VOANews: Remembering John F. Kennedy – the 56th Anniversary of the Assassination
56 years ago, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed during a visit to Dallas, Texas, November 22, 1963. His assassination shocked Americans and people around the world.
👉 President John Kennedy, 46 years old when he died, was the youngest man ever elected president. He served only 1,000 days in office, yet he remains one of the most popular presidents in American history.
Kennedy was elected president in 1960, and faced difficult foreign policy decisions during his less than three years in office. The United States and the Soviet Union were in the midst of a Cold War, and he was elected on a goal of fighting Communism.
He suffered early in his term with a failed invasion of Cuba. But his public image recovered during a visit to Germany. In Berlin, Kennedy became famous for a speech denouncing Soviet Communism.
Later, he ordered a naval blockade of Cuba in an effort to stop the shipment of Soviet missiles to the island. He successfully persuaded the Soviet Union to remove the missiles already there and disarm the weapon sites.
Kennedy’s creation of the Peace Corps and his support of the space program were major victories at home during his presidency. He also helped move forward civil rights efforts.
During the 1960 campaign, it was a close battle between Kennedy, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, and Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee.
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