Today, May 29th, is the birthday of a very famous former American president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who is often referred to as JFK.  JFK was born in 1917, became president in 1961, and died on November 22, 1963.  JFK remains the youngest person to be elected president, he was elected at the age of 43.

JFK was killed tragically by an assassin’s bullets in Dallas, Texas while driving through the streets in a presidential motorcade*.  He was killed after serving just over 1,000 days as president.  His assassination is often considered a landmark event for the generation of people who were alive at that time, much like the 9/11 attacks are considered a landmark even for those alive in 2001.

More than being the youngest elected president in United States history JFK had a long career of serving his country.  He fought in the South Pacific during World War II and was then elected to the US House of Representatives (as a representative for the state of Massachusetts in the federal congress).  He served as a Congressman from 1947 to 1953 until he was elected to the US Senate (as one of two representative for the state of Massachusetts) from 1953 to 1960.  It was then in 1960 that JFK was elected to be the 35th president of the United States.

JFK was married to Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in 1953 and together they had two children, John Jr. and Caroline.  Caroline is still alive today, though Jacqueline and John Jr. have passed away.

The period of JFK’s presidency is at times referred to as “Camelot.” The term Camelot refers back to the court of the legendary King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. This term has come to mean ‘a place or time of idyllic happiness’.  Jacqueline Kennedy described the years of her husband’s presidency (1960–63) as an “American Camelot,” a period of hope and optimism in United States history and many people still consider this to be true.

Whether a person agrees with JFK’s political views and policy or not it is fair to say he was a major figure in US history and politics.  There have been many English-speaking films made about this president and if you are interested in learning more about him you may want to check one of these out: JFK (1991), Thirteen Days in October (2001), JFK Remembered (1988), and many more.

*motorcade = a procession of automobiles or other motor vehicles