# John F. Kennedy: Given a Year to Live, He Became President A two-minute illustrated biography of John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the United States (1917–1963). One Life. Mahachi Academy. - Years: 1917–1963 - Place on the map: Boston, Massachusetts - Film: 1:59, coming soon - Web page: https://mahachi.org/academy/john-f-kennedy/ - In other languages: [Español](https://mahachi.org/academy/es/john-f-kennedy/index.md), [Português](https://mahachi.org/academy/pt/john-f-kennedy/index.md), [العربية](https://mahachi.org/academy/ar/john-f-kennedy/index.md), [हिन्दी](https://mahachi.org/academy/hi/john-f-kennedy/index.md) In 1947 a doctor gave him about a year to live. He hid it, and at 43 he was elected president. ## The story in brief John F. Kennedy, born near Boston in 1917, was the sickly second son. His rich father wanted the eldest, Joe, to be president. In the Second World War a Japanese destroyer cut Kennedy’s torpedo boat in half, killing two men. Two Solomon Islander scouts carried his rescue message, scratched on a coconut. Joe was killed in 1944, and their father pushed the second son into politics. He won a seat in Congress, and in 1947 a doctor gave him about a year to live. He hid it all his life. Backed by his father’s fortune, at 43 he became the youngest president ever elected. An invasion of Cuba he approved failed, and he took the blame. To beat the Soviets, he set a deadline to land a man on the Moon. In 1962, over Soviet missiles in Cuba, the world came closer to nuclear war than ever before. His generals urged air strikes. He blocked Soviet ships at sea and made a secret deal, and the missiles went home. He was slow on civil rights until 1963, when he called it “a moral issue” and asked for a law. He was killed in Dallas in 1963, at 46. The Civil Rights Act he proposed passed in 1964, and in 1969, inside his deadline, two Americans walked on the Moon. ## In his own words > …this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. Special message to Congress, 25 May 1961 [6] > I’m not that interested in space. In private, to NASA’s chief, on beating the Soviets to the Moon, 1962 [7] > We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution. Televised address on civil rights, 11 June 1963 [8] ## Sources 1. JFK Presidential Library, “Life of John F. Kennedy” 2. Miller Center (University of Virginia), the John F. Kennedy essays 3. NARA, Prologue (Summer 2003), “John F. Kennedy and PT 109” 4. Patrick J. Kiger, “The Health Problems JFK Hid From the Public”, History.com (2023) 5. US Department of State, Office of the Historian, on the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis 6. Kennedy, Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs, 25 May 1961 (American Presidency Project) 7. NASA History Office, “Kennedy-Webb Conversation: Background and Analysis” 8. Kennedy, Radio and Television Report on Civil Rights, 11 June 1963 (American Presidency Project) ## Transcript John F. Kennedy's father wanted one son to be president. It wasn't him. Yet the second son, once given a year to live, got the job, for 1,036 days. Enough to aim America at the Moon, and help pull the world back from nuclear war. He was sick so often, his family joked: a mosquito that bit him would die. Their father's hopes were on the eldest, Joe. In the war, on a moonless night, a Japanese warship cut his boat in half. Two men died. He towed a burned sailor to an island by a strap in his teeth. Two islanders carried his message, scratched on a coconut: "Eleven alive. Need small boat." Then Joe was killed in the war, and their father pushed the second son into politics. The war hero won a seat in Congress. Then a doctor gave him about a year to live. He hid it all his life. Backed by his father's fortune, at 43 he became the youngest president ever elected. The coconut went on his desk. To beat the Soviet Union, he set a deadline to put a man on the Moon: "before this decade is out." Then spy planes found Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from Florida. For 13 days, the world stood closer to nuclear war than ever before. His generals wanted to bomb the missiles. He blocked Soviet ships at sea, and bargained in secret, until the missiles went home. In private, he admitted: "I'm not that interested in space." At home, he had been slow on equal rights. Then Americans saw dogs and fire hoses turned on Black protesters, even children. He went on television, called it "a moral issue," and asked for an equal-rights law. In Dallas, at 46, he was killed. The next summer, that law passed. In 1969, two men walked on the Moon. He set the deadline. Others kept it. ## Next, somewhere else - [Lee Kuan Yew: Too Small to Survive. Richer Than Britain.](https://mahachi.org/academy/lee-kuan-yew/index.md): In 1965 he wept because he thought Singapore could not survive alone. It grew richer per person than Britain. 15,100 km north, in Singapore - [Muammar Gaddafi: A Friend to Mandela. A Mad Dog to Reagan.](https://mahachi.org/academy/muammar-gaddafi/index.md): He beat the world’s biggest oil companies, and his government hanged students in public. Mandela called him a friend. 7,200 km east, in Libya - [Srinivasa Ramanujan: Failed College Twice. Then Cambridge Called.](https://mahachi.org/academy/srinivasa-ramanujan/index.md): Cambridge sent for a clerk who had failed college twice, and he had seven years to live. 13,400 km north-east, in India Mahachi Academy is a Mahachi Family Foundation project. https://mahachi.org/academy/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mahachiacademy TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mahachiacademy