John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–63,) known as JFK, was a Democratic-party political leader who served as the 35th president of the U.S. from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He is remembered as one of the most appealing and beloved political leaders of the twentieth century.
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, to a wealthy and politically prominent family, JFK was a national war hero during World War II. He served as a U.S. representative and a U.S. senator from Massachusetts before getting elected as the youngest and the first Catholic U.S. president.
JFK gained a widespread reputation as an advocate of civil rights, but Congress frequently blocked his planned legislation. In foreign affairs, he led America through the Bay of Pigs debacle and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the thirteen-day stand-off that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. He also increased military aid to South Vietnam in the Vietnam War and negotiated the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the USSR and the U.K.
Kennedy’s ambitious proposals for his country were cut short by his untimely assassination, which spawned decades of speculations of conspiracy, cover-up, and doctored film footage. His most admired legacies include the Peace Corps, the U.S. space program, and his advocacy for civil rights. He is also remembered for his inspiring speeches that encouraged humankind to challenge tyranny, racism, and the mysteries of outer space.
JFK is the author of Why England Slept (1940,) the Pulitzer Prize-winning Profiles in Courage (1956,) and A Nation of Immigrants (1958.) His brothers Robert Kennedy and Edward “Ted” Kennedy also served as popular U.S. senators.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by John F. Kennedy
This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Wealth
With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth Gods work must truly be our own.
—John F. Kennedy
Before my term has ended, we shall have to test anew whether a nation organized and governed such as ours can endure. The outcome is by no means certain.
—John F. Kennedy
We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Talent, Unemployment, Work
A young man who does not have what it takes to perform military service is not likely to have what it takes to make a living. Todays military rejects include tomorrows hard core unemployed.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: The Military
There is, in addition to a courage with which men die, a courage by which men must live.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Courage
Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Thinking
Of course, both major parties today seek to serve the national interest. They would do so in order to obtain the broadest base of support, if for no nobler reason. But when party and officeholder differ as to how the national interest is to be served, we must place first the responsibility we owe not to our party or even to our constituents but to our individual consciences.
—John F. Kennedy
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Patriotism, Freedom
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word “crisis”. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger — but recognize the opportunity.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Difficulties, Trouble, Attitude, Opportunities, Adversity, Opportunity
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Violence, Revolutionaries, Revolutions, Peace, Revolution
All of us do not have equal talents, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Talent
The science of weapons and war has made us all one world and one human race with one common destiny
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Weapon
It is our task in our time and in our generation to hand down undiminished to those who come after us, as was handed down to us by those who went before, the natural wealth and beauty which is ours.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Nature, Wildlife
Across the gulfs and barriers that now divide us, we must remember that there are no permanent enemies. Hostility today is a fact, but it is not a ruling law. The supreme reality of our time is our indivisibility as children of God and our common vulnerability on this planet.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Wilderness, Reality
Let us resolve to be masters, not the victims, of our history, controlling our own destiny without giving way to blind suspicions and emotions.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Change
So let us here resolve that Dag Hammarskjold did not live, or die, in vain. Let us call a truce to terror. Let us invoke the blessings of peace. And, as we build an international capacity to keep peace, let us join in dismantling the national capacity to wage war.
—John F. Kennedy
The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less than a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must—in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures—and that is the basis of all morality.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Bravery, Ethics, Courage
Liberty without learning is always in peril and learning without liberty is always in vain
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Liberty
All my life Ive known better than to depend on the experts. How could I have been so stupid, to let them go ahead?
—John F. Kennedy
We prefer world law, in the age of self-determination, to world war in the age of mass extermination.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Nationalism, Nation, Nationality
As far as the job of President goes, it’s rewarding and I’ve given before this group the definition of happiness for the Greeks. I’ll define it again: the full use of your powers along lines of excellence. I find, therefore, that the Presidency provides some happiness.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Presidency, Excellence
It is in the American tradition to stand up for one’s rights – even if the new way to stand up for one’s rights is to sit down
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Americans
You never know what’s hit you. A gunshot is the perfect way.
—John F. Kennedy
And if we are to open employment opportunities in this country for members of all races and creeds, then the Federal Government must set an example. The President himself must set the key example. I am not going to promise a Cabinet post or any other post to any race or ethnic group. That is racism in reverse at its worst. So I do not promise to consider race or religion in my appointments if I am successful. I promise only that I will not consider them.
—John F. Kennedy
Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Peace
If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Conflict
I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Teams, Genius, Teamwork
When we got into office, the thing that surprised me most was to find that things were just as bad as we’d been saying they were.
—John F. Kennedy
Topics: Politicians, Politics
And so it is that I carry with me from this State to that high and lonely office to which I now succeed more than fond memories and fast friendships. The enduring qualities of Massachusettsthe common threads woven by the Pilgrim and the Puritan, the fisherman and the farmer, the Yankee and the immigrantwill not be and could not be forgotten in the Nations Executive Mansion. They are an indelible part of my life, my convictions, my view of the past, my hopes for the future.
—John F. Kennedy
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