President John F. Kennedy (1961)
(Photo by Alfred Eisenstadt-Courtesy of White House Press Office)
[Earlier post revised 5/29/2017]
Frozen in time as the youthful avatar of a new generation in American politics, John F. Kennedy would have been 100 years old yesterday. He was born on May 29, 1917.
Now, more than 50 years after John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, the public remains fascinated with the man, his family, and his times. His life and loves, his controversial death, and the legacy of his brief presidency and extended family continue to exert a hold on the American imagination.
When JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963, the modern myth-making machine was set in motion. It transformed a president who had committed serious mistakes while also conjuring brilliant successes into a sun- dappled, all-American legend— a modern young King Arthur from Camelot, the popular musical of the day, which became the enduring image of his abbreviated life and presidency.
Elected at forty-two—still the youngest elected president— and dead at forty-six, John F. Kennedy had, in the lyrics of Camelot, a “brief, shining moment” that remains one of the most extraordinary passages in American history, shaping the course of modern presidential politics and history. From the Bay of Pigs fiasco to the near-disaster of the Cuban Missile Crisis and America’s growing involvement in Vietnam, all set against the American civil rights crusade, the glow of Kennedy’s legacy as president has been dulled by time. Yet he remains beloved by many Americans.
✱ Kennedy was the first president born in the twentieth century.
✱ He was the first, and to date, only Roman Catholic to be elected president.
✱ To date, Kennedy is the only president to win a Pulitzer Prize, for Profiles in Courage. Before his death in 2008, former Kennedy speechwriter Theodore Sorensen confirmed that he had written the book with Kennedy.
✱ Kennedy was the first president to have a poet take part in his inaugural. Robert Frost recited from memory an older poem, “The Gift Outright,”
✱ While there had been gardens at the White House since the time of John Adams, and presidents such as Jefferson and John Quincy Adams had been enthusiastic gardeners, the iconic “Rose Garden,” outside the president’s office, was formalized by Kennedy. After his 1961 trip to Europe, Kennedy wanted a more formal setting for official use.
✱ John F. Kennedy and William Taft are the only presidents buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Following his death, this obituary appeared in the New York Times.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is in Boston.
You can read more about John F. Kennedy and his presidency in Don’t Know Much About® the American Presidents and Don’t Know Much About® History 
Don’t Know Much About® the American Presidents (Hyperion Paperback-April 15, 2014)
