John Fitzgerald Kennedy (29 May 1917 - 22 November 1963) was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 20 January 1961 until his assassination on 22 November 1963. A Democrat from Massachusetts, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1947-1953) and Senate (1953-1961) before his presidency, and was the youngest person elected to the office and the first Roman Catholic president. His presidency coincided with a tense phase of the Cold War, and his death in Dallas, Texas, remains a subject of ongoing dispute regarding the number and identity of those responsible; see john-f-kennedy-assassination-viewpoint-debate and john-f-kennedy-history.
Kennedy's term was dominated by Cold War crises and the early Civil Rights Movement. His administration saw a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961, and in October 1962 the discovery of Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba touched off the Cuban Missile Crisis, which carried a risk of nuclear war before ending in a negotiated withdrawal. In June 1961 Kennedy met Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna, where the two failed to resolve the status of Berlin, and construction of the Berlin Wall followed weeks later. Kennedy also increased U.S. military advisers in South Vietnam and authorized the Strategic Hamlet Program, expanding American involvement in the region. Domestically, the economy expanded at an average annual rate of 5.5 percent from early 1961 to late 1963, with unemployment falling from nearly 7 percent to 5.5 percent. Kennedy proposed civil rights legislation and federal action on poverty that were largely enacted after his death. He also set the goal of a crewed Moon landing and launched the Peace Corps and Alliance for Progress. Historians and the public continue to debate the comparative weight of his foreign-policy record, his civil-rights legacy, and his personal conduct; see john-f-kennedy-legacy-viewpoint-debate.
For Kennedy's early life, military service, and political rise before the presidency, see john-f-kennedy-history.