John F. Kennedy
1917–1963 · American (Brookline, Massachusetts) · Cold War, 1960s America
Known for: Youngest elected US president—handled the Cuban Missile Crisis and was assassinated in Dallas
JFK was the golden boy of American politics—young, handsome, Harvard-educated, a WWII hero, and the first Catholic president. He navigated the Cuban Missile Crisis (the closest the world came to nuclear war), launched the Peace Corps and the space race, and inspired a generation with his inaugural address: 'Ask not what your country can do for you.'
He was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963, at age 46. His death traumatized America and spawned conspiracy theories that persist to this day. His presidency was brief (1,036 days) but mythologized beyond any other.
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