A Political Biography On Jfk Essay Research

A Political Biography On Jfk Essay, Research Paper

John Fitzgerald Kennedy has changed the lives of many Americans and their future generations. He fought communism, seen as an evil presence in our wold, in the Soviet Union, Cuba and China. In doing so, he prevented many people of the world from being harmed. Kennedy ensured equality for all Americans, rich or poor, black or white. He led an advance in civil and human rights, and was well liked by many of the American people. He is seen as one of the most influential Presidents ever to have been elected. Many people regard JFK as legacy. He changed the views of American citizens and helped boost the economy, not only in the United States, but globally.

Beginning of political career

Faced with the problem of choosing, a career, Kennedy worked for a few months in 1945 as a reporter for the Hearst newspapers, and during this time, he covered the conference at San Francisco which established the United Nations. While there he noted the belligerent Russian attitude’ ( Lawson, 1998, p. 1) and decided to pursue a career in politics. Early in 1946, he began an aggressive campaign against nine other candidates for a seat in the House of Representatives from the Democratic 11th Massachusetts Congressional District. His election in November of 1946 was an overwhelming success. From there, Kennedy was re-elected in 1948 and 1950. He had a pattern of mixed voting, often disagreeing with many of the policies of President Truman. Kennedy agreed with the administrations Fair Deal policies, fighting for issues such as slum clearance and low-cost public housing. His views on foreign affairs were also strong, and was critical of the President for not restraining the advance of communism in China. Most of Kennedy’s views on politics were first generated and tempered here in the House of Representatives. U.S. Senate

In 1952, Kennedy announced his candidacy for the senate. His opposition was Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., who was a Republican. He once again campaigned vigorously with his new slogan being ” Kennedy will do more for Massachusetts”. (Palmer, 1994, p.86) He won the election by an overwhelming margin. As a senator, Kennedy concentrated first on making good on his campaign slogan. At the end of two years he could list a wide array of legislation he had obtained for Massachusetts businessmen. He expanded his program to cover all of New England and succeeded in uniting the senators from the area into an effective voting bloc. At the same time, he supported the St. Lawrence Seaway and the extension of the reciprocal trade program.

In 1952, shortly after his marriage to Jacqueline Bouvier, Kennedy was troubled by back problems, and as it got worse in 1954 and 1955 , he underwent spinal operations. During his long absence from the senate, he occupied himself by writing a study of notable acts of courage by eight United States senators. This book, published in 1956 entitled Profiles in Courage, received the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957.

After Kennedy returned to work in May 1955, he shifted his attention more and more towards national and international issues. He had previously told a magazine writer, with reference to critis who complain that he was not a “true liberal”, that he would be very happy to tell them that he was not liberal at all. But by 1957, he was taking mildly liberal positions on the difficult question of civil liberties. He helped arrange a compromise between Northern and Southern positions on the civil rights bill passed in 1957. In Jackson Miss., he frankly asserted that he accepted the Supreme Court decision of 1954 on desegregation of the nation’s public schools.

Campaign for president

Beginning in 1956, Kennedy aimed toward higher office. In the Democratic Convention of that year he almost retracted the vice-presidential nomination for Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. After the election he began speaking frequently throughout the country, and many writers began to speculate whether a Roman Catholic could be elected president.

In 1958, Kennedy was re-elected to the Senate by a margin of more than 874,000 votes. This firmly established him as a leading contender for the presidential nomination. In January 1960, he formally announced his candidacy. Backed again by a formidable personal organization, he defeated Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, Jr., of Minnesota and other rivals in several hard fought primaries. At the convention he deployed his forces so skillfully against those of Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas and Adali E. Stevenson that he was nominated on the first ballot. He then asked Johnson to run with him for vice-president.

In accepting the nomination, Kennedy declared that “We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier,” thus giving a name to his program. In the campaign against his republican opponent, Vice President Richard Nixon, he took positions that, while middle of the road, were somewhat more liberal than those held by Nixon, and defended them vigorously in a campaign across the nation.

When he appeared in a unique series of television debates with Vice President Nixon, his mature appearance undercut Republican arguments that he was too young and inexperienced for such high office. Although public opinion polls predicted his victory, he was elected president by a margin of only 119,450 votes out of the nearly 69