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ANNCR:
Welcome to People in America from VOA Special English. Today,Steve Ember and Sarah Long tell the story of President JohnFitzgerald Kennedy.
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VOICE ONE:
On November twenty-second, Nineteen-Sixty-Three, President JohnF. Kennedy was shot and killed. He was riding in an open car throughthe streets of Dallas, Texas.
His death ended the time in American politics that has been knownever since as “Camelot.” Jacqueline Kennedy named the years of herhusband’s presidency after the imaginary time of peace and good willin ancient Britain. She said her husband liked the song from themusical play called “Camelot”:
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VOICE TWO:
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was bornin the northeastern city of Brookline, Massachusetts on Maytwenty-ninth, Nineteen-Seventeen. He was the second son of JosephPatrick Kennedy and his wife, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. John hadeight brothers and sisters. The family moved often to bigger housesas Joseph Kennedy became richer.
John Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in Nineteen-Forty.His final paper became the best selling book, “Why England Slept.”He joined the United States Navy during World War Two and wascommander of a small attack boat in the South Pacific Ocean. AJapanese ship destroyed the boat. Two of the men were killed. Theothers swam to a nearby island, where John Kennedy spent the nextfour days searching for help. The crew was rescued. Later, Kennedywas honored for saving the life of one of his crewmen.
VOICE ONE:
The Kennedy family always explained John’s poor health at timeson the back injury he suffered during the war. But that was not thewhole truth. John Kennedy had been a very sick child. He almost diedmore than once of fevers and other mysterious sicknesses.
In Nineteen-Forty-Seven, he found out that he had Addison’sdisease, a condition affecting the adrenal glands.
The adrenal glands of a healthy person produce hormones that helpfight infection and provide extra strength when necessary. Addison’sDisease damages the adrenal glands, causing weight loss, tiredness,stomach problems and yellow skin. If the condition is not treated,the body has no resistance to infection, and death can result. Afterthe disease was discovered, John Kennedy was treated with a medicinethat he continued to take the rest of his life. No one outside thefamily and closest friends knew about his medical secret.
VOICE TWO:
John Kennedy survived World War Two and returned home toMassachusetts. His older brother did not. Joseph Kennedy Junior waskilled in the war. The Kennedy family had always believed Joe Juniorwould someday become President of the United States. After hisdeath, that goal fell to his younger brother. In Nineteen-Forty-Six,John Kennedy was elected to the United States House ofRepresentatives, and served until Nineteen-Fifty-Two. Then he waselected senator from Massachusetts. He served in the Senate untilNineteen-Sixty when he was elected President.
VOICE ONE:
John Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier inNineteen-Fifty-Three. Not long after their marriage, Senator Kennedyhad two operations on his spine to correct back problems sufferedduring the war. While recovering, he wrote about a series of acts ofpolitical courage by eight United States senators. The reportsbecame the book “Profiles in Courage.” It received the PulitzerPrize in Nineteen-Fifty-Seven.
The Kennedys had two children. Caroline Bouvier was born inNineteen-Fifty-Seven. John Fitzgerald Kennedy Junior was born inNovember, Nineteen-Sixty, after his father was elected President,but before he was sworn in to office.
VOICE TWO:
John Fitzgerald Kennedy became America’s thirty-fifth Presidenton January twentieth, Nineteen-Sixty-One. It was an important dayfor millions of Americans, who saw John Kennedy as a new beginningfor the country.
Not everyone liked the new President, however. He had won theelection over the Republican candidate, Richard Nixon, by fewer thanone-hundred-twenty-thousand popular votes. Many people thought hewas too young to be President. He was the youngest man ever elected,only forty-three. Many people opposed him because he belonged to theRoman Catholic Church. A majority of Christians in America wereProtestant. The United States had never had a Roman Catholicpresident.
VOICE ONE:
President Kennedy’s speech the day he was sworn in is consideredamong the best speeches in American history. He spoke about a lightof leadership being passed from older Americans to younger ones. Heurged the young to take the light and accept responsibility for thefuture. And he urged other countries to work with the United Statesto create a better world:
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“The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to thisendeavor will light our country and all who serve it – and the glowfrom that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellowAmericans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what youcan do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask notwhat America will do for you, but what together we can do for thefreedom of man.”
VOICE TWO:
A few weeks after he took office, President Kennedy announced thecreation of the Peace Corps. It has sent thousands of Americans todeveloping countries to provide help. He also announced a programcalled the Alliance for Progress to provide economic aid to LatinAmerican nations.
The worst failure of Kennedy’s administration came early in hispresidency. On April seventeenth, Nineteen-Sixty-One, more thanone-thousand Cuban exiles landed in western Cuba, in a place calledthe Bay of Pigs. They had received training and equipment from theUnited States. They were to lead a revolution to overthrow thecommunist government of Cuba. The plan failed. Most of the exileswere killed or captured.
It had not been John Kennedy’s idea to start a revolution againstCuban leader Fidel Castro. Officials in the former administrationhad planned it. But Kennedy approved it. The public considered himresponsible for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. His popularityrating dropped.
VOICE ONE:
President Kennedy soon regained some public approval when hevisited Europe, and met with French leader Charles DeGaulle inParis. Later, the East Germans, with support from the Soviet Union,built a wall to separate the eastern and western parts of Berlin.President Kennedy quickly announced a large increase in the numberof American military forces in Germany. He said the United Stateswould not permit freedom to end in Berlin.
Then in October, Nineteen-Sixty-Two, the United States discoveredthe Soviets were putting nuclear missiles in Cuba. President Kennedyimmediately sent American ships to the area. They were to preventSoviet ships from taking missile parts and other supplies to Cuba.War seemed likely.
Then the Soviet ships carrying missile parts to Cuba turned back.President Kennedy promised that the United States would not invadeCuba if the Soviet Union removed its missiles and stopped buildingnew ones there.
VOICE TWO:
The United States and the Soviet Union did make progress on armscontrol in Nineteen-Sixty-Three. They reached a major agreement toban tests of nuclear weapons above ground, under water and in space.The treaty did not ban nuclear tests under ground.
On national issues, President Kennedy began the American spaceeffort to land a man on the moon by the end of the Nineteen-Sixties.He also supported efforts to provide a better life forAfrican-Americans. He proposed a new civil rights law that wouldguarantee equal treatment for blacks in public places and jobs. Itwould speed the work of ending racial separation in schools. ButCongress delayed action on the bill. It did not approve a civilrights law until after John Kennedy was killed and Lyndon Johnsontook office.
VOICE ONE:
President John F. Kennedy was buried on his son’s third birthday,November twenty-fifth, Nineteen-Sixty-Three. Millions of peoplearound the world watched on television. They mourned along with theKennedy family. Many people loved President Kennedy, his wife andyoung children. They felt the family represented a new, brightfuture for the United States and the world. With his death, theyfelt that hope disappearing.
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ANNCR:
This program was written by Nancy Steinbach. It was produced byPaul Thompson. Your narrators were Steve Ember and Sarah Long. I’mFaith Lapidus. Listen again next week for People in America from VOASpecial English.