John F. Kennedy

Was named after his grandfather, John Fitzgerald, who was elected mayor of Boston, MA, in 1905.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Rose Kennedy (née Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald) and Joseph P. Kennedy. John was named after his maternal grandfather, John "HoneyFitz" Fitzgerald, the mayor of Boston. John was very ill as a child and was given the last rites five times, the first one being when he was a new-born. He was the second of four boys born to an Irish Catholic family with nine children: Joseph Jr. , John, Robert F. Kennedy (called Bobby), and Ted Kennedy (born Edward). Because Rose made Joe and Jack (the name his family called him) wear matching clothes, they fought a lot for attention. When John was young, the family moved from Boston to New York. John Went to Choate, a private school. Most of the time, though, he was too sick to attend.

In the late 1930s, father Joe became the ambassador to England. He took sons John and Robert with him, as well as his wife and daughters Kathleen and Rosemary Kennedy. John Went to Princeton, then Harvard, and for his senior thesis, he wrote a piece about why England refused to get into the war until late.

Graduated from the Choate School in Connecticut in 1935.

It was published in 1940 and called "Why England Slept". His older brother Joe 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.

Was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the United States Senate in 1952.

In the early 1950s, John ran for Congress in Massachusetts and won.

He married Jacqueline Kennedy (née Jacqueline Lee Bouvier) on September 12, 1953.

In 1954, J. F. K. had to have back surgery and in the hospital wrote his second book, "Profiles in Courage". His father always said that his son Joe was going to be President of the U. S. ; when he died in World War II, though, that task was passed on to John.

In 1956 his wife Jacqueline Kennedy gave birth to their first child, Arabella Kennedy. She was stillborn.

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.

He ran for president in 1960 against Richard Nixon and narrowly won. His administration had many conflicts, the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis being key examples.

Was instrumental in the creation of the space program, and in just eight years (1961-69) the US sent a man to the moon.

In November 1963, he and Jackie (his wife's nickname) went on a trip to Texas. Everywhere they went there were signs saying "Jack and Jackie.

Pictured on a 5¢ US memorial postage stamp issued 29 May 1964 (birthday following assassination).

Pictured on the 13¢ US postage stamp in the original Prominent Americans series, issued 29 May 1967 (50th anniversary of his birth).

Was portrayed by Martin Sheen in the miniseries Kennedy (1983).