President Kennedy
As far as political careers go, John F Kennedy’s was as a sudden as it was miraculous. After just over a decade of membership in Congress, Kennedy found himself as the Democratic nominee for President of The United States, the most important and powerful position in the world, despite the rising power and geopolitical influence of The Soviet Union. He was facing, of all people, his friend, former colleague and Vice President of The United States, Richard Nixon. Kennedy announced his candidacy on the floor of the senate, where he said, “The Presidency is the most powerful office in the Free World. Through its leadership can come a more vital life for our people. In it are centered the hopes of the globe around us for freedom and a more secure life. For it is in the Executive Branch that the most crucial decisions of this century must be made in the next four years--how to end or alter the burdensome arms race, where Soviet gains already threaten our very existence--how to maintain freedom and order in the newly emerging nations--how to rebuild the stature of American science and education--how to prevent the collapse of our farm economy and the decay of our cities--how to achieve, without further inflation or unemployment, expanded economic growth benefiting all Americans--and how to give direction to our traditional moral purpose, awakening every American to the dangers and opportunities that confront us.” ("JFK Library," 2011) This excerpt accurately summarizes Kennedy’s vision and promise to America that he would go to fulfill. The race for the Presidency pitted the two friends into a very uncomfortable campaign, one that many were sure the Vice President would win. The infamous turn of the tide in Kennedys favor and the nail in Nixon’s coffin, came in the first televised Presidential debate in American history. Kennedy appeared cool, calm and collected while Nixon looked flustered, angry and sweaty. In the end, the phenomenon of Kennedy was not one to be contested. In the year of 1961, John F Kennedy became the nation’s 35th President. The occasion was monumental on several fronts; the new leader was the first Catholic President and the youngest American President ever elected.