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Japanese Destroyer Amagiri

Japanese destroyer Amagiri

Many people know the story of how the PT-109 commanded by future United States President, then Lieutenant, John F. Kennedy was cut in half by a destroyer in the Blackett Strait on the night of 2 August 1943. Few people know anything about the destroyer itself. The Amagiri (Misty Rain), one of 20 Fubuki class destroyers, was laid down at the Ishikawajima dockyard at Tokyo, Japan on 28 November 1928, launched 27 February 1930, and commissioned 10 November 1930. The Amagiri took part in combat training in the early 1930's. In 1934 it was slightly damaged in a storm along with several other Imperial Japanese Navy ships in the Korea Strait. This destroyer took part in the Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930's and was assigned to the 20th Destroyer Division. It took part in the successful Japanese landing at Singora, Thailand in December of 1941. In January 1942, it engaged two British destroyers off the coast of Malaya and sank the HMS Thanet. In February 1942, the Amagiri supported Japanese landings in Java. In April of 1942, the Amagiri was assigned to the Southern Group of the Supporting Force in Operation C which was a major raid on allied shipping along the east coast of India. On 6 April 1942, the Amagiri, along with the cruisers Mikuma and Mogami sank three allied merchant ships along the Indian coast. Later in the spring of 1942, it was assigned to Admiral Yamamoto's main body at the Battle of Midway. In August 1942, the ship was transferred to the Solomon Islands area to oppose the American landings on Guadalcanal. It was very active during the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Central Solomons Campaign and participated in the Battle of Kula Gulf. On 2 August 1943 the ship was on a reinforcement run to Vila when it rammed the PT-109 and engaged other PT boats in the Blackett Strait south of Kolombangara. On the night of 24-25 November 1943, the Amagiri was on a reinforcement mission to Bougainville when it became involved in the Battle of Cape St. George. The ship escaped the pursuing American destroyers led by Captain Arleigh Burke. On 23 April 1944, while cruising near Borneo, the Amagiri struck a Naval mine and sank. Amagiri ja:天霧 (駆逐艦)

United States/President

The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated "POTUS") is the head of state of the United States. Under the U.S. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The full title is President of the United States of America. Because of the superpower status of the United States, the American President is widely considered to be the most powerful person on Earth, and is usually one of the world's best-known public figures. During the Cold War, the President was sometimes referred to as "the leader of the free world," a phrase that is still invoked today. The United States was the first nation to create the office of President as the head of state in a modern republic. Today the office is widely emulated all over the world in nations with a presidential system of government. Many countries with a parliamentary system also have an office named "president", but the roles of this office vary widely, and the President in such systems usually has far more limited powers than the Prime Minister. The 43rd and current President of the United States is George W. Bush. His first term ran from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2005; his second term began on January 20, 2005 and ends on January 20, 2009; and President Bush is constitutionally barred from a third term.

Requirements to hold office

Section One of Article II of the U.S. Constitution establishes the requirements one must meet in order to become President. The president must be a natural-born citizen of the United States (or a citizen of the United States at the time the U.S. Constitution was adopted), be at least 35 years old, and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years. The natural-born citizenship requirement has been the subject of controversy. Critics argue that this requirement arbitrarily excludes some highly qualified candidates for the Presidency. They also charge that supporters fail to appreciate the contributions made by immigrants to American society. Proponents of the requirement argue that the requirement helps to ensure that the President fully understands and is a part of the American people and their outlook. Proponents also argue that the clause helps protect the country from foreign interference—another country could send an emigrant to the United States and through subterfuge get them elected. Many prominent public officials, such as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA; born in Austria) and Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI; born in Canada), are barred from the presidency because they were not natural-born citizens. Constitutional amendments are occasionally proposed to remove or modify this requirement, but none have been successful.

Election

Presidential elections are held every four years. Presidents are elected indirectly, through the Electoral College. The President and the Vice President are the only two nationally elected officials in the United States. (Legislators are elected on a state-by-state basis; other executive officers and judges are appointed.)

Old system

Originally, each elector voted for two people for President. The votes were tallied and the person receiving the greatest number of votes (provided that such a number was a majority of electors) became President, while the individual who was in second place became Vice President.

Current system

The Amendment XII in 1804 changed the electoral process by directing the electors to use separate ballots to vote for the President and Vice President. To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes, or if no candidate receives a majority, the President and Vice President are chosen by the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, as necessary.

Campaign

The modern Presidential election process begins with the primary elections, during which the major parties (currently the Democrats and the Republicans) each select a nominee to unite behind; the nominee in turn selects a running mate to join him on the ticket as the Vice Presidential candidate. The two major candidates then face off in the general election, usually participating in nationally televised debates before Election Day and campaigning across the country to explain their views and plans to the voters. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states, through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.

Inauguration and oath of office

mass media Since 1933, with the ratification of Amendment XX, a newly elected President, or a re-elected incumbent, is sworn into office on January 20 of the year following the election, an event called Inauguration Day. Although the Chief Justice of the United States usually administers the presidential oath of office, the Constitution does not specify any requirements; thus, anyone with the legal authority to administer oaths can perform the duty. In accordance with Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 8 of the Constitution, upon entering office, the President must take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Only presidents Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover have chosen to affirm rather than swear. The oath is traditionally ended with, "So help me God," although for religious reasons some Presidents have said, "So help me", or "and thus I swear." On Inauguration Day, following the oath of office, the President customarily delivers an inaugural address which sets the tone for his administration. These addresses can reach the level of high oratory, from such stand-alone lines as Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," to entire speeches, such as Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.

Term(s) of office

Under the Constitution, the President serves a four-year term. Amendment XXII (which took effect in 1951 and was first applied to Dwight D. Eisenhower starting in 1953) limits the president to either two four-year terms or a maximum of ten years in office should he have succeeded to the Presidency previously and served two years at most completing his predecessor's term. Since then, three presidents have served two full terms: Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Incumbent President George W. Bush would become the fourth if he completes his current (and second) term in 2009. (Richard Nixon was elected to a second term but resigned before completing it.)

Succession

The United States presidential line of succession is a detailed list of government officials to serve or act as President upon a vacancy in the office due to death, resignation, or removal from office (by impeachment and conviction). impeachment, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy]] The line of 17 begins with the Vice President and ends with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Legislation to add the Secretary of Homeland Security to the line of succession is pending in Congress. The Constitution provided that, if a President were to die, resign, or be removed from office, the "powers and duties" of the office would devolve upon the Vice President, Article II, Section 1 (which seems to imply the position of acting president), and that he [Vice President] shall "exercise the office of President of the United States," Article I, Section 2 (which seems to imply actual assumption of the presidency itself). People did not agree as to the exact meaning and intention of the text, and whether the Vice President would succeed to the office of President or merely act as President. After the death of William Henry Harrison, however, Vice President John Tyler asserted that he had become the President, not merely Acting President, and this precedent was followed in all subsequent cases. The 25th amendment eliminated this ambiguity by confirming that the Vice President fully becomes President, not Acting President, if the presidency becomes vacant. It sets the Vice President first in the line of succession and spells out a process for him to serve as Acting President should the President become temporarily disabled. A provision of the United States Code () establishes the rest of the succession line. To date, no officer other than the Vice President has been called upon to act as President.

Powers

The President, according to the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, the president presides over the executive branch of the federal government; a vast organization of about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel. A President-elect will make as many as 6,000 appointments to government positions, including appointments to the federal judiciary. The Senate must consent to all judicial appointments as well as the appointments of all principal officers. The President may veto laws made by the United States Congress but cannot personally initiate laws. Congress can overturn the veto with a two-thirds majority in both houses. He is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The President may make treaties, but the Senate must ratify them by a two-thirds supermajority. The political scientist Richard Neustadt said, "Presidential power is the power to persuade and the power to persuade is the ability to bargain". He was commenting on the fact that the President's domestically constitutional power is limited, despite the modern expectation of Presidents to have a legislative program, and successful bargaining with Congress is usually essential to Presidential success.

Presidential salary and benefits

Salary

The First U.S. Congress voted to pay George Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a significant sum in 1789. (Washington, already a successful man, refused to accept his salary.) Traditionally, the President is the highest-paid government employee. Consequently, the President's salary serves as a traditional cap for all other federal officials, such as the Chief Justice. A raise for 2001 was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 because other officials who receive annual cost-of-living increases had salaries approaching the President's. Consequently, to raise the salaries of the other federal employees, the President's salary had to be raised as well. While far higher than the median wage in the United States, in modern times the President's salary is paltry compared to the Chief Executive Officers of many publicly-listed companies, and indeed modern Presidents have typically earned far more in the corporate world after the end of their term than they did as President.

Residences

Chief Executive Officer Among the many non-salary benefits are living and working in the White House mansion in Washington, DC The President's principal workplace and official residence is the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in Washington, DC. His official vacation or weekend residence is Camp David in Maryland. Many presidents have also had their own homes.

Travelling

While travelling, the President is able to conduct all the functions of the office aboard several specially built Boeing 747s, known as Air Force One. The President travels around Washington in an armored Cadillac limousine, often referred to informally as "Cadillac One," equipped with bullet-proof windows and tires and a self-contained ventilation system in the event of a biological or chemical attack. When traveling longer distances around the Washington area or on presidential trips, the President travels aboard the presidential helicopter, Marine One. The President also has the use of: Army One, Coast Guard One, Executive One, and Navy One. Additionally, the President has full use of Camp David in Maryland, a retreat which is occasionally used as a casual setting for hosting foreign dignitaries.

Secret Service

The President and his family are always protected by a Secret Service detail. Until 1997, all former Presidents and their families were protected by the Secret Service until the President's death. The last President to have lifetime Secret Service protection is Bill Clinton; George W. Bush and all subsequent Presidents will be protected by the Secret Service for a maximum of 10 years after leaving office.

Benefits after Presidency

Presidents continue to enjoy other benefits after leaving office such as free mailing privileges, free office space, the right to hold a diplomatic passport and budgets for office help and staff assistance. However, it was not until after Harry S. Truman (1958) that Presidents received a pension after they left office. Additionally, since the presidency of Herbert Hoover, Presidents receive funding from the National Archives and Records Administration upon leaving office to establish their own presidential library. These are not traditional libraries, but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials for each President since Herbert Hoover.

Officeholders

: See: List of Presidents of the United States.

Timeline


- Martin Van Buren, born December 5, 1782, was the first president born after the Declaration of Independence and was thus arguably the first president who was not born a British subject. Interestingly, he is also the first president not of Anglo-Celtic origin.
- John Tyler, born March 29, 1790, was the first president born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. All presidents born before him were eligible to be president because they were citizens at the time the Constitution was adopted. (Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, before the Constitution was adopted).
- Franklin Pierce, born November 23, 1804, was the first president born in the 19th century. (Millard Fillmore was born January 7, 1800, the last year of the 18th century.)
- Warren Harding, born November 2, 1865, was the first president born after the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee surrendered April 9, 1865.
- John F. Kennedy, born May 29, 1917, was the first person born in the 20th century to become president (1961).
  - Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, was born on August 27, 1908. Three other Presidents who followed Johnson in office were also born before Kennedy (in order of birth, Reagan, Nixon, and Ford).
- Jimmy Carter, born October 1, 1924, was the first person born after World War I to become president.
  - George H. W. Bush, who succeeded Carter's successor, was born on June 12, 1924.
- Bill Clinton, born August 19, 1946, was the first person born after World War II to become president.
  - Clinton's successor, George W. Bush, was born July 6, 1946.

Life after the Presidency

1946, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and their wives at the funeral of President Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994.]] After a president of the U.S. leaves office, the title "President" continues to be applied to that person the rest of his life. Former presidents continue to be important national figures, and in some cases go on to successful post-presidential careers:
- John Quincy Adams enjoyed a prosperous career in the House of Representatives after his term in the White House.
- Andrew Johnson was elected to the same Senate that tried his impeachment, although he died before he could take office.
- Theodore Roosevelt wrote many books, went on safari, toured Europe, ran again for President in 1912, went on an expedition into the Brazilian jungle where he discovered the Rio Roosevelt, and was widely believed to be the front-runner for the 1920 presidential elecion when he died in 1919.
- William Howard Taft became Chief Justice of the United States.
- Jimmy Carter has been a global human rights campaigner and best-selling writer.
- George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton teamed together to appeal for donations from Americans after the Asian tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As of 2005, there are four living former presidents: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The most recently deceased President is Ronald Reagan, who died in June 2004. There have never been more than five former presidents alive at any given time in American history. There have been three periods during which five former presidents were alive:
- From March 4, 1861 to January 18, 1862, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan were living (during the Lincoln Administration, until the death of Tyler).
- From January 20, 1993 to April 22, 1994, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush were living (during the Clinton Administration, until the death of Nixon).
- From January 20, 2001 to June 5, 2004, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton were living (during the G.W. Bush Administration, until the death of Reagan). There have been six periods in American history during which no former presidents were alive:
- (beginning of time) – March 3, 1797: until the first President left office, there could be no former presidents, alive or otherwise.
- December 14, 1799 – March 3, 1801: from the death of former President George Washington until incumbent President John Adams left office (no former president would die until Adams and his successor, Thomas Jefferson, both did so on July 4 1826).
- July 31, 1875 – March 3, 1877: from the death of former President Andrew Johnson until incumbent President Ulysses Grant left office (no former president would die until Grant did so in 1885 although incumbent President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881).
- June 24, 1908 – March 3, 1909: from the death of former President Grover Cleveland until incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt left office (no former president would die until Roosevelt did so in 1919).
- January 5, 1933 – March 3, 1933: from the death of former President Calvin Coolidge until incumbent President Herbert Hoover left office (no former president would die until Hoover did so in 1964 although incumbent President Franklin Roosevelt died in office in 1945 and incumbent President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963).
- January 22, 1973 – August 9, 1974: from the death of former President Lyndon Johnson until incumbent President Richard Nixon resigned (no former president would die until Nixon did so in 1994). Herbert Hoover had the longest post-presidency, 31 years. He left office in 1933 and died in 1964. Still alive today is Gerald Ford, who has been an ex-president for 28 years, as of 2005. James K. Polk had the shortest post-presidency. He died on June 15, 1849, a mere three months after the expiration of his term. Between the birth of George Washington in 1732 and the birth of Bill Clinton in 1946, future presidents have been born in every decade except two: the 1810s and the 1930s. Between the death of George Washington in 1799 and the present, presidents or ex-presidents have died in every decade except four: the 1800s, 1810s, 1950s, and 1980s.

Presidential facts

Transition events


- Four U.S. Presidents have been assassinated while in office:
  - Abraham Lincoln in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth
  - James Garfield in 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau (Guiteau shot him but Garfield arguably died due to subsequent incorrect medical care)
  - William McKinley in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz
  - John F. Kennedy in 1963, officially by Lee Harvey Oswald alone[http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/warren_commission/warren_commission_report_chapter1.html] although many theories suggest additional gunmen or a different person altogether. [http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/house_select_committee/committee_report_gunmen.html]
- Four others died in office of natural causes:
  - William Henry Harrison, died of pneumonia in 1841
  - Zachary Taylor, died of "acute indigestion" in 1850. Taylor's body was exhumed in 1991 to test if he had died of arsenic poisoning. It was determined he did not.
  - Warren G. Harding, died of heart attack in 1923. There has been speculation that [http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1374.html Harding was poisoned]—in particular, Gaston Means had a book ghost-written that spread that notion—but that theory appears to be baseless.
  - Franklin D. Roosevelt, died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1945
- One President resigned from office:
  - Richard Nixon in 1974
- Two Presidents have been impeached, though neither was subsequently convicted:
  - Andrew Johnson in 1868
  - Bill Clinton in 1999
- Four Presidents have been elected without a plurality of popular votes:
  - John Quincy Adams - trailed Andrew Jackson by 44,804 votes in the 1824 election
    - However, in six of the then twenty-four states in 1824, the electors were chosen by the state legislature, with no popular vote.
  - Rutherford B. Hayes - trailed Samuel J. Tilden by 264,292 votes in the 1876 election
  - Benjamin Harrison - trailed Grover Cleveland 95,713 votes in the 1888 election
  - George W. Bush - trailed Al Gore by 543,895 votes in the 2000 election (http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2000presgeresults.htm)
  - A possible addition to this list is John F. Kennedy, who may have trailed Richard Nixon in the 1960 election. The precise gap in votes is difficult to determine because voters in Alabama were not given Kennedy as an option on their ballot - they could only vote "Democratic", without choosing a candidate. So, when the Democrats won Alabama, half of the state's electoral votes were pledged to Kennedy, and the other half were not pledged at all, and those votes all went to Harry F. Byrd. So it is impossible to know how many of those voters meant to vote for Kennedy, or for Byrd. The margin between Kennedy and Nixon was smaller than the number of Democratic votes in Alabama. The official figure from the U.S. government states includes the Alabama votes in Kennedy's total, giving Kennedy the popular plurality.
- Eleven Presidents have been elected fourteen times without a majority of popular votes (but with a plurality of popular votes):
  - James K. Polk - 49.3% of the popular vote in the 1844 election
  - Zachary Taylor - 47.3% of the popular vote in the 1848 election
  - James Buchanan - 45.3% of the popular vote in the 1856 election
  - Abraham Lincoln - 39.9% of the popular vote in the 1860 election
  - James A. Garfield - 48.3% of the popular vote in the 1880 election
  - Grover Cleveland - 48.8% of the popular vote in the 1884 election
  - Grover Cleveland - 46.0% of the popular vote in the 1892 election
  - Woodrow Wilson - 41.8% of the popular vote in the 1912 election
  - Woodrow Wilson - 49.3% of the popular vote in the 1916 election
  - Harry S. Truman - 49.7% of the popular vote in the 1948 election
  - John F. Kennedy - 49.7% of the popular vote in the 1960 election
  - Richard Nixon - 43.2% of the popular vote in the 1968 election
  - Bill Clinton - 42.9% of the popular vote in the 1992 election
  - Bill Clinton - 49.2% of the popular vote in the 1996 election
- Two Presidents have been elected without a majority of electoral votes, and were chosen by the House of Representatives:
  - Thomas Jefferson - finished with same number of electoral votes as Aaron Burr in the 1800 election
  - John Quincy Adams - trailed Andrew Jackson by 15 electoral votes in the 1824 election
- Eight Presidents took office without being elected to the Presidency, having been elected as Vice President and then promoted from that position. In all eight cases, they succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of the incumbent:
  - Four of them were never elected in their own right:
    - John Tyler - Succeeded William Henry Harrison
    - Millard Fillmore - Succeeded Zachary Taylor
      - Fillmore did run for President in the 1856 election as a Know Nothing Party candidate and received 873,053 votes (21.6%), finishing third
    - Andrew Johnson - Succeeded Abraham Lincoln
    - Chester A. Arthur - Succeeded James Garfield
  - The other four were all elected in their own right for the immediately succeeding presidential term:
    - Theodore Roosevelt - Succeeded William McKinley, elected as president in the 1904 election
    - Calvin Coolidge - Succeeded Warren G. Harding, elected as president in the 1924 election
    - Harry S. Truman - Succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected as president in the 1948 election
    - Lyndon B. Johnson - Succeeded John F. Kennedy, elected as president in the 1964 election
- One President, Gerald Ford, was appointed Vice President by Richard Nixon (with approval from Congress) upon the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, succeeded to the Presidency after Nixon's resignation, and was defeated in the 1976 election by Jimmy Carter. He remains the only President who was not elected as either President or Vice President.
- An urban legend claims that David Rice Atchison was the 11½th president of the United States for one day on March 4, 1849 in between the terms of James K. Polk (whose term expired at noon on March 4) and Zachary Taylor (who chose not to be sworn in until March 5). However, the logic of this is contradictory. If one does not consider Taylor to have officially become President until the administration of his Oath of Office, then the same logic precludes any person from having automatically succeeded before likewise having taken the same Oath. In fact, Taylor, as President-elect, automatically acceded to the Office of President upon the expiration of Polk's term, even if he did not yet enter into the execution of that Office until the Oath was administered. This fact was confirmed by Congress when it certified his election, as it defined the beginning of the administration as the instant Polk left office. Even if supposing, for the sake of argument, the rather odd interpretation that only Presidents-elect are required to take the Oath before officially occupying the Office, whilst officials in the Presidential Line of Succession occupy the Presidency ipso facto, then there would be a long list of dozens of additional "Presidents" who only held the office for a matter of hours or minutes.
- There were seven presidents whose oaths of office were administered by someone other than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court :
  - Robert Livingston, as Chancellor of the State of New York, administered the oath of office to George Washington at his first inauguration; William Cushing, an associate justice of the Supreme Court, administered the second
  - Calvin Coolidge's father, a notary public, administered the oath to his son after the death of Warren Harding
  - United States District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes administered the oath to Lyndon Johnson after the assassination of John F. Kennedy
  - John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Chester Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt's initial oaths reflected the unexpected nature of their taking office.

Other facts

Theodore Roosevelt]]
- Grover Cleveland had two non-consecutive terms as President, and is counted twice, both as the 22nd and the 24th President. Consequently, the "25th President" is actually the 24th person to be President, the "26th President" is actually the 25th person to be President, and so on—e.g., George W. Bush, 43rd President, is actually the 42nd person to be President.
- Since the federal government started operations under the Constitution on March 4, 1789, there has been only one period of time in which the office was vacant. The First Congress did not meet to count the electoral vote until April 6, 1789 and thus George Washington did not accede to the office until then.
- A presidential term is normally 1461 days. There have been three presidential terms which were shorter:
  - Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term began March 4, 1933, but the twentieth amendment changed the start of the next term to noon on January 20, 1937, giving Roosevelt a first term of 1418.5 days.
  - Due to the vagaries of the Gregorian calendar, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, so John Adams' term and William McKinley's first term were shortened to 1460 days.
- Five Presidents had never held any prior elected office:
  - Zachary Taylor
  - Ulysses S. Grant
  - Herbert Hoover
  - Dwight D. Eisenhower
  - William Howard Taft
- All presidents have been white males and nominally Christian (mostly Protestant). Most presidents have been of substantially British descent, but there have been a few who came from a different background:
  - Predominantly Dutch: Martin Van Buren
    - Although Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt had Dutch names, neither was predominantly Dutch; each had only one Dutch grandfather. Theodore's other three grandparents were all British; Franklin's other three grandparents were of Puritan stock.
  - Predominantly German: Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower
  - Predominantly Irish:William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton
    - Kennedy was also America's only Roman Catholic president.
- Only one president, James Buchanan, remained a bachelor. Bachelor Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom while in office, while both John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson became widowers and remarried while in office.
- Historical rankings of U.S. Presidents by academic historians usually regard three Presidents — in chronological order, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt — to be the three most successful presidents by a wide margin.
- The Secret Service and some agencies in the government use acronyms as jargon. Since the Truman Administration the President of the United States has been called POTUS, pronounced "poh-tuss". The wife of the President, traditionally referred to as the First Lady is called FLOTUS, pronounced "flo-tuss". The Vice President of the United States is often abbreviated to VPOTUS, pronounced "vee-poh-tuss".
- The President is known to be able to affect trends in popular culture. An endorsement of a book or a movie by a president can easily launch the career of a author or a filmmaker. For example, Ronald Reagan's admiration of The Hunt For Red October may have helped to cause Tom Clancy to become a nationally acclaimed bestselling author, something that may never have happened had it not been for Reagan's endorsement.

Lists


See also


- President of the Continental Congress
- Presidential reputation
- Presidential Service Badge
- Executive branch
- Executive privilege
- Air Force One
- Tecumseh's curse
- Fiction regarding United States presidential succession
- List of actors who played President of the United States
- Alternative pop music band The Presidents of the United States of America (band)
- Imperial Presidency

Further reading


- Leonard Leo, James Taranto, and William J. Bennett. Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House. Simon and Schuster, June, 2004, hardcover, 304 pages, ISBN 0743254333
- Waldman, Michael, and George Stephanopoulos, My Fellow Americans: The Most Important Speeches of America's Presidents, from George Washington to George W. Bush. Sourcebooks Trade. September 2003. ISBN 1402200277
- Couch, Ernie, Presidential Trivia. Rutledge Hill Press. 1 March 1996. ISBN 1558534121
- Lang, J. Stephen, The Complete Book of Presidential Trivia. Pelican Publishing. September 2001. ISBN 1565548779

Notes

# Kamen, Al. "[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55411-2004Nov16.html If You're Available Jan. 20 . . .]" Washington Post, 17 November 2004. # Library of Congress. "[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pioaths.html Presidential Inaugrations: Presidential Oaths of Office.]" # [http://www.historicvermont.org/coolidge/oathrm.html Excerpt from Coolidge's autobiography.]

External links

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- - A collection of over 52,000 Presidential documents
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Miscellaneous


- - Brief histories of the Masonic careers of Presidents who were members of the Freemasons.
- - A resource for educators teaching the American Presidency
- - The author of this blog posts links to sites relating to the American Presidency or specific American Presidents
- [http://www.quotesandpoem.com/quotes/listquotes/subject/American_Presidential_Quotes Collection of Quotes by American Presidents]
- - Listing of the cabinet members for each Presidential Administration
- - Opinion poll of how great each President is believed to be. Category:Executive Branch of the United States Government Category:Executive heads of state United States, President Category:Presidency of the United States ko:미국의 대통령 ja:アメリカ合衆国大統領 simple:President (United States) th:ประธานาธิบดีแห่งสหรัฐอเมริกา

John F. Kennedy

For other uses, see JFK (disambiguation) or John Kennedy (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), often referred to as John F Kennedy, JFK, or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. He served from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. A member of the prominent Kennedy political family, he is considered an icon of American liberalism. Kennedy is the youngest person ever to have been elected president of the country, at the age of 43. (Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest ever to serve as President of the country.) Major events during his presidency included the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, early events of the Vietnam War, and the American Civil Rights Movement. In rankings of U.S. presidents, historians usually grade Kennedy above average, but among the general public he is often regarded as among the greatest presidents. Kennedy is also the only Roman Catholic ever to become President, the first president to serve who was born in the 20th century, the last to die while still in office, the last Democrat from the North to be elected, and the last to be elected while serving in the U.S. Senate. Kennedy died the youngest of any U.S. president, at 46 years and 177 days, when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963. The assassination is often considered a defining moment in U.S. history both because of its traumatic impact on the entire nation, and because of Kennedy's elevation as an icon for a new generation of Americans and American aspirations.

Early life and Education

Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the son of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald. Years later, it would be revealed that Kennedy had been diagnosed as a young man with Addison's Disease, a rare endocrine disorder. This and other medical disorders were kept from the press and the public throughout Kennedy's life. Kennedy attended The Choate School in Connecticut, one of the country's most elite, and he graduated in 1935. Before enrolling in college, he attended the London School of Economics for a year, where he studied political economy under the tutelage of Professor Harold Laski. In the fall of 1935, he enrolled in Princeton University, but was forced to leave after contracting jaundice. The next fall, he began attending Harvard College. Kennedy traveled to Europe twice during his years at Harvard, visiting the United Kingdom, while his father was serving as Ambassador to the Court of St. James's. In 1937, Kennedy was prescribed steroids to control his colitis, which only heightened his medical problems causing him to develop osteoporosis of the lower lumbar spine [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1276266]. In 1938, Kennedy wrote his honors thesis, entitled "Why England Slept" on the British portion of the Munich Agreement. He graduated cum laude from Harvard with a degree in international affairs in June 1940. His thesis was published in 1940 and became a best-seller.

Military service

In the spring of 1941, Kennedy volunteered for the U.S. Army, but was rejected, mainly because of his troublesome back. However, the U.S. Navy accepted him in September of that year with the influence of the director of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), a former naval attaché to ambassador Joseph Kennedy. As an ensign, he served in the office that supplied bulletins and briefing information for the Secretary of the Navy. It was during this assignment that the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. It was also during this time that he began a romantic relationship with Inga Arvad, a suspected Nazi spy. The relationship ended, however, when Kennedy was transferred to the ONI field office in South Carolina. He attended the Naval Reserve Officers Training School and Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center before being assigned for duty in Panama and eventually the Pacific theater. He participated in various commands in the Pacific theater and earned the rank of lieutenant, commanding a patrol torpedo boat (PT boat).[http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-2.htm] patrol torpedo boat On August 2, 1943, Kennedy's boat, the PT-109, was taking part in a night-time military raid near New Georgia (near the Solomon Islands) when it was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy was thrown across the deck, injuring his already troubled back. Still, Kennedy somehow towed a wounded man three miles through the ocean, arriving on an island where his crew was subsequently rescued. Kennedy said that he blacked out for periods of time during the ordeal. For these actions, Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal under the following citation: :"For heroism the rescue of 3 men following the ramming and sinking of his motor torpedo boat while attempting a torpedo attack on a Japanese destroyer in the Solomon Islands area on the night of Aug 1-2, 1943. Lt. KENNEDY, Capt. of the boat, directed the rescue of the crew and personally rescued 3 men, one of whom was seriously injured. During the following 6 days, he succeeded in getting his crew ashore, and after swimming many hours attempting to secure aid and food, finally effected the rescue of the men. His courage, endurance and excellent leadership contributed to the saving of several lives and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service." Kennedy's other decorations of the Second World War include the Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He was honorably discharged in early 1945, just a few months before the Japanese surrendered. In May 2002, a National Geographic expedition found what is believed to be the wreckage of the PT-109 in the Solomon Islands [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/07/0709_020710_kennedyPT109.html].

Early political career

PT-109 After World War II, Kennedy entered politics (partly to fill the void of his popular brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., on whom his family had pinned many of their hopes but who was killed in the war). In 1946, Representative James Michael Curley vacated his seat in an overwhelmingly Democratic district to become mayor of Boston and Kennedy ran for that seat, beating his Republican opponent by a large margin. He was reelected twice, but had a mixed voting record, often diverging from President Harry S. Truman and the rest of the Democratic Party. Harry S. Truman commencement.]] In 1952, Kennedy ran for the Senate with the slogan "Kennedy will do more for Massachusetts." In an upset victory, he defeated Republican incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. by a margin of about 70,000 votes. Kennedy adroitly dodged criticizing fellow Senator Joseph McCarthy's controversial campaign to root out Communists and Soviet spies in the U.S. government, because of McCarthy's popularity in Massachusetts. McCarthy was a friend of JFK's father, dated the Kennedy sisters, and younger brother Robert F. Kennedy briefly worked for McCarthy. Although Kennedy was ill during the 65–22 vote to censure McCarthy, he was criticized by McCarthy opponents such as Eleanor Roosevelt who later said of the episode, "he should have displayed less profile, and more courage". Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on September 12, 1953. He underwent several spinal operations in the two following years, nearly dying (receiving the Catholic faith's "last rites" four times during his life), and was often absent from the Senate. During this period, he published Profiles in Courage, highlighting eight instances in which U.S. Senators risked their careers by standing by their personal beliefs. The book was awarded the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. In 1956, Kennedy campaigned for the Vice Presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention, but convention delegates selected Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver instead. However, Kennedy's efforts helped bolster his reputation within the party. An example of Kennedy's political suppleness prior to the 1960 campaign was his handling of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. He voted for final passage, while earlier voting for the "jury trial amendment", which some people feel rendered the Act toothless. He was able to say to both sides that he supported them. In 1958, Kennedy published the first edition of his book A Nation of Immigrants, closely following his involvement in the Displaced Persons Act and the 1957 bill to bring families together.

1960 Presidential election

A Nation of Immigrants In 1960, Kennedy declared his intent to run for President of the United States. In the Democratic primary election, he faced challenges from Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, and Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee in 1952 and 1956 who was not officially running but was a favorite write-in candidate. Kennedy won key primaries like Wisconsin and West Virginia. In the latter state, Kennedy made a visit to a coal-mine, and talked to the mine workers to win their support, as most people in that conservative, mostly Protestant state were deeply suspicious about Kennedy being a Catholic. Kennedy emerged as a universally acceptable candidate for the party after that victory. On July 13, 1960 the Democratic Party nominated Kennedy as its candidate for president. Kennedy asked Johnson to be his Vice Presidential candidate, despite clashes between the two during the primary elections. He needed Johnson's strength in the South to win what was considered likely to be the closest election since 1916. Major issues included how to get the economy moving again, Kennedy's Catholicism, Cuba, and whether or not both the Soviet space and missile programs had surpassed those of the U.S. To allay fears that his Roman Catholicism would impact his decision-making, he said in a famous speech in Houston, Texas (to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association), on September 12, 1960, "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters - and the Church does not speak for me." [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/johnfkennedyhoustonministerialspeech.html] (Also see Al Smith, the first Catholic to receive the presidential nomination for a major party, in 1928.) In September and October, Kennedy debated Republican candidate Vice President Richard Nixon in the first televised US presidential debates. During the debates, Nixon looked tense, sweaty, and unshaven compared to Kennedy's composure and handsomeness, leading many to deem Kennedy the winner, although historians consider the two evenly matched as orators. Interestingly, many who listened on radio thought Nixon more impressive in the debate.[http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/kennedy-nixon/kennedy-nixon.htm] The debates are considered a political landmark: the point at which the medium of television played an important role in politics and looking presentable on camera became one of the important considerations for presidential and other political candidates. In the general election on November 8, 1960, Kennedy beat Nixon in a very close race. There were serious allegations that vote fraud in Texas and Illinois had cost Nixon the presidency[http://www.leanleft.com/archives/cat_reviews.html]. There were unusually large margins in Richard Daley's Chicago — which were announced after the rest of the vote in Illinois. The only change after the official recount was a win for Kennedy in Hawaii.

Presidency

Hawaii] Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President on January 20, 1961. In his inaugural address he spoke of the need for all Americans to be active citizens. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country", he said. He also asked the nations of the world to join together to fight what he called the "common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself." [http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/jfk-inaug.htm]

Foreign policies

On April 17, 1961, Kennedy gave orders allowing a previously-planned invasion of Cuba to proceed. With support from the CIA, in what is known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1,500 U.S.-trained Cuban exiles, called "Brigade 2506" returned to the island in the hope of deposing Castro, but the CIA had underestimated popular support for Castro, made several mistakes in devising and carrying out the plan, and the exiles did not rally the Cuban people as expected. By April 19 Castro's government had killed or captured most of the invading exiles and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release for the 1,189 survivors. After 20 months, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for $53 million worth of food and medicine. The incident was a major embarrassment for Kennedy, but he took full responsibility for the debacle. On August 13, 1961, the East German government began construction of the Berlin Wall separating East Berlin from the Western sector of the city, due to the American military presence in West Berlin. Kennedy claimed this action was in violation of the "Four Powers" agreements. Kennedy initiated no action to have it dismantled, and did little to reverse or halt the eventual extension of this barrier to a length of 155 km. The Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962 when American U-2 spy planes took photographs of a Soviet intermediate range ballistic missile site under construction in Cuba. Kennedy faced a dire dilemma: if the U.S. attacked the sites it might have led to nuclear war with the U.S.S.R. If the U.S. did nothing, it would endure the perpetual threat of nuclear weapons within its region, in such close proximity, that if launched preemptively, the U.S. may have been unable to retaliate. Another fear was that the U.S. would appear to the world as weak in its own hemisphere. Many military officials and cabinet members pressed for an air assault on the missile sites but Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine in which the U.S. Navy inspected all ships. He began negotiations with the Soviets and a week later, he and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reached an agreement. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles while the U.S. publicly promised never to invade Cuba, and also secretly promised to remove U.S. ballistic missiles from Turkey within six months. Following this incident, which brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any point before or since, Kennedy was more cautious in confronting the Soviet Union. Arguing that "those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable", Kennedy sought to contain communism in Latin America, by establishing the Alliance for Progress, which sent aid to troubled countries in the region and sought greater human rights standards in the region. He worked closely with Puerto Rican Governor Luis Muñoz Marín for the development of the Alliance of Progress, as well as developments on the autonomy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Another example of Kennedy's belief in the ability of non-military power to improve the world was the creation of the Peace Corps, one of his first acts as president. Through this program, which still exists today, Americans volunteered to help underdeveloped nations in areas such as education, farming, health care, and construction. Kennedy also used limited military action to contain the spread of communism. Determined to stand firm against the spread of communism, Kennedy continued the previous administration's policy of political, economic, and military support for the unstable South Vietnamese government, which included sending military advisers and U.S. special forces to the area. U.S. involvement in the area continually escalated until regular U.S. forces were directly fighting the Vietnam War in the next administration. On June 26, 1963 Kennedy visited West Berlin and gave a public speech criticizing communism. While Kennedy was speaking, some people on the other side of the wall in East Berlin were applauding Kennedy and showing their distaste for Soviet control. Kennedy used the construction of the Berlin Wall as an example of the failures of communism - "Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in." The speech is known for its famous phrase "Ich bin ein Berliner". Troubled by the long-term dangers of radioactive contamination and nuclear weapons proliferation, Kennedy also pushed for the adoption of a Limited or Partial Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited atomic testing on the ground, in the atmosphere, or underwater, but does not prohibit testing underground. The United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were the initial signatories to the Treaty. Kennedy signed the Treaty into law in August 1963, and believed it to be one of the greatest accomplishments of his administration. On the occasion of his visit to Ireland in 1963, President Kennedy joined with Irish President Eamon de Valera to form The American Irish Foundation. The mission of this organization was to foster connections between Americans of Irish descent and the country of their ancestry. (See The Ireland Funds)

Domestic policies

The Ireland Funds]] Kennedy used the term New Frontier as a label for his domestic program. It ambitiously promised federal funding for education, medical care for the elderly, and government intervention to halt the recession. Kennedy also promised an end to racial discrimination. The turbulent end of state-sanctioned racial discrimination was one of the most pressing domestic issues of Kennedy's era. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in 1954 that racial segregation in public schools would no longer be permitted. However, there were many schools, especially in southern states, that did not obey this decision. There also remained the practice of segregation on buses, in restaurants, movie theaters, and other public places. Kennedy started his fight for civil rights when he appealed to Black voters during his campaign in 1962. In 1962 James Meredith tried to enroll at the University of Mississippi, but he was prevented by white students. Kennedy responded by sending some 400 federal marshals and 3000 troops to ensure that Meredith could enroll in his first class. Kennedy also assigned federal marshals to protect Freedom Riders. Thousands of Americans of all races and backgrounds joined Kennedy in protesting racial discrimination. Kennedy supported racial integration and civil rights, and during the 1960 campaign he telephoned Coretta Scott King, wife of the jailed Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which drew much black support to his candidacy. However, as president, Kennedy initially believed the grassroots movement for civil rights would only anger many Southern whites and make it even more difficult to pass civil rights laws through Congress, which was dominated by Southern Democrats, and he distanced himself from it. As a result, many civil rights leaders viewed Kennedy as unsupportive of their efforts. On June 11, President Kennedy intervened when the Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, blocked the doorway to the University of Alabama to stop two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from enrolling. George Wallace moved aside after being confronted by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, and the Alabama National Guard. That evening Kennedy gave his famous Civil Rights Address on National television and radio. [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/johnfkennedycivilrights.htm] Kennedy proposed what would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964. [http://www.mass.gov/statehouse/statues/jfk_landing.htm] [http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/39.htm] Also on the domestic front, in 1963 Kennedy proposed a tax reform that included income tax cuts, but this was not passed by the Congress until after his death in 1964. It is one of the largest tax cuts in modern U.S. history, surpassing the Reagan tax cut of 1981.

Support of space programs

Neil Armstrong.]] Kennedy was eager for the United States to lead the way in the space race. The Soviet Union was ahead of the U.S. in its knowledge of space exploration and Kennedy was determined that the U.S. could catch up. In a speech made at Rice University in September 1962, he said , "No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space" and "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."[http://webcast.rice.edu/speeches/19620912kennedy.html] Kennedy asked Congress to approve more than twenty two billion dollars for Project Apollo, which had the goal of landing an American man on the Moon before the end of the decade. In 1969, six years after Kennedy's death, this goal was finally realized when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon.

Cabinet


Buzz Aldrin ----

Supreme Court appointments

Kennedy appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
- Byron Raymond White - 1962
- Arthur Joseph Goldberg - 1962

Image, social life and family

Both Kennedy and his wife "Jackie" were very young in comparison to earlier presidents and first ladies, and were both extraordinarily popular in ways more common to pop singers and movie stars than politicians, influencing fashion trends and becoming the subjects of numerous photo spreads in popular magazines. The Kennedys brought a new life and vigor to the atmosphere of the White House. They believed that the White House should be a place to celebrate American history, culture, and achievement, and invited artists, writers, scientists, poets, musicians, actors, Nobel Prize winners and athletes to visit. Jacqueline Kennedy also gathered new art and furniture and eventually restored all the rooms in the White House. The White House also seemed like a more fun, youthful place, because of the Kennedys' two young children, Caroline and John Jr. (who came to be known in the popular press as "John-John" though years later Jacqueline Kennedy denied that the family called him by that name). Outside the White House Lawn, the Kennedys established a pre-school, swimming pool, and tree house. John Jr. Behind the glamorous facade, the Kennedys also suffered many personal tragedies. Jacqueline suffered a miscarriage in 1955, and gave birth to a stillborn daughter in 1956. (Although the daughter was unnamed - and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery next to her parents with a marker reading "Baby Girl" Kennedy - later reports indicated that the Kennedys had intended to call her Arabella.) The death of their newborn son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy in August 1963 was a great loss. Information revealed after Kennedy's death leaves no doubt that he had many extramarital affairs while in office, including liaisons in the White House with some female staff, prostitutes, members of the press and others. In his era, though, such issues were not considered fit for publication, and in Kennedy's case, they were never publicly discussed during his life, even though there were some public clues of an involvement with Marilyn Monroe, such as the manner in which she sang Happy Birthday Mr. President at his televised birthday party in May 1962. In the years after his death, many liaisons were revealed, including one with Judith Campbell Exner, who was simultaneously involved with Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana. The charisma of Kennedy and his family posthumously led to the figurative designation of "Camelot" for his administration.

Assassination and aftermath

Camelot President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, November 22, 1963 at 12:30 pm CST while on a political trip through Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged at 7:00 pm for killing a Dallas policeman by "murder with malice", and also charged at 11:30 pm for the murder of the president (there being no charge of "assassination" of a president at that time). Oswald was fatally shot less than two days later in the basement of the Dallas police station by Jack Ruby. Five days after Oswald was killed, the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, created the Warren Commission, chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren, to investigate the assassination. It concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. A later investigation in the 1970s by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) also concluded that Oswald was the assassin, however, it added that he was likely part of a conspiracy to kill the president, although the committee did not uncover sufficient evidence to identify any other members of the conspiracy. Critics have proposed a number of Kennedy assassination theories which contradict the various theories on exactly how the assassination took place that have been proposed by the government's official reports. There is no consensus among government investigations, let alone amongst their critics, on the number of bullets fired at the president, the direction from which all the bullets were fired, and which of the bullets struck the president, and Governor John Connally who was also wounded in the attack. Lee Harvey Oswald denied shooting anyone, and claimed he was being set up as a "patsy". He claimed the photograph of him holding the alleged murder weapon was a fabrication, and that he would prove his face was pasted on the body of someone else holding the rifle. However, because of his own murder by Jack Ruby, Oswald's guilt or innocence was never determined in a court of law. Some critics contend that Oswald was not involved at all and that he was framed. Among the most widely posited conspirators in the assassination are the CIA, the mafia, the KGB, and Fidel Castro, Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson, and some sort of military-industrial complex led by U.S. Army Generals.

Legacy and memorials

Lyndon B. Johnson Television became the primary source by which people kept informed of events surrounding John F. Kennedy's assassination, with newspapers the following day becoming more souvenirs than sources of updated information. U.S. networks switched to 24 hour news coverage for the first time ever. Kennedy's state funeral and the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald were all broadcast live in America and in other places around the world. It was with this event that television matured as a news source rivalling that of newspapers. Lee Harvey Oswald On March 14, 1967 Kennedy's body was moved to a permanent burial place and memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson said of the assassination that "all of us...will bear the grief of his death until the day of ours." Kennedy is buried with his wife and their deceased children, and his brother Robert is also buried nearby. His grave is marked with an "Eternal Flame". Many of Kennedy's speeches, especially his inaugural address are considered iconic, and despite his relatively short term in office, and a lack of major legislative changes during his term, Americans regularly vote him as one of the best presidents, in the same league as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Kennedy's legacy has been memoralized in various aspects of American culture. New York Idlewild International Airport was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 24, 1963 to honor his memory, and the USS John F. Kennedy was awarded on April 30, 1964 as a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. The John F. Kennedy Library opened in 1979 as Kennedy's official presidential library. John F. Kennedy University opened in Pleasant Hill, California in 1964 as a school for adult education. John F. Kennedy National Historic Site preserves his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy in 1963, but reverted to its original name in 1973. Hundreds of schools across the U.S were also renamed in his honor. The Phi Kappa Theta chapter at Worcester Polytechnic Institute made Kennedy an honorary brother of the fraternity. fraternity Posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, Kennedy's portrait now appears on the United States half dollar coin.

Criticism

Kennedy is among the most popular former presidents of the United States; however, a number of critics argue that his reputation is largely undeserved. While he was young and charismatic, he had little chance to achieve much during his presidency. Under this reasoning, his immense popularity results from the fact that his short time in office was marked by the optimistic beginnings of many programs declared to be of great benefit to the United States, its people, and various global issues. Unlike the tenures of other U.S. presidents, Kennedy's time in office, generally speaking, thereby lacked the scandals and controversies seen in the terms of many other presidents who served longer. The Civil Rights Act which he sent to Congress in June of 1963 was, at least in part, conceived by his brother and Attorney-General Robert F. Kennedy, and largely implemented by his successor, Lyndon Johnson, in 1964. Kennedy's personal life has attracted the ire of critics, some of whom argue that lapses in judgment in his personal life impacted his professional life. Many of these criticisms stem from revelations about the extent to which the Kennedy family went to hide his serious, potentially life-threatening health issues (e.g. he suffered from Addison's disease) from the voting public, his heavy medication regimen, his long history of extra-marital dalliances, and alleged, circuitous links to organized crime figures. Seymour Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot (1998) presents such a critical argument. Robert Dallek's An Unfinished Life (2003) is a more balanced biography, but contains much detail on Kennedy's health issues. Another of Kennedy's critics is U.S. intellectual Noam Chomsky, whose book Rethinking Camelot: JFK, the Vietnam War, and US Political Culture (1993) presents an image of the Kennedy administration opposite to the one that lingers in mainstream memory. The book is a criticism of policy rather than his personal life, and explores information not usually presented about the 35th president. In particular, Chomsky and many other critics highlight the ill-planned increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict under Kennedy's tenure.

Media

See also


- John F. Kennedy assassination
- Kennedy assassination theories
- Kennedy family
- John F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Robert F. Kennedy
- Robert F. Kennedy assassination
- Kennedy Compound
- John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts
- U.S. presidential election, 1960
- History of the United States (1945–1964)
- Jesuit Ivy
- Peace Corps
- John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame
- John F. Kennedy Memorial at Runnymede, England
- Kennedy Memorial Trust
- Five cents John Kennedy, postage stamp
- Whiz Kids
- Evelyn Lincoln, personal secretary to the President
- Kennedy Doctrine
- Lincoln/Kennedy Coincidences
- Coincidence theory
- Kennedy curse

References


-
-
- [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000107 Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress]
- Gretchen Rubin radio interview. November 4, 2005 on Up To Date. [www.kcur.org/UTDarchive.html]

External links


- [http://www.jfklibrary.org/ John F. Kennedy Library]
- [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jk35.html The White House Biography]
- [http://search.yale.edu:8765/query.html?col=ycsg&col=opa&col=yaleuniv&col=dynamic&qt=John+F.+Kennedy&charset=iso-8859-1&qp=%2Burl%3Awww.yale.edu%2Flawweb%2Favalon JFK at the Avalon Project]
- [http://www.whitehousetapes.org/pages/tapes_jfk.htm JFK's Secret White House Recordings @ University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs]
- [http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/showfindingaid.cfm?findaidid=KennedyJF Audio clips of Kennedy's speeches and other commentary]
- [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKindex.htm Assassination of President Kennedy Encyclopaedia]
- [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm McAdams website about JFK]
- [http://www.csicop.org/si/2005-01/strange-world.html article: Facts and Fiction in the Kennedy Assassination]
- [http://www.rootdig.com/john_f_kennedy.html John F. Kennedy in United States Census Records]
- Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. ko:존 F. 케네디 ja:ジョン・F・ケネディ simple:John F. Kennedy th:จอห์น เอฟ. เคนเนดี้

Destroyer

:This article is about the warship. For other meaning, see destroyer (disambiguation). destroyer (disambiguation) destroyer]] In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). At the beginning of the 21st century, destroyers are the heaviest surface combatants in general use, with only two nations (the United States and Russia) operating cruisers and none operating battleships or battlecruisers.

Genesis of the destroyer

The destroyer originated in Britain and Japan in the last years of the 1880s, and became firmly established after the Chilean Civil War of 1891 and in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895). In those conflicts, a new type of ship proved to be devastatingly effective—the swift, small torpedo-boat invented by John Ericsson. These small boats had speed greater than that of the larger ships, and could dash in close to them, loose their torpedoes, and dash away. While normally a small, short-range boat of this sort would be easily destroyed long before getting into range, they could be operated within a fleet with larger ships as long as the fleet was close to base. In this case the defending force had to choose which set of targets to attack: the larger ships which they were built to counter, or the smaller torpedo boats which were charging in to attack. Yet this one-two punch cost almost nothing to the attacker, as the small torpedo boats were very inexpensive. The world's navies recognized the need for a counter weapon and developed the torpedo-boat destroyer. The basic idea was to have a screen of ships that were as fast as the torpedo boats, but armed with guns instead of torpedoes. They would operate at a distance from the main fleet of capital ships to keep the torpedo-boats from ever getting into torpedo firing range. However it was clear even at the time that this concept had problems of its own. The ship would indeed be capable of holding off an attack by torpedo boats (which typically have no guns of their own), but while operating away from the fleet they would be easy targets for any other capital ship. Thus they were often given torpedoes of their own. Another problem was that the torpedo-boats were short ranged and thus easy and cheap to produce. However the destroyers had the problem of needing to operate as a screen for the fleet. This required them to have the speed and range of the battleships, so destroyers were often much larger than the boats they were designed to counter.

First designs

battleships (1887)]] The first effective design of a torpedo-boat destroyer emerged in 1885 with the Japanese Kotaka, a Japanese-designed, but British-built, torpe