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Introduction

Few in political history have enjoyed the kind of instant recognition afforded to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, America’s 35^th President. Known simply as JFK, Kennedy’s good looks and easy charm was potently deployed through the newly influential medium of television. This meant that his journey to the White House captured the imagination of millions of people, both domestically and internationally.

For many, Kennedy’s inauguration heralded a bright new dawn for US politics. At just forty-three, he was the youngest man ever to be elected President; he was also the first Roman Catholic. With youth, charisma and widespread popularity on his side, the future seemed bright.

Unfortunately, he was denied the chance to live up to his early promise. Barely one thousand days into his presidency, which had been marred by civil unrest in the segregated South and the threat of nuclear war from the Soviet Union, Kennedy’s life was curtailed by an assassin’s bullet in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. The country’s youngest-ever elected president thus became the youngest to die – thereby immortalizing JFK as a tragic hero.

However, since his death, details have emerged of a private life at odds with his public persona. Rumours of serial adultery, hidden health problems, a secret marriage, and even drug addictions have since blurred his once pristine image.

This, in an hour, is the history of JFK.