President John F.Kennedy
On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first three years in office, John F. Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullets in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President, and he was the youngest to die.
His Inaugural Address was memorable to many when he spoke the words, "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." As President, he set out to redeem his campaign pledge to get America moving again. His economic programs launched the country on its longest sustained expansion since World War II. Kennedy also took vigorous action in the cause of equal rights. He called for new civil rights legislation. His vision of America was one where everyone was equal. Kennedy was an enormously popular president, he was loved by many Americans. On November 22, 1963, the president and his wife landed in Dallas; he had spoken in San Antonio, Austin and Fort Worth the day before. He and his wife rode in an open convertible and a rage of bullets rang out. He was shot twice, once in the neck, and once in the head, and he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. Twenty-four-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald, known to have Communist beliefs, was arrested for the killing but was shot and fatally wounded two days later by local nightclub owner Jack Ruby while being led to jail. |