John F. Kennedy's Role In Politics

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John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy was a Democratic candidate during the 1960 election against Richard Nixon. The country saw him as a young and religious man for the job. Politics and power ran in his blood, as his grandfather held the mayor position of Boston, Massachusetts for a term. Additionally, his own father, Joseph Kennedy, was an extremely successful business owner, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and U.S. ambassador to Great Britain. This provided John with the opportunity to learn under a publically successful leader. John eventually went into the military route and served 4 years in the Navy before being discharged in 1945. He received the U.S Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism during his service.

In hopes of pursuing the career his father would have wanted, John campaigned for the U.S congress in 1946. Despite using personal acquaintances for his campaign in place of the Democratic organization in Massachusetts 11th congressional district, he truly swamped his republican opponent two to one in vote count. Impressively, he was still only 29 years old when he received this position. After
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He managed to keep his image more modest by endorsing the idea that he was a strong believer in the separation of church and state. He even was daring enough to take on difficult speeches concerning the topic, even before a group of Protestant ministers. Once he had won his Democratic spot in the 1960 election, Kennedy started his impact with, “We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier.” This gave Americans a positive image while they decided who they were going to select come election time. Along with coined phrase, “the Kennedy style,” these slogans shaped the candidate in the public eye. The “Kennedy style” summarized who John F. Kennedy was as an American, but it was also a solid strategy to make it appear he knew how to reach the American