John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. His parents were Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy and Joseph Kennedy. He grew up in a wealthy family. Joseph was a business exectutive and financer. He was the second eldest of nine children. He had one older brother, Joseph Jr., and seven younger siblings: Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Jean, Patricia, Robert, and Teddy. As a child, he attended Edward Devotion School. But in 1929 his family moved to Riverdale, a suburb in New York City. After spending three years at Riverdale County Schools, he attended Canterbury Catholic School in New Milsbury, Connecticut. In the fall of 1931, he attended Choate, a Connecticut boarding school, mostly attended by wealthy white families. He was known to be rowdy and disobedient, but the headmistress said he could "charm a bird off of a tree." In 1935, he graduated from Choate, ranking sixty-fifth out of 112. After graduating, he took a year off from school and planned to go to Princeton. But before he enrolled, he changed his mind and decided to go to Harvard.

After leaving Harvard, and spending a semester at Stanford, Kennedy was drafted into the military. He initially wanted to join the airforce and become a pilot, like his older brother. But after many medical tests and procedures, it was revealed that he was physically uncapable of joining the military. Once his father found this out, he made some phone calls and somehow John was magically able to join. Instead of being in the action, he was given desk jobs in Charleston, South Carolina and Washington D.C. In 1942, he was transferred to a Torpedo Control boat training program. He stood out among the others for his commitment to the program and his leadership skills. He was eventually made the commander of a patrol boat (Pt. 109). On August 2, 1943, a Japanese destroyer struck the Pt. 109, killing two men from John's crew. He then ordered everyone to evacuate the ship. While escaping, he noticed one of his men barely breathing, he grabbed the man by his lifejacket and pulled him to shore. He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Navy Award for his actions.

After the war had ended, Kennedy decided to run for the House's Eleventh District. His running time did not go very well, people claimed he was rich and entitled. Even after all of the debates and the harsh election, Kennedy won and entered Congress. It took some time for the inexperienced and youthful-looking JFK to