John Fitzgerald Kennedy

20 Pages 5005 Words

rom Massachusetts since 1962.

The Kennedys moved often, to bigger homes and better neighborhoods, as the family grew and as Joseph Kennedy became wealthier. From Brookline, they moved to Riverdale, New York, then Bronxville, New York, both New York City suburbs.

As the Kennedy children grew up, their parents encouraged them to develop their own talents and interests. Loyalty to each other was important to the Kennedys. But the children also developed a strong competitive spirit. Jack, as his family called him, and Joe, his older brother, were especially strong rivals. Jack was quiet and often shy, but he held his own in fights with Joe. The boys enjoyed playing touch football.

Education. John Kennedy attended elementary schools in Brookline and Riverdale. In 1930, when he was 13 years old, his father sent him to the Canterbury School in New Milford, Conn. The next year, he transferred to Choate Academy in Wallingford, Conn. Kennedy was graduated from Choate in 1935 at the age of 18. His classmates voted him "most likely to succeed."

Kennedy spent the summer of 1935 in England. He enrolled at Princeton University that fall, but he developed jaundice and left school after Christmas. He entered Harvard University in 1936. There he majored in government and international relations.

In 1939, Kennedy spent the spring and summer in Europe. Traveling from country to country, he interviewed politicians and statesmen. He sent his father detailed reports on their views of the crisis that soon led to World War II in September 1939. Back at Harvard, Kennedy tried to explain in his senior thesis why the United Kingdom had not been ready for war. His thesis, published as Why England Slept, became a best-selling book.

Kennedy was graduated cum laude in 1940. He then enrolled in the Stanford University graduate business school, but dropped out six months later. After taking a trip through South America, Kennedy enlisted as a seam...