| I104 | JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY
John F. Kennedy's charismatic personality was evident from early childhood, as was his competitiveness. His love of books and history, capacity for introspection and curiosity about ideas developed largely from the many hours he spent in bed with illnesses, starting with a particularly virulent attack of scarlet fever when he was two and one-half years old. Although he was often absent from school and illness forced him to drop out of a preparatory school and later, Princeton University, he graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1940. With the 1944 death of his brother Joe, the family's political ambitions transferred to Jack. His road to the White House began with his election to Congress in 1946. Three terms there and he was ready to wrest a Senate seat from the popular Republican Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Jack's foray into presidential politics started with his narrow defeat for nomination to be the vice presidential candidate on the 1956 ticket with Adlai Stevenson, Jr. In 1960 he sought and won the presidential nomination and subsequently, the election. When he took his oath of office on the old family Bible that had belonged to the first Fitzgerald to come to America, he was affirming the immigrant belief in America. On November, 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas.       |
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