John F. Kennedy is an American icon as well as the thirty-fifth president of the United States. JFK had many accomplishments in his life as well as many downfalls. John F. Kennedy was president from January 1961 to November 1963. There are many theories and conspiracies around JFK’s sudden and tragic death. Did you know John F. Kennedy was the youngest president of the United States?

President Kennedy is the second of nine children. As a child, Jack, as his family called him, was very competitive, which would come in handy for him later in life. This would become helpful with getting into college, being a senator and even president of the United States.

After graduating from Harvard, both JFK and his oldest brother, Joe, went into the United States Navy. They had both fought in WWII; JFK was a Lieutenant and Joe was a pilot. On the night of August 2, 1943, PT-109 was attacked by the Japanese. Jack, along with 12 other men were on PT-109. During this attack, the ship split in half and two of Kennedy’s men were killed from the fire. The other men jumped off the ship before the ship was engulfed in flames. Lt. Kennedy did get an injury to his already weakened back from being slammed against the cockpit. Patrick McMahon, one of Jack’s crew members, had horrible burns on his hands and face. McMahon was about to give up, but in the darkness, Lt. Kennedy found him and pulled him to shore with the other crew members.  Although a year later, his brother, Joe, would not be so lucky. After the war when Jack returned home, he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps medals for leadership and his courage.

With the tragic loss of his brother, Joe, on Jack’s mind he wanted to be a teacher or a writer, but was motivated to run for congress by his father, Joseph Kennedy.  Kennedy, aged 36, was elected as senator and shortly after married Jacqueline Bouvier, who was 24 years old at the time. They had their first daughter, Caroline, in 1957.

On July 13, 1960, the democratic party named Kennedy as their democratic nominee. JFK asked Lydon B. Johnson to be his vice president. General election day, November 8, 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected the thirty-fifth president of the United States of America. By time President Kennedy had his inauguration, his second child was born, John Jr. During his inaugural speech he uttered his most famous quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” This quote stuck with people for centuries and decades afterwards.

After nearly 1,000 days in office, the world seemed to stop when the words, “The president has been shot,” went throughout new stations and radio stations across the United States. On November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, President Kennedy was assassinated by a man named Lee Harvey Oswald.  Before Oswald was brought to trial, he too was shot and killed by Jack Ruby.

There are many theories on the JFK assassination that have been discussed over the years. There are theories like the grassy knoll theory, umbrella man, multiple gunmen, and many others. The grassy knoll theory is where there was a shooter in the grassy knoll and that is why JFK’s head went back and to the left. The umbrella man theory is where the man with the umbrella was one of the ques for the shooter to shoot JFK. The multiple shooters theory is where there were shooters in all the buildings throughout the routes that Kennedy would have taken. Could the CIA or even the government be involved with this theory?

JFK was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.