History UsefulNotes / JohnFKennedy

On November 22, 1963, Kennedy visited Dallas, Texas as part of campaigning for his upcoming run for re-election. As his motorcade passed the Texas Book Depository at Dealey Plaza, shots were fired; Kennedy was hit in the head and torso, and rushed to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Although a single gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, was later arrested and identified as the main suspect of the assassination, numerous irregularities in the record -- not to mention Oswald's ''own'' assassination two days later, by a mob-connected nightclub owner named Jack Ruby -- soon gave rise to numerous conspiracy theories about who had ''really'' killed Kennedy, and why. Meanwhile, his death was recorded in what is known as the UsefulNotes/ZapruderFilm.

* In ''Literature/{{Reds}}'', part of the change in timeline, sees the young Kennedy takes up an interest in left-wing politics. He gradually starts to come to resent his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, for the domineering and controlling manner in which he runs the Kennedy family and especially his ParentalFavoritism of his older brother Robert, and becomes increasingly politically active, rebelling in both subtle and overt ways against the oppressive, elitist norms on his prestigious boarding school, founding the Muckers Club, a secret society of local leftist students, and distributing Socialist literature amongst the broader student body, the later of which he gets into trouble with the school's administration for several times. When General Douglas [=MacArthur=] launches a coup to seize power against the democratically elected Socialist government and the American left-wing stages a revolution in response, Kennedy himself leads a local revolution by leading the Muckers Club in an assault on the headmaster's office, overthrowing the yoke of student oppression at his boarding school. Following the victorious left-wing revolution, Kennedy journeys back to the Kennedy Massachusetts estate to confront his father, only to discover that his family, like many other members of the American elite, has evacuated to join [=MacArthur=]'s exile government in Cuba. This event inspires Kennedy to decisively distance himself from his family, as he discards his American name and instead adopts the Gaelic version of it, Sean Cinnéide, which becomes his nom de guerre, and later, full legal name. Cinnéide goes on to join the American Red Guard, becoming a war hero of this timeline's version of World War II. When he is injured and hospitalised during the war in 1942, he is interviewed by a certain [[Creator/MarilynMonroe Norma Jean Mortensen]] for a propaganda piece named ''Why We Fight''. [[LoveTranscendsSpacetime Cinnéide falls in love with Mortensen]], [[EarnYourHappyEnding and eventually marries her in 1953]]. Following the war, Cinnéide serves as military advisor on this timeline's version of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', even appearing occasionally as a guest star, and playing a starring role in this timeline's version of ''Series/{{Mash}}''. He eventually dies peacefully in his sleep at the old age of 85 in 2002.

When he's portrayed in fiction (and isn't there [[WhoShotJFK purely to be killed]]), expect to hear a highly exaggerated version of his quite distinctive [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents New England accent]]. He was famous for his harnessing of mass media to rally support, and as a result, he remains somebody who can be recognized simply by the sound of his voice. To this day, many attempts at "UsefulNotes/{{B|oston}}awstin" accents will try to simply copy Kennedy's speaking patterns, even though many New Englanders will be among the first to tell you that the Kennedys are the only people who actually speak like that. For an example of JFK's accent from the man himself, [[http://web2.millercenter.org/jfk/audiovisual/whrecordings/dictabelts/conversations/jfk_dict_23d2.mp3 here's an audio clip]] of the President chewing out a USAF general over the phone, about the press getting access to Jackie's maternity suite at an Air Force base in 1963.

When he's portrayed in fiction (and isn't there [[WhoShotJFK purely to be killed]]), expect to hear a highly exaggerated version of his quite distinctive [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents New England accent]]. He was famous for his harnessing of mass media to rally support, and as a result, he remains somebody who can be recognized simply by the sound of his voice. To this day, many attempts at "UsefulNotes/{{B|oston}}awstin" accents will try to simply copy Kennedy's speaking patterns, even though many New Englanders will be among the first to tell you that the Kennedys are the only people who actually speak like that. For an example of JFK's accent from the man himself, [[http://web2.millercenter.org/jfk/audiovisual/whrecordings/dictabelts/conversations/jfk_dict_23d2.mp3 here's an audio clip]] of the President chewing out a USAF general over the phone about the press getting access to Jackie's maternity suite at an Air Force base in 1963.

When portrayed in fiction (and when he's not there [[WhoShotJFK purely to be killed]]), expect to hear a highly exaggerated version of his quite distinctive [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents New England accent]]. He was famous for his harnessing of mass media to rally support, and as a result, he remains somebody who can be recognized simply by the sound of his voice. To this day, many attempts at "UsefulNotes/{{B|oston}}awstin" accents try to simply copy Kennedy's speaking patterns, even though many New Englanders will be among the first to tell you that the Kennedys are the only people who actually speak like that. For an example of JFK's accent from the man himself, [[http://web2.millercenter.org/jfk/audiovisual/whrecordings/dictabelts/conversations/jfk_dict_23d2.mp3 here's an audio clip]] of Kennedy chewing out a USAF general over the phone about the press getting access to Jackie's maternity suite at an Air Force base in 1963.

Similarly, the press had a "gentleman's agreement" not to mention Kennedy's rampant womanizing, as it wasn't considered to be in the public interest at the time. Suffice it to say that being handsome, witty, charming and death-defying ''before'' getting elected President, JFK ReallyGotAround his whole life long, and only partly due to the steroids he took later. His most famous affair was probably with Creator/MarilynMonroe.

On November 22, 1963, Kennedy visited Dallas, Texas as part of campaigning for his upcoming run for re-election. As his motorcade passed the Texas Book Depository at Dealey Plaza, shots were fired; Kennedy was hit in the head and torso, and rushed to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Although a single gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, was later arrested and identified as the main suspect of the assassination, numerous irregularities in the record -- along with Oswald's ''own'' assassination, by a mob-connected nightclub owner named Jack Ruby -- soon gave rise to numerous conspiracy theories about who had ''really'' killed Kennedy. Kennedy's death was recorded in what is known as the UsefulNotes/ZapruderFilm.

Kennedy had a very close relationship with UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan, who was the British Prime Minister for all but the last month of his time in office, to the point of viewing Macmillan as something of a mentor figure. (It probably didn't hurt any that Kennedy's late sister Kathleen had been married to Macmillan's nephew by marriage.) In stark contrast, Kennedy had an absolutely horrible relationship with John Diefenbaker, the Canadian Prime Minister, for most of his time as President, mostly over the issue of putting US missile defenses on Canadian soil. Things got so bad that Kennedy ended up lending staff and financial support to rival Lester B. Pearson, helping him dethrone Diefenbaker as Prime Minister in early 1963. Technically, Kennedy might have broken a few laws by doing this, but considering that Pearson was ''way'' more cordial towards the him and the US than Diefenbaker, no one cared enough to make much of an issue over it.

Domestically, the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement proved a vexing political problem. The Democratic Party's power base was in the South, so Kennedy was reluctant to alienate his supporters there. However, Martin Luther King Jr. and his fellows were not about to let this stop their crusade for racial equality and justice. To that end, they forced the issue by staging nonviolent protests and similar actions to provoke white racist authorities and mobs to go berserk against them. Although this was of course dangerous with casualties, Kennedy could not ignore the resulting footage of such white supremacist brutality and eventually moved to support their cause.

Had a very close relationship with UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan, who was British Prime Minister for all but the last month of his time in office, to the point of viewing Macmillan as something of a mentor figure (the fact that Kennedy's late sister Kathleen was married to Macmillan's nephew by marriage may have had something to do with this). In stark contrast, Kennedy had an absolutely horrible relationship with John Diefenbaker, the Canadian Prime Minister, for most of his time as President, mostly over the issue of putting missile defences on Canadian soil. Things got so bad that Kennedy ended up lending staff and financial support to rival Lester B. Pearson, helping him dethrone Diefenbaker as Prime Minister in early 1963. Technically Kennedy may have broken a few laws by doing this, but considering that Pearson was ''way'' more cordial towards the U.S. than Diefenbaker, no-one cared enough to make much of an issue over it.

Kennedy was in truth a HandicappedBadass on par with (and possibly even surpassing) FDR, and a {{Determinator}} on the same scale, as he [[https://drzebra.com/prez/g35.htm possibly suffered from an autoimmune disorder]].[[note]] Now hypothesized to be Type-2 Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndrome, known for short as APS-2, a symptom of which is Addison's Disease, with which he struggled as an adult[[/note]] He was incredibly sick as a child and frequently hospitalized, which continued through his adolescence and into adulthood. This, coupled with chronic lower-back problems and being permanently underweight, led to his being medically disqualified when he attempted to enroll in the US Army's Officer Candidate School. However -- thanks to his father’s connections and a grueling, months-long exercise regimen to strengthen his back -- he managed to join the US Naval Reserve in 1941, a few months prior to Pearl Harbor. Ultimately he would serve aboard a handful of Motor Torpedo Boats in the Navy, most famously aboard PT-109, due to his successful effort to rescue his crew after that vessel was rammed and broken in twain by the Japanese Destroyer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Amagiri_(1930) Amagiri]]. The ramming killed two crew but Kennedy managed to get all the surviving hands to an island, including one he had to tow while swimming with their life-jacket strap clenched between his teeth. He re-injured his back while performing that rescue. He later underwent spinal fusion surgery as a Senator in order to continue walking, almost dying from an infection afterwards.[[note]] In a MathematiciansAnswer, having to later wear a back brace due to the steroids he took to treat Addison's Disease causing issues with the bones in his already-weakened back is exactly the explanation to why JFK died in Dallas — it meant he was quite literally a sitting target who couldn't ''duck'' after Oswald's first shot.[[/note]] There is a good bit of modern speculation about how long JFK would have lived or been able to cope with the rest of his presidency and a potential future term, had he not been assassinated — his health was THAT bad.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials of JFK, was the 35th President of the United States ([[TheSixties 1961–63]]), succeeding UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower and followed -- after his assassination in office, which gave rise to a million UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories -- by UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson. The first president to be born in the 20th century and the 12th from the Democratic Party, he was known for his particularly inspirational turns-of-phrase in his speeches and overseeing an era of American history rife with social and political turmoil. Kennedy was not only the youngest-elected president, at the age of 43 (the youngest to ''become'' president was UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt, who was 42 at the time), but also the first Irish-American and the first Roman Catholic to hold the office (and the only one until UsefulNotes/JoeBiden, just over 57 years later), as well as the last US president (thus far) to die in office. His presidency lasted for just over one thousand days.[[note]]More exactly, 1,036. Although a book by historian Arthur Schlesinger chronicles it as ''A Thousand Days''.[[/note]]

Kennedy was in truth a HandicappedBadass on par with (and possibly even surpassing) FDR, and a {{Determinator}} on the same scale, as he [[https://drzebra.com/prez/g35.htm possibly suffered from an autoimmune disorder]][[note]] Now hypothesized to be Type-2 Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndrome, known for short as APS-2, a symptom of which is Addison's Disease, with which he struggled as an adult[[/note]]. He was incredibly sick as a child and frequently hospitalized, which continued through his adolescence and into adulthood. This, coupled with chronic lower-back problems and being permanently underweight, led to his being medically disqualified when he attempted to enroll in the US Army's Officer Candidate School. However -- thanks to his father’s connections and a grueling, months-long exercise regimen to strengthen his back -- he managed to join the US Naval Reserve in 1941, a few months prior to Pearl Harbor. Ultimately he would serve aboard a handful of Motor Torpedo Boats in the Navy, most famously aboard PT-109, due to his successful effort to rescue his crew after that vessel was rammed and broken in twain by the Japanese Destroyer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Amagiri_(1930) Amagiri]]. The ramming killed two crew but Kennedy managed to get all the surviving hands to an island, including one he had to tow while swimming with their life-jacket strap clenched between his teeth. He re-injured his back while performing that rescue. He later underwent spinal fusion surgery as a Senator in order to continue walking, almost dying from an infection afterwards.[[note]] In a MathematiciansAnswer, having to later wear a back brace due to the steroids he took to treat Addison's Disease causing issues with the bones in his already-weakened back is exactly the explanation to why JFK died in Dallas — it meant he was quite literally a sitting target who couldn't ''duck'' after Oswald's first shot.[[/note]] There is a good bit of modern speculation about how long JFK would have lived or been able to cope with the rest of his presidency and a potential future term, had he not been assassinated — his health was THAT bad.

A youthful, glamorous and invigorating figure, JFK -- along with his attractive wife [[UsefulNotes/JacquelineKennedy Jacqueline Bouvier]] and their young family -- was seen as introducing a new and liberating era to American political and cultural life after the stifling and stuffy days of TheFifties, and his time in office was dubbed "Camelot" soon after his death. Despite this, his short term was filled with crises and political upheaval, such as the CIA-directed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Communist Cuba, which went belly-up. This failed invasion soured relations with Cuba (never that strong to begin with) and eventually led in 1962 to the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryoftheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Meanwhile, similarly to UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's bout with a paralytic illness, JFK was constantly struggling to hide and cope with his Addison's Disease and hypothyroidism, which almost jeopardized his 1960 election campaign. He had his successes as well, such as when he called for the formation of a small maritime unit that would be known as the UsefulNotes/NavySeals. He is the reason US Army special forces wear green berets. Also similarly to FDR, Kennedy was at home talking to the press like almost no other president before or since — the difference being that JFK's weekly press conferences and displays of immense charisma were all [[https://youtu.be/Hn14Wbe1v1Y caught on film]].

A youthful, glamorous and invigorating figure, JFK -- along with his attractive wife [[UsefulNotes/JacquelineKennedy Jacqueline Bouvier]] and their young family -- was seen as introducing a new and liberating era to American political and cultural life after the stifling and stuffy days of TheFifties, and his time in office was dubbed "Camelot" soon after his death. Despite this, his short term was filled with crises and political upheaval, such as the CIA-directed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Communist Cuba, which went belly-up. This failed invasion soured relations with Cuba (never that strong to begin with) and eventually led in 1962 to the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryoftheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Meanwhile, similarly to UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's bout with a paralytic illness, JFK was constantly struggling to hide and cope with his Addison's Disease and hypothyroidism, which almost jeopardized his 1960 election campaign. He had his successes as well, such as when he called for the formation of a small maritime unit that would be known as the UsefulNotes/NavySeals. He is the reason US Army special forces wear green berets. Similarly to FDR as well, Kennedy was at home talking to the press like almost no other president before or since — the difference being that JFK's weekly press conferences and displays of immense charisma were all [[https://youtu.be/Hn14Wbe1v1Y caught on film]].

A youthful, glamorous and invigorating figure, JFK -- along with his attractive wife [[UsefulNotes/JacquelineKennedy Jacqueline Bouvier]] and their young family -- was seen as introducing a new and liberating era to American political and cultural life after the stifling and stuffy days of TheFifties, and his time in office was dubbed "Camelot" soon after his death. Despite this, his short term was filled with crises and political upheaval, such as the CIA-directed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Communist Cuba, which went belly-up. This failed invasion soured relations with Cuba (never that strong to begin with) and eventually led in 1962 to the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryoftheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Meanwhile, similarly to UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's bout with a paralytic illness, JFK was constantly struggling to hide and cope with his Addison's Disease and hypothyroidism, which almost jeopardized his 1960 election campaign. He had his successes as well, as when he called for the formation of a small maritime unit that would be known as the UsefulNotes/NavySeals. He is the reason US Army special forces wear green berets. Similarly to FDR as well, Kennedy was at home talking to the press like almost no other president before or since — the difference being that JFK's weekly press conferences and displays of immense charisma were all [[https://youtu.be/Hn14Wbe1v1Y caught on film]].

A youthful, glamorous and invigorating figure, JFK -- along with his attractive wife [[UsefulNotes/JacquelineKennedy Jacqueline Bouvier]] and their young family -- was seen as introducing a new and liberating era to American political and cultural life after the stifling and stuffy days of TheFifties, and his time in office was dubbed "Camelot" soon after his death. Despite this, his short term was filled with crises and political upheaval, such as the CIA-directed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Communist Cuba, which went belly-up. This failed invasion soured relations with Cuba (never that strong to begin with) and eventually led in 1962 to the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryoftheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Meanwhile, similarly to UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's bout with a paralytic illness, JFK was constantly struggling to hide and cope with his Addison's Disease and hypothyroidism, which almost jeopardized his 1960 election campaign. He had his successes too, as when he called for the formation of a small maritime unit that would be known as the UsefulNotes/NavySeals. He is the reason US Army special forces wear green berets. Similarly to FDR as well, Kennedy was at home talking to the press like almost no other president before or since — the difference being that JFK's weekly press conferences and displays of immense charisma were all [[https://youtu.be/Hn14Wbe1v1Y caught on film]].

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials of JFK, was the 35th President of the United States ([[TheSixties 1961–63]]), succeeding UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower and followed -- after his assassination in office, which gave rise to a million UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories -- by UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson. The first president to be born in the 20th century and the 12th from the Democratic Party, he was known for his particularly inspirational turns-of-phrase in his speeches and overseeing an era of American history rife with social and political turmoil. Kennedy was not only the youngest-elected president, at the age of 43 (the youngest to ''become'' president was UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt, who was 42 at the time), but also the first Irish-American and the first Roman Catholic to hold the office (and the only one, until UsefulNotes/JoeBiden just over 57 years later), as well as the last US president (thus far) to die in office. His presidency lasted for just over one thousand days.[[note]]More exactly, 1,036. Although a book by historian Arthur Schlesinger chronicles it as ''A Thousand Days''.[[/note]]

A youthful, glamorous and invigorating figure, JFK -- along with his attractive wife [[UsefulNotes/JacquelineKennedy Jacqueline Bouvier]] and their young family -- was seen as introducing a new and liberating era to American political and cultural life after the stifling and stuffy days of TheFifties, and his time in office was dubbed "Camelot" soon after his death. Despite this, his short term was filled with crises and political upheaval, such as the CIA-directed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Communist Cuba, which went belly-up. This failed invasion soured relations with Cuba (never that strong to begin with) and eventually led in 1962 to the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryoftheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Meanwhile, similarly to UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's bouts with polio, JFK was constantly struggling to hide and cope with his Addison's Disease and hypothyroidism, which almost jeopardized his 1960 election campaign. He had his successes too, as when he called for the formation of a small maritime unit that would be known as the UsefulNotes/NavySeals. He is the reason US Army special forces wear green berets. Similarly to FDR as well, Kennedy was at home talking to the press like almost no other president before or since — the difference being that JFK's weekly press conferences and displays of charisma were all [[https://youtu.be/Hn14Wbe1v1Y caught on film]].

A youthful, glamorous and invigorating figure, JFK -- along with his attractive wife [[UsefulNotes/JacquelineKennedy Jacqueline Bouvier]] and their young family -- was seen as introducing a new and liberating era to American political and cultural life after the stifling and stuffy days of TheFifties, and his time in office was dubbed "Camelot" soon after his death. Despite this, his short term was filled with crises and political upheaval, such as the CIA-directed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Communist Cuba, which went belly-up. This failed invasion soured relations with Cuba (never that strong to begin with) and eventually led in 1962 to the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryoftheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Meanwhile, similarly to Franklin D. Roosevelt's bouts with polio, JFK was constantly struggling to hide and cope with his Addison's Disease and hypothyroidism, which almost jeopardized his 1960 election campaign. He had his successes too: where he called for the formation of a small maritime unit that would be known as the UsefulNotes/NavySeals. He is the reason Army special forces wear green berets. Similarly to FDR as well, Kennedy was at home talking to the press like almost no other president before or since — the difference being [[https://youtu.be/Hn14Wbe1v1Y JFK's weekly press conferences/displays of charisma were all caught on film]].

Was in truth a HandicappedBadass on par with (and possibly even surpassing) UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt, and a {{Determinator}} on the same scale, as he [[https://drzebra.com/prez/g35.htm possibly suffered from an autoimmune disorder]][[note]] Now hypothesized to be Type-2 Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndrome, known for short as APS-2, a symptom of which is Addison's Disease, with which he struggled as an adult[[/note]]. He was incredibly sick as a child and frequently hospitalized, then, as a teenager, and continuing into adulthood. This, permanently being underweight, and his chronic lower-back problems led to him being medically disqualified when he tried to enroll in the US Army's Officer Candidate School, but through his father’s connections and a grueling regimen of exercise for months to strengthen his back, he managed to join the US Naval Reserve in 1941, a few months prior to Pearl Harbor. Ultimately he would serve aboard a handful of Motor Torpedo Boats in the Navy, most famously aboard PT-109, due to his successful effort to rescue his crew after that vessel was rammed and broken in twain by the Japanese Destroyer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Amagiri_(1930) Amagiri]]. The ramming killed two crew but Kennedy managed to get all the surviving hands to an island, including one he had to tow while swimming with their life-jacket strap clenched between his teeth. He re-injured his back while performing that rescue. He later underwent spinal fusion surgery as a Senator in order to continue walking, almost dying from an infection afterwards.[[note]] In a MathematiciansAnswer, having to later wear a back brace due to the steroids he took to treat Addison's Disease causing issues with the bones in his already-weakened back is exactly the explanation to why JFK died in Dallas — it meant he was quite literally a sitting target who couldn't ''duck'' after Oswald's first shot.[[/note]] There is a good bit of modern speculation about how long JFK would have lived or been able to cope with the rest of his presidency and a potential future term, had he not been assassinated — his health was THAT bad.

-->-- '''John F. Kennedy''', accepting the Democratic Party Nomination for the Presidency of the United States; July 15, 1960

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/john_f_kennedy_white_house_color_photo_portrait.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Ask not what your country can do for you;\\

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials of JFK, was the 35th President of the United States ([[TheSixties 1961–63]]), after UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower and before UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, whose assassination in office gave rise to a million UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories. The 12th President from the Democratic Party, he was known for his particularly inspirational turns-of-phrase in his speeches and overseeing an era of American history rife with social and political turmoil. Kennedy was not only the youngest-elected president at age 43 (the youngest to ''become'' president was UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt, who was 42 at the time), but also the first Irish-American and the first Roman Catholic to be elected President and the only one till UsefulNotes/JoeBiden, just over 57 years later, as well as the last (thus far) President to die in office. His presidency lasted for just over one thousand days.[[note]]More exactly, 1,036. Although a book by historian Arthur Schlesinger chronicles it as ''A Thousand Days''.[[/note]]

A youthful, glamorous and invigorating figure, along with his attractive wife [[UsefulNotes/JacquelineKennedy Jacqueline Bouvier]] and his young family, Kennedy was seen as introducing a new and liberating era to American political and cultural life after the stifling and stuffy days of TheFifties, and his time in office was dubbed "Camelot" soon after his death. Despite this, his short term was filled with crises and political upheaval, such as the CIA-directed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Communist Cuba, which went belly-up. This failed invasion soured relations with Cuba (never that strong to begin with) and eventually led in 1962 to the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryoftheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Meanwhile, similarly to Franklin D. Roosevelt's bouts with polio, JFK was constantly struggling to hide and cope with his Addison's Disease and hypothyroidism, which almost jeopardized his 1960 election campaign. He had his successes too: where he called for the formation of a small maritime unit that would be known as the UsefulNotes/NavySeals. He is the reason Army special forces wear green berets. Similarly to FDR as well, Kennedy was at home talking to the press like almost no other president before or since — the difference being [[https://youtu.be/Hn14Wbe1v1Y JFK's weekly press conferences/displays of charisma were all caught on film]].

* ''Series/TheKennedys'', a 2011 miniseries looking at the Kennedy family's rise to public prominence and their GloryDays during the 1960s, focuses heavily on JFK. It received a certain amount of controversy because of allegations of historical inaccuracy and [[AccentuateTheNegative highlighting some of the negative aspects of the family]], which was helped by the fact that several of the producers (including [[Series/TwentyFour Joel Surnow]]) are outspoken conservatives).

* Caspar Phillipson plays him in ''Film/{{Blonde}}''.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials of JFK, was the 35th President of the United States ([[TheSixties 1961–63]]), after UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower and before UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, whose assassination in office gave rise to a million UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories. The 12th President from the Democratic Party, he was known for his particularly inspirational turns-of-phrase in his speeches and overseeing an era of American history rife with social and political turmoil. Kennedy was not only the youngest-elected president at age 43 (the youngest to ''become'' president was UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt, who was 42 at the time), but also the first Irish-American and the first Roman Catholic to be elected President and the only one till UsefulNotes/JoeBiden, just over 57 years later, as well as the last (thus far) President to die in office. His presidency lasted for just over one thousand days[[note]] 1,036. Although a book by historian Arthur Schlesinger chronicles it as ''A Thousand Days''[[/note]].

* ''Film/{{PT-109}}'' tells the story about Kennedy's rescue of his men during the Second World War, and was released in 1963, while he was still in office. The film is also notable for starring Cliff Robertson as Kennedy, who was NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent.

Was in truth a HandicappedBadass on par with (and possibly even surpassing) UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt, and a {{Determinator}} on the same scale, as he also [[https://drzebra.com/prez/g35.htm possibly suffered from an autoimmune disorder]][[note]] Now hypothesized to be Type-2 Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndrome, known for short as APS-2, a symptom of which is Addison's Disease, with which he struggled as an adult[[/note]]. He was incredibly sick as a child and frequently hospitalized, then and as a teenager. This, permanently being underweight, and his chronic lower-back problems led to him being medically disqualified when he tried to enroll in the US Army's Officer Candidate School, but through his father’s connections and a grueling regimen of exercise for months to strengthen his back, he managed to join the US Naval Reserve in 1941, a few months prior to Pearl Harbor. Ultimately he would serve aboard a handful of Motor Torpedo Boats in the Navy, most famously aboard PT-109, due to his successful effort to rescue his crew after that vessel was rammed and broken in twain by the Japanese Destroyer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Amagiri_(1930) Amagiri]]. The ramming killed two crew but Kennedy managed to get all the surviving hands to an island, including one he had to tow while swimming with their life-jacket strap clenched between his teeth. He re-injured his back while performing that rescue.[[note]] In a MathematiciansAnswer, having to later wear a back brace due to the steroids he took to treat Addison's Disease causing issues with the bones in his already-weakened back is exactly the explanation to why JFK died in Dallas — it meant he was quite literally a sitting target who couldn't ''duck'' after Oswald's first shot.[[/note]]

Had a very close relationship with UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan, who was British Prime Minister for all but the last month of his time in office, to the point of viewing Macmillan as something of a mentor figure. The fact that Kennedy's sister was married to Macmillan's nephew may have had something to do with this. In stark contrast, Kennedy had an absolutely horrible relationship with John Diefenbaker, the Canadian Prime Minister, for most of his time as President, mostly over the issue of putting missile defences on Canadian soil. Things got so bad that Kennedy ended up lending staff and financial support to rival Lester B. Pearson, helping him dethrone Diefenbaker as Prime Minister in early 1963. Technically Kennedy may have broken a few laws by doing this, but considering that Pearson was ''way'' more cordial towards the U.S. than Diefenbaker, no-one cared enough to make much of an issue over it.

* ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'': In ''Clone Gunman'', multiple clones of JFK wreak havoc in Cognito Inc. after one that Reagan released for Grassy Noel to kill ends up awakening the other JFK clones. Upon being exposed to fire, they fuse into a [[Manga/{{Akira}} flesh blob monster]].

* ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'': In ''Clone Gunman'', Reagan releases a JFK clone as part of a plan to save Grassy Noel's job at Cognito Inc. after firing him; Said plan would backfire as the clone she released ends up waking the other Kennedy clones and other celebrities, wreaking havoc in Cognito Inc.