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Presidents Theme
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____, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated after less than three years in office. He was the youngest man elected president; he was the youngest to die. The son of Joseph P. ____ and Rose Fitzgerald ____, he and his siblings received trust funds that guaranteed lifelong financial independence. After graduating from Harvard University, ____ joined the United States Navy. While he was in the South Pacific his PT boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer. Although he was badly injured himself, he led the survivors through dangerous waters to safety. He returned from the war a hero and became first a Democratic Congressman and then a Senator. He married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier who was a very valuable asset to his political career. While recuperating from back surgery, he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in history. In 1960 he was nominated for President. During the campaign a series of debates was held on television between ____ and the Republican candidate, Richard M. Nixon. His youthful, vital appearance and self-confidence contrasted sharply with Nixon's haggard face and obvious nervousness. He won the election by a narrow margin in the popular vote and became the first Roman Catholic president. His inaugural address was memorable for the words, "Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country." His economic programs were intended to expand the American economy and make sure that the basic needs of all its people were met. He was a firm advocate of civil rights and called for legislation to guarantee equal rights to all Americans. He believed that the United States should lead in aiding developing nations and established the Peace Corps and the Alliance for Progress. Shortly after his inauguration, ____ permitted a band of armed and trained Cuban exiles to invade their homeland. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failure. Every man on the beach was either killed or captured. When Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev ordered the building of the Berlin Wall and threatened to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany, President ____ responded by calling up National Guard and reserve units. Khrushchev backed down on his separate peace threat. The Soviet Union relaxed its pressure in central Europe but began to install nuclear weapons in Cuba. When this was discovered, President ____ quarantined the island and refused passage to any ships carrying offensive weapons to Cuba. After a nerve-wracking confrontation, the Russians backed down and agreed to take the missiles away. ____'s greatest foreign triumph was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty between the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States. President ____ committed the United States to landing a man on the moon, an achievement he did not live to see. An extremely popular president, both home and abroad, President ____ was involved in encouraging physical fitness, improving the morale of government workers, and beautifying Washington, D. C. His wife joined him in bringing American culture to the White House. The charm and optimism of the President and his family caused journalist Theodore White to call the White House Camelot-the magical court of King Arthur and his knights. On Friday, November 22, 1963, President ____ was in downtown Dallas, Texas, riding with his wife, Governor Connally of Texas, and Senator Yarborough in an open limousine. He was struck by two rifle bullets and was pronounced dead upon arrival at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of the assassination. Although a special commission was appointed to investigate President ____'s death, there are lingering doubts, controversy, and speculation about what actually happened.
Harry Truman
John F. Kennedy
James Monroe
Richard M. Nixon
Abraham Lincoln
Lyndon B. Johnson
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