- Was a natural speed reader. He could read about 2,500 wpm (ten times the average reading speed). He would read six newspapers from front to back while he had breakfast.
- Although privately he suffered from numerous illnesses and ailments, he insisted on a public image of rugged fitness and masculinity. Following his infamous debate against Richard Nixon, he spent a week in Florida tanning and working out on the beach. He was often photographed playing football with younger brother Robert F. Kennedy, working out and playing various sports with his family. In one famous photograph, he is pictured wearing a leather jacket, jeans and sunglasses, casually leaning against a wall. In reality, he was so exhausted from getting over a virus and the job, that he literally fell asleep standing up.
- At 43 years 236 days, Kennedy was the youngest elected U.S. President.
- Was the first Catholic U.S. President.
- He created the Peace Corps.
- Although he was the youngest person elected president, he was not the youngest person to become president. That was Theodore Roosevelt, who became president after William McKinley was shot.
- Appointed his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, as US Attorney General. After his appointment, Congress enacted laws to prevent immediate family members from serving in the President's cabinet.
- His favorite film was Spartacus (1960).
- He had numerous bizarre distant connections with the 16th US president, Abraham Lincoln.
- Jacqueline Kennedy gave birth to their 1st child Arabella in 1956. She was stillborn.
- Was the youngest man elected President and the youngest to die.
- Served in the United States Navy during World War II.
- Was the first U.S. President to be born in the 20th century.
- His older sister, Rosemary Kennedy, was born with learning deficits and had to be placed in alternative school. This shamed their father, Joseph P. Kennedy, who wanted all of his Kennedy children to be perfect in every way. In 1941 he forced Rosemary to undergo a lobotomy that went devastatingly wrong, causing her to become mentally incapacitated for the rest of her life.
- He, Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby all died in Parkland Hospital in Dallas, TX.
- His Vice President, Texas congressman Lyndon B. Johnson, campaigned against him for the presidential spot in 1960, and Kennedy later chose him to be his Vice President because he needed Johnson to win over southern voters. John's brother, Robert F. Kennedy, disliked Johnson intensely and the feeling was mutual.
- Fourth US president to be assassinated (unsuccessful attempts had been made on Presidents Andrew Jackson and Harry S. Truman, and on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt) and the eighth president to die in office.
- He graduated from Harvard in 1940.
- Father of Arabella, Caroline Kennedy, John Kennedy Jr. & Patrick.
- Father of John Kennedy Jr. & Caroline Kennedy.
- Suffered from Addison's disease.
- His portrait appears on the US half-dollar coin.
- Considered his younger brother Robert F. Kennedy to be his top advisor and closest friend. Bobby similarly felt the same way about Jack and was "utterly devastated" by Jack's death in 1963. Friends and family said that, after his brother's death, Bobby was never the same man.
- When he visited Ireland in late June 1963, he became the first sitting U.S. President to set foot on Irish soil.
- Died November 22, 1963, the same day as C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley.
- Believed to have been shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, who was later killed by Jack Ruby.
- 4th child, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, died from infant respiratory-distress syndrome 2 days after his birth in the summer of 1963.
- During a stopover in Palm Beach, FL, en route to Dallas, TX, on November 17, 1963, a private screening of Tom Jones (1963) was organized for him. It was the last film he saw.
- While in office, the family Secret Service code names were: Lancer (The President); Lace (Jacqueline Kennedy); Lyric (Caroline Kennedy); Lark (John Kennedy Jr.). "SS-100-X" was the code for the 1961 Presidential Lincoln Continental four door convertible limousine (model 74A).
- His funeral took place on the same day as that of Lee Harvey Oswald and Officer J.D. Tippit, the Dallas policeman who was killed by Oswald.
- Was the 35th President of the U.S. (1961-1963).
- Daughter Caroline Kennedy, born 27 November 1957.
- In 1940 he wrote the best-selling book "While England Slept", about some of the decisions which led to World War II.
- In the course of his famous 1963 speech near the Berlin Wall, Kennedy had meant to say, "Ich bin Berliner" (I am a Berliner). Since nationalities in German are not preceded by articles, Kennedy actually said, "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am one with the people of Berlin). The urban legend that it translates into "I am a jelly donut" is a myth, since the pastry is known in Germany as "pfannkuchen" (pan cake).
- His great-grandfather, Patrick Kennedy, was a very poor Irish immigrant who emigrated to America in the fall of 1848. He fell sick from cholera and died in his Boston home on November 22, 1858, exactly 105 years to the day of JFK's assassination.
- Attended the installation in Rome of Pope Pius XII with his parents and family.
- After the parade through Dallas, Kennedy was scheduled to attend a Texas barbecue and then spend the night at Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson's ranch. Johnson had organized a whip-cracking and sheep-herding demonstration for Kennedy's entertainment.
- Was an avid reader, and at one point expressed his fondness for the James Bond novels of Ian Fleming. He said that a particular favorite was "From Russia with Love". For this reason, the producers of the Bond series made From Russia with Love (1963) the second Bond film.
- During his entire political career, he never once lost a single election.
- His assassination inspired journalist Hunter S. Thompson to create his famous phrase, "Fear and Loathing".
- "Black Jack", the riderless horse that served at his funeral, also participated in the funeral ceremonies of Presidents Herbert Hoover and Lyndon B. Johnson and Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Coincidentally, "Black Jack" was also the nickname of Jacqueline Kennedy's father.
- Was a Fourth-Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, belonging to both the Bunker Hill No. 62 and the Bishop Cheverus General Assembly.
- His father never called him Jack, he always called him Johnny.
- Was instrumental in the creation of the space program, and in just eight years (1961-69) the US sent a man to the moon.
- Was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the United States Senate in 1952.
- In 1956 the book "Profiles in Courage" was published, and later won the Pulitzer Prize in Biography or Autobiography in 1957. Although the book was credited to Kennedy, Ted Sorenson later admitted that he wrote most of it.
- Pictured on a 5¢ US memorial postage stamp issued 29 May 1964 (birthday following assassination).
- In 1961 he was chosen as Time Magazine's "Man of the Year".
- The Lincoln Continental convertible limousine (plate: GG 300) in which he and then Texas governor John Connally and wife Nellie Connally were riding in on the day of Kennedy's assassination is on display in a museum in Dearborn, MI.
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