2. JOHN F KENNEDY 2
John F. Kennedy
The birth of John F. Kennedy took place in the twentieth century specifically on the 29th
of May, 1917. He became better and started schooling in the famous preparatory school of that
time, Choate. He excelled in his studies and acquired further studies at Harvard University
between 1936-1940 (Kennedy, 1964). During this period as an undergraduate, he was active and
he sailed through to write his first bestselling book that focused on cold war. When he was with
his father in England, he also wrote another book focusing on why they were not ready for the
war. The book by the tittle ' Why England Slept?’ He also served by volunteering for hazardous
combat duty in the Pacific during the Second World War.
At this time, he developed interest in working with the U.S. Navy. With the help of his
father, he was admitted and given a PT boat that he was commanding and combating. His
determination made him lead his crew in the campaign to wrest many islands of the Japan. His
crew was rammed and destroyed by the Japanese destroyer in August 1943 when they were
asleep. He survived together with other ten members of his team. He led them to a nearby island
away from the enemies, and they stayed there until he sought help. After showing his selfless
leadership and courage, he was awarded the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps medal for Valor and
Purple Heart for injuries he sustained.
The war perceived him as the hero of the time. He worked as a journalist for the Hearst
Newspaper immediately he was discharged from the war in 1945. He then started participating in
politics. His persistency made him elected to serve in the House of Representatives in 1947 to
1953 and again in the U.S. senate in 1953 to 1961. He grew in politics to the extent that he was
elected as the youngest president and from the Roman Catholic. His presidency represented the
youth’s idealism after the world war. During his time as a president, he continued suffering from
3. JOHN F KENNEDY 3
several ailments. These included Addison’s disease, malaria, and back pains that made him rely
on pain killers and steroids from doctors. His state of health did not make him attend many of the
house businesses or even lift and play with his children. Despite all these he was still considered
a youth’s public figure, health, and imaged.
After the back surgery, he took his time to writing a book “Profiles in Courage" which
was encouraging unknown but known moral standards. At this time, his book won the award of
Pulitzer Prize for biography of 1957. He further went ahead to eye the presidential seat. Being
liberal and able to work with people socially, he started convincing Americans that he could lead
them away from conservative rut that he claimed the previous president had been ruling on. His
ambitions faced various challenges including his religion and youthfulness. Various clergies
questioned his perceived religion. He gave well-defined answers to them and promised that he
would handle the issue of religion with uttermost concern and openly.
All these convinced the Catholics and the Protestants who had faith in him that he could
make a good president. It is at his time as the chairman that the Great Depression occurred, and
he lowered tax rates, protected the unemployed, and advised the citizens to engage in business
that could boom the economy. After serving for three years in office, he was shot dead by
unknown people. His death came as shocking news that stood between the social instability and
political curtain in the country just recovering from world war.
Before his death as a social worker, Kennedy worked to improve the lives of other
individuals, families, groups, and communities. He developed policies, organized families as
well as solving crisis that emerged within the communities of the United States. He also
intervened in matters concerning social issues like poverty, diseases, social injustice, civil liberty,
and human rights (Antonellis, 2012). As a social worker, Kennedy had undergone training
4. JOHN F KENNEDY 4
through pursuing a degree in political science at Harvard University. He qualified to be a good
social worker working with people who needed some training in order to understand how to
interact with different people as well as solving problems encountered in various working places.
He participated in communal activities by serving as the United States president whereby
he promoted peace and togetherness in the company. He wrote a book entitled “The Spirit of
Cold War Liberalism”. In his book, he stated that the United States was under social and
economic problems that needed some recognition.
He gained support from a private enterprise which he later gave significant support came
after he became the United States president. The company developed the lives of many people as
well as offering chances for developments in most parts of the country.
In 1961, Kennedy signed an agreement that aimed to raise the minimum wage which had
been stagnant since 1955. Most people opposed his signature while others viewed the agreement
as a way of undermining business and increasing chances for jobs loss. Other people saw it as a
moral and humanitarian idea of improving the standard of living of the people (Richardson,
2006).
In his life history, Kennedy is believed to fight for survival since his birth. He faced
different challenges in his lifetime, but he worked hard to counter the challenges. While his
brothers struggled to work as teamsters and the powerful United Autoworkers, Kennedy opposed
them (Duncan, 2013). These brothers were anti-labor and acted as stooges for the Union bosses.
Kennedy yearned for a wide-ranging legislation aimed at eradicating all criminals identified in
the Union. He protected their civil rights to stand for truthful working people.
He acted as a chairperson of the Foreign Relations Committee where he condemned
United States Foreign Policy due to its failure to offer faster recognition of ambition of people in
5. JOHN F KENNEDY 5
the third World. He claimed that the United States focused on military strength in Asia and Africa
instead of focusing on economic and social development of the population in the United States.
He exhibited some formal characteristics of a laborer by supporting the southern who
protested against the accusation of people charged for violating civil rights (Burchill, 2008). He
went further lauding his bill known as “a turning point in American social and political thought”.
This bill aimed at confronting racial problem that the United States did not put into
consideration.
Kennedy also urged for a reform in the United States since this country is an immigrant
country. He also emphasized on Immigration Law. The law governed that people who
migrated in and out of the United States. The law aimed at ensuring that the rights of the
immigrants were not violated as well as securing the rights of the Native Americans. As a
president, he worked to ensure that massive developments in the United States. These and more
activities make Kennedy be remembered of his good social worker in the United States.
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References
Antonellis, P. (2012). Labor relations for the fire service. Tulsa, OK: PennWell.
Burchill, F. (2008). Labour relations. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Duncan, J. (2013). John F. Kennedy: The spirit of cold war liberalism. New York: Taylor &
Francis Publisher.
Kennedy, J. (1964). America, the beautiful: In the words of John F. Kennedy. Elm Grove, Wis:
Country Beautiful Foundation.
Richardson, V. & Barusch, A. (2006). Gerontological practice for the twenty-first century: A
social work perspective. New York: Columbia University Press.