Happy Birthday JFK
This is a milestone year for the legacy of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who, if he were still alive, would turn 96 years old today. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. This coming November 22nd will be the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination and the event will give rise to a plethora of books about the 35th President of the United States.
Born into a wealthy family, Kennedy graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs. He served as the commander of the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 during World War II in the South Pacific. After the war, Kennedy represented Massachusetts' 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. At 43 years of age, he became the youngest person to be elected to the office, the second-youngest President to hold the office (after Theodore Roosevelt), and the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president. A Catholic, Kennedy was the only non-Protestant president, and is the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize.
Events during Kennedy's presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, and early stages of the Vietnam War, where Kennedy increased the number of military advisers, special operation forces, and helicopters in an effort to curb the spread of communism in South East Asia.
Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of the crime, but he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby two days later, before a trial could take place. The FBI and the Warren Commission officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. However, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) concluded that those investigations were flawed and that Kennedy was probably assassinated as the result of a conspiracy.
Since the 1960s information concerning Kennedy's private life has come to light. Details of Kennedy's health problems in which he struggled have become better known, especially since the 1990s. Although initially kept secret from the general public, reports of Kennedy's philandering have garnered much press.
This year being 50 years after the assassination of JFK, readers with an appetite for the subject of the Kennedy presidency and assassination can look forward to the following offerings:
1. Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House by Robert Dallek (release date: October 8, 2013)
2. End of Days: The Assassination of President Kennedy by James L. Swanson (release date: November 12, 2013)
3. JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President by Thurston Clarke (release date: August 6, 2013)
4. The Kennedy Half-Century: The Legacy and Influence of the JFK Presidency by Larry J. Sabato (release date: October 22, 2013)
5. Dallas 1963 by Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis (release date: October 8, 2013)
6. The Hidden History of the JFK Assassination by Lamar Waldron (release date: November 12, 2013)
7. To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace by Jeffrey D. Sachs (release date: June 4, 2013)
8. Five Days in November by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbon (release date: November 19, 2013)
9. If Kennedy Lived: The First and Second Terms of President John F. Kennedy, an Alternate History by Jeff Greenfield (release date: October 22, 2013)
10. John F. Kennedy: The Life, The Presidency, The Assassination by Ian Shircore and David Southwell (release date: October 1, 2013)
11. November 22, 1963: Reflections on the Life, Assassination and Legacy of John F. Kennedy by Dean Owen (release date: September 3, 2013)
12. They Killed Our President: 63 Facts That Prove a Conspiracy to Kill JFK by Jesse Ventura (release date: October 1, 2013)
13. JFK Conservative by Ira Stoll (release date: October 15, 2013)
Happy reading JFK enthusiasts! I'm sure we'll be discussing this in greater detail come November.
Born into a wealthy family, Kennedy graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs. He served as the commander of the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 during World War II in the South Pacific. After the war, Kennedy represented Massachusetts' 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. At 43 years of age, he became the youngest person to be elected to the office, the second-youngest President to hold the office (after Theodore Roosevelt), and the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president. A Catholic, Kennedy was the only non-Protestant president, and is the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize.
Events during Kennedy's presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, and early stages of the Vietnam War, where Kennedy increased the number of military advisers, special operation forces, and helicopters in an effort to curb the spread of communism in South East Asia.
Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of the crime, but he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby two days later, before a trial could take place. The FBI and the Warren Commission officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. However, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) concluded that those investigations were flawed and that Kennedy was probably assassinated as the result of a conspiracy.
Since the 1960s information concerning Kennedy's private life has come to light. Details of Kennedy's health problems in which he struggled have become better known, especially since the 1990s. Although initially kept secret from the general public, reports of Kennedy's philandering have garnered much press.
This year being 50 years after the assassination of JFK, readers with an appetite for the subject of the Kennedy presidency and assassination can look forward to the following offerings:
1. Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House by Robert Dallek (release date: October 8, 2013)
2. End of Days: The Assassination of President Kennedy by James L. Swanson (release date: November 12, 2013)
3. JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President by Thurston Clarke (release date: August 6, 2013)
4. The Kennedy Half-Century: The Legacy and Influence of the JFK Presidency by Larry J. Sabato (release date: October 22, 2013)
5. Dallas 1963 by Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis (release date: October 8, 2013)
6. The Hidden History of the JFK Assassination by Lamar Waldron (release date: November 12, 2013)
7. To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace by Jeffrey D. Sachs (release date: June 4, 2013)
8. Five Days in November by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbon (release date: November 19, 2013)
9. If Kennedy Lived: The First and Second Terms of President John F. Kennedy, an Alternate History by Jeff Greenfield (release date: October 22, 2013)
10. John F. Kennedy: The Life, The Presidency, The Assassination by Ian Shircore and David Southwell (release date: October 1, 2013)
11. November 22, 1963: Reflections on the Life, Assassination and Legacy of John F. Kennedy by Dean Owen (release date: September 3, 2013)
12. They Killed Our President: 63 Facts That Prove a Conspiracy to Kill JFK by Jesse Ventura (release date: October 1, 2013)
13. JFK Conservative by Ira Stoll (release date: October 15, 2013)
Happy reading JFK enthusiasts! I'm sure we'll be discussing this in greater detail come November.