JFK, A Life in Brief

John F. Kennedy, known as JFK, was born in Brookline,

Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917, into a rich Boston family of Irish-
Catholics. He had a privileged childhood of elite private schools,
sailboats, servants, and summer homes. During his childhood and
youth, "Jack" Kennedy suffered frequent serious illnesses. But he
tried to make his own way, writing a best-selling book while still in
college at Harvard and volunteering for hazardous battles in the
Pacific during World War II. Kennedy's wartime service made him a
hero. After working as a journalist for a short period, Kennedy
entered politics, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from
1947 to 1953 and the U.S. Senate from 1953 to 1961.
Kennedy was the youngest U.S. President and the first Roman Catholic to serve in that office.
His Inaugural Speech offered the memorable injunction: "Ask not what your country can do for
you--ask what you can do for your country." His economic programs launched the country on its
longest expansion since World War II. Within the larger context of the fight against Communism,
which characterised the American life and politics in the 1950s and 1960's, JFK involved the U.S.A.
in a struggle to defend democratic South Vietnam against Communist North Vietnam. This
confrontation escalated into the Vietnam War,
In internal policy, he took vigorous action in the cause of equal rights, calling for new civil
rights legislation. His vision of America was focused on the quality of the national culture and the
central role of the arts in a vital society. The dream of this energetic leader was not fulfilled,
because he was assassinated near the end of his third year in office. In fact on November 22, 1963,
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas, during a presidential parade. For many
Americans, the public murder of President Kennedy remains one of the most traumatic events in
American history. His shocking death stood at the forefront of a period of political and social
instability in the country and the world.

Questions

1. Where and when was JFK born?

2. What was his childhoood like?
3. Why did his inaugural speech become memorable?
4. Why did JFK involve the USA in the Vietnam war?
5. What did he do for the internal policy?
6. When and how did he die?
7. Why was he so important for American history, in your opinion?
8. Is there any political man/woman in Italy that can be compared to JFK? Why/why not?