John F. Kennedy: Difference between revisions

[[File:John F. Kennedy home, Brookline, Massachusetts LCCN2011630152.tif|thumb|upright=1.1|Kennedy's birthplace in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]]]]

Kennedy's father amassed a private fortune and established [[trust funds]] for his nine children that guaranteed lifelong financial independence.<ref>{{cite web |title=John F. Kennedy |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=November 22, 2023 |access-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-date=January 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118183301/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy |url-status=live }}</ref> His business kept him away from home for long stretches, but Joe Sr. was a formidable presence in his children's lives. He encouraged them to be ambitious, emphasized political discussions at the dinner table, and demanded a high level of academic achievement. John's first exposure to politics was touring the [[Neighborhoods in Boston|Boston wards]] with his grandfather Fitzgerald during his [[1922 Massachusetts gubernatorial election|1922]] failed gubernatorial campaign.<ref>{{cite book |last1=MacGregor Burns |first1=James |title=John Kennedy: A Political Profile |date=1960 |pages=22–23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Logevall |first1=Fredrik |title=JFK Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 |date=2020 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-8129-9713-2 |pages=50–51}}</ref> With Joe Sr.'s business ventures concentrated on [[Wall Street]] and [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] and an outbreak of [[polio]] in [[Massachusetts]], the family decided to move from Boston to the [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]] neighborhood of New York City in September 1927.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Logevall |first1=Fredrik |title=JFK Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917–1956 |date=2020 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-8129-9713-2 |page=57}}</ref><ref name="John F. Kennedy: Early Years">{{cite web | title = John F. Kennedy: Early Years | access-date = April 17, 2017 | url = http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/jfk/section1.rhtml | archive-date = April 29, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170429161744/http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/jfk/section1.rhtml | url-status = live }}</ref> Several years later, his brother Robert told [[Look (American magazine)|''Look'']] magazine that his father left Boston because of job signs that read: "[[No Irish Need Apply]]."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Evan |title=Robert Kennedy: His Life |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=33}}</ref> The Kennedys spent summers and early autumns at [[Kennedy Compound|their home]] in [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts]], a village on [[Cape Cod]],<ref name=Kennedy37>{{cite book|title=True Compass: A Memoir|first=Edward M.|last=Kennedy|page=[https://archive.org/details/truecompassmemoi00kenn/page/37 37]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-446-53925-8|publisher=Twelve|edition=1st|url=https://archive.org/details/truecompassmemoi00kenn/page/37}}</ref> where they swam, sailed, and played touch football.<ref name="jfklibrary.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy|title=Life of John F. Kennedy|publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum|access-date=February 7, 2019|archive-date=February 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190206235232/http://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy|url-status=live}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> Christmas and Easter holidays were spent at their [[La Querida (mansion)|winter retreat]] in [[Palm Beach, Florida]].{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=31}} In September 1930, Kennedy, 13 years old, was sent to the [[Canterbury School (Connecticut)|Canterbury School]] in [[New Milford, Connecticut]], for 8th grade. In April 1931, he had an [[appendectomy]], after which he withdrew from Canterbury and recuperated at home.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=34}}

===Wife and children===

After a miscarriage in 1955 and a stillbirth in 1956 (their daughter Arabella), their daughter [[Caroline Kennedy|Caroline]] was born in 1957. [[John F. Kennedy Jr.|John Jr.]], nicknamed "John-John" by the press as a child, was born in late November 1960, 17 days after his father was elected. John Jr. died in 1999 when the [[John F. Kennedy, Jr. plane crash|small plane he was piloting crashed]].<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/jfkjr/stories/kennedy073199.htm | title = Kennedy Plane Found to Be Fully Functional | newspaper = The Washington Post | date = July 31, 1999 | access-date = January 2, 2010 | archive-date = May 25, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100525100145/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/jfkjr/stories/kennedy073199.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> In August 1963, Jackie gave birth to a son, [[Patrick Bouvier Kennedy|Patrick]]. However, he died after two days due to complications from birth.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Blair|first1=William M.|title=Kennedys Mourn Death of Infant – Kennedys Mourning Baby Son; Funeral Today Will Be Private|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/08/10/81822324.html?pageNumber=1|work=The New York Times|date=August 10, 1963|page=1|access-date=December 13, 2023|archive-date=October 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020170113/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/08/10/81822324.html?pageNumber=1|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Historical evaluations and legacy==

===Presidency===

* [[Kennedy half dollar]], first minted in 1964

* [[John F. Kennedy School of Government]], part of [[Harvard University]], renamed in 1966

* [[John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial]], opened in 1970 in [[Dallas]]

* National cultural center was named [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] in 1964, opened in 1971 in [[Washington, D.C.]]

* [[Statue of John F. Kennedy (Boston)|Statue of John F. Kennedy]] by Isabel McIlvain on the grounds of the [[Massachusetts State House]] in Boston; dedicated on May 29, 1990.