John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Rose Kennedy (née Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald) and Joseph P. Kennedy.
His early life was marked by poor health, with the young boy being given the last rites five times, the first being at birth.
He was the second of four boys born to an Irish Catholic family with nine children: Joseph Jr., John, Robert F. Kennedy (Bobby),and Ted Kennedy (Edward).
The family moved from Boston to New York when John was young, and he attended Choate, a private school, although he was often too sick to attend.
In the late 1930s, his father became the ambassador to England, taking sons John and Robert with him, as well as his wife and daughters Kathleen and Rosemary Kennedy.
John attended Princeton and Harvard, and for his senior thesis, he wrote a piece about why England refused to enter World War II until late, which was published in 1940 and titled "Why England Slept".
His older brother Joseph was a pilot during the war and was killed when the bombs his plane was carrying exploded.
Not long after that, John's sister Kathleen and her husband died in a plane crash.
In the early 1950s, John ran for Congress in Massachusetts and won.
He married Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (née Jacqueline Lee Bouvier) on September 12, 1953.
Their daughter, Caroline Kennedy, was born on November 27, 1957, and their son, John Kennedy Jr., was born on November 25, 1960.
They also had a stillborn daughter named Arabella and a son named Patrick Bouvier, who died a few days after birth.
In 1954, J.F.K. had to undergo back surgery and wrote his second book, "Profiles in Courage", during his hospital stay.
His father always believed that his son Joseph was destined to be President of the United States, and when he died in World War II, the task was passed on to John.
He ran for president in 1960 against Richard Nixon and narrowly won.
His administration was marked by many conflicts, including the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In November 1963, John and Jackie went on a trip to Texas, where they were greeted with signs saying "Jack and Jackie".
On November 22, 1963, John was to give a speech in Dallas, but on his way, an assassin hidden on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository opened fire at Kennedy, who was riding in an open car.
Hit twice and severely wounded, Kennedy died in a local hospital at 1:00 P.M.
The alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was captured shortly after shooting and killing a Dallas policeman, and was himself assassinated before he could be thoroughly interrogated, let alone tried.
In a tragic irony, considering the death of Abraham Lincoln a century earlier, Kennedy was shot in a Ford Lincoln, just as Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theater.
