of Pigs invasion and deepened involvement in Vietnam. His death transformed him into an enduring symbol of lost possibility. PT-boat commander in World War II (rescued crew after the sinking of PT-109), Pulitzer Prize–winning author, U.S. Representative and Senator from Massachusetts.

Choate; Harvard College, 1940; briefly Stanford Business School.

Faced down the Soviets in the Cuban Missile Crisis without war. Established the Peace Corps. Committed the nation to landing on the Moon. Signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sent the first federal civil rights legislation of the 1960s to Congress. Signed the Peace Corps Act (1961), the Equal Pay Act (1963), and the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963).

Approved the Bay of Pigs invasion, which failed catastrophically. Authorized wiretapping of Martin Luther King Jr. Deepened U.S. involvement in Vietnam. His administration's ties to organized crime and Kennedy's personal conduct came out only after his death.