Happy Birthday JFK
On this day, May 29, in 1917, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born at 83 Beals Street in Brookline, Massachusetts at 3:00 p.m. He was the second son of Joseph P. Kennedy and his wife the former Rose Fitzgerald. He would be 93 years old today if he was still alive.
From an early age, JFK was cursed with a number of serious health problems. As a child he had to deal with whooping cough, scarlet fever as well as tonsillitis and appendicitis. He had a bad back which affected him all of his life and was especially exacerbated during his heroic exploits as the captain of PT-109 in World War 2. Kennedy had two major back surgeries: one to insert a metal plate and the other to remove it. Both operations nearly killed him and JFK would often use crutches to support himself when the press wasn't around.
JFK suffered from Addison's Disease, an illness which impairs the body's ability to fight infection. He regularly took cortisone shots. For a time, Kennedy was treated by Dr. Max Jacobson, a doctor of questionable ethics who had many movie stars as clients and was known as "Doctor Feelgood." Jacobson gave the president shots that were a mixture of vitamins, steroids, amphetamines and other medications, some of which were addictive. Jacobson later lost his license to practice medicine. In his 1961 meetings with Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev, Kennedy was forced to sit through lengthy meeting that outlasted his pain medication. When his brother Robert Kennedy expressed his concern over the medications, JFK is said to have repled "I don't care if it's horse piss."
It's easy to forget that Kennedy was only in office for less than three years, given all that occurred on his watch: the botched Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the founding of the Peace Corps, the decision to send more "advisors" to Vietnam, the building of the Berlin Wall and Kennedy's West Berlin speech, a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, his visit to Ireland, the civil rights battles in the south, and the space program, just to list a few.
I think I'll wait until November 22nd to blog about the assassination in Dallas. A few years ago I visited Arlington National Cemetery where President and Mrs. Kennedy are buried and where the "eternal flame" burns. It truly is one of the most amazing views, befitting for such an extraordinary man who accomplished so much in such a short time and who left a truly great legacy.
From an early age, JFK was cursed with a number of serious health problems. As a child he had to deal with whooping cough, scarlet fever as well as tonsillitis and appendicitis. He had a bad back which affected him all of his life and was especially exacerbated during his heroic exploits as the captain of PT-109 in World War 2. Kennedy had two major back surgeries: one to insert a metal plate and the other to remove it. Both operations nearly killed him and JFK would often use crutches to support himself when the press wasn't around.
JFK suffered from Addison's Disease, an illness which impairs the body's ability to fight infection. He regularly took cortisone shots. For a time, Kennedy was treated by Dr. Max Jacobson, a doctor of questionable ethics who had many movie stars as clients and was known as "Doctor Feelgood." Jacobson gave the president shots that were a mixture of vitamins, steroids, amphetamines and other medications, some of which were addictive. Jacobson later lost his license to practice medicine. In his 1961 meetings with Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev, Kennedy was forced to sit through lengthy meeting that outlasted his pain medication. When his brother Robert Kennedy expressed his concern over the medications, JFK is said to have repled "I don't care if it's horse piss."
It's easy to forget that Kennedy was only in office for less than three years, given all that occurred on his watch: the botched Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the founding of the Peace Corps, the decision to send more "advisors" to Vietnam, the building of the Berlin Wall and Kennedy's West Berlin speech, a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, his visit to Ireland, the civil rights battles in the south, and the space program, just to list a few.
I think I'll wait until November 22nd to blog about the assassination in Dallas. A few years ago I visited Arlington National Cemetery where President and Mrs. Kennedy are buried and where the "eternal flame" burns. It truly is one of the most amazing views, befitting for such an extraordinary man who accomplished so much in such a short time and who left a truly great legacy.