John F. Kennedy: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:18, 6 November 2006

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==Early political career==

[[Image:JFKSENATE.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A young Senator Kennedy in 1953]]

IfterAfter World War II, Kennedy entered politics, partly to fill the void of his popular brother, [[Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.]], on whom his family had pinned many of their hopes but who was killed in the war. In 1946, Representative [[James Michael Curley]] vacated his seat in an overwhelmingly Democratic district to become mayor of [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]], and Kennedy ran for that seat, beating his Republican opponent by a large margin. He was a congressman for six years but had a mixed voting record, often diverging from President [[Harry S. Truman]] and the rest of the Democratic Party. In 1952, he defeated incumbent Republican [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]] for the U.S. Senate.

<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:jfkatbcin56.jpg|right|thumb|Kennedy gives his [[Jesuit Ivy]] address at the 1956 [[Boston College]] commencement]] -->

Kennedy married [[Jacqueline Lee Bouvier]] on [[September 12]], [[1953]]. He underwent several spinal operations in the two following years, nearly dying (receiving the Catholic faith's [[Anointing of the Sick|"last rites"]] four times during his life), and was often absent from the Senate. During this period, he published ''[[Profiles in Courage]]'', highlighting eight instances in which U.S. Senators risked their careers by standing by their personal beliefs. The book was awarded the 1957 [[Pulitzer Prize]] for Biography.