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