http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9c0w7vRJXE

Senator John F. Kennedy announces he is running for President of the United States at a press conference on January 3, 1960. In the press conference, Kennedy is asked if he does not get the nomination if he would consider being a Vice Presidential candidate.  Kennedy responded that he would not, but would rather return to serving as Senator from Massachusetts.  Kennedy was elected the 39th President of the United States on November 9, 1961 defeating Vice President Richard M. Nixon in one of the closest U.S. Presidential races of the 20th Century

The post John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy Announces His Run for President appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHazLBTZUEs

On the evening of February 6, 1962, Press Secretary Pierre Salinger was asked by President Kennedy to track down and purchase 1,000 Cuban cigars “by tomorrow morning”. The next day when Salinger entered the Oval Office and gave President Kennedy the 1,200 Cuban cigars he had procured, he recalls: “He opens up his desk drawer and he pulls out the decree banning all Cuban products from the United States and signs it.” Later that year, Salinger would travel to Russia to met with Soviet leader Khrushchev, who gifted him 250 Cuban cigars. Salinger decided to try and get through customs with the cigars. When he told President Kennedy what he had brought back from Russia, Salinger says that Kennedy instructed him: “Do you realize the scandal there would be in this country if people found out about it? You’ve gotta get rid of these cigars. You’ve got to go to the head of US Customs and turn them over to him and he’s got to write a letter saying that he’s got them, because otherwise we’re going to be in deep trouble.”

The post John F. Kennedy
President Kennedy, Cigars, and The Cuban Embargo appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niN-eCcRUBQ

“I speak to you tonight in a spirit of hope”. On July 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy addressed the nation regarding the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, also known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty. Explaining the treaty, he says: “Negotiations were concluded in Moscow on a treaty to ban all nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and underwater. For the first time an agreement has been reached on bringing the forces of nuclear destruction under international control”. While expressing optimism, President Kennedy also notes the treaty’s shortcomings: “The treaty is a limited treaty which permits continued underground testing, and prohibits only those tests that we ourselves can police”. A nation could also withdraw from the treaty in times of war, or if events had “jeopardized its extreme interest”.

The post Cold War
President John F. Kennedy on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QazmVHAO0os

On September 26, 1960, John F. Kennedy–a young senator from Massachusetts at the time–and
Vice President Richard Nixon squared off in a hour-long debate–the first-ever televised presidential debate. While Kennedy looked confident, healthy and dapper; Nixon seemed sickly and underweight from a recent hospitalization. Approximately 74 million viewers noticed the difference. The debate rocketed Kennedy into the electoral spotlight and solidified the important role of television in politics. When Kennedy won the presidential election in November of 1960, he was reported to have said, “It was the TV more than anything else that turned the tide.”

The post John F. Kennedy
Televised Presidential Debate Between JFK & Nixon appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-GUJIi7OEM

Mimi Alfred, former intern for the press secretary’s office during John F. Kennedy’s presidential term, reveals details about her 18-month affair with JFK that occurred when she was just 19 years old. Mimi, now 68, says that she finally decided to share the secret because she wanted to unburden herself from the memories. Alfred also wrote a book about the experience titled “Once Upon a Secret.” In this video, Alfred explains how she ended up getting the internship at the White House and the events leading up to the affair. She gives precise details about having the president’s right-hand-man, Dave Powers, invite her to a few events that JFK was planning to attend, as well as being invited personally by the president to go on a private tour of the second floor of the White House and into a bedroom that ended up being First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s. Alfred also remembers being shocked as she was unable to “thwart” the intentions of the powerful and famous president.

The post John F. Kennedy
Losing Her Virginity to President Kennedy appeared first on Witnify.

Author: Lloyd Stableford

“The whole thing seemed like a tremendous fairy tale, a fantasy, out of the realm of believability…”

NOTE: I, Lloyd Stableford, was a senior at the College of William and Mary, pursuing political science as a major. The words that follow are the actual words I wrote on my Royal typewriter in my dorm room during the fateful hours following John F. Kennedy’s assassination:

College of William and Mary in Virginia. Source: Karen McCluney, Creative Commons.

It is now 30 hours since the fatal shooting of the president of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Here, at the College of William and Mary, all is relatively quiet. The sky is still overcast after a mid afternoon drizzle and the air is turning cool.

It was about ten minutes to two in the afternoon when I first heard that the president had been wounded in Texas. It seemed at first completely out of reality; there was no rhyme or reason to these horrible words. Several people in the hall gathered about repeating the news. The air was one of excitement and amazement, and of alarm. As I raced down the steps to call the local paper for some confirmation, I saw a girl hurrying up with mouth agape and fear in her eyes. There was no chance to get to a phone, and since the class bell was ringing, I returned to the classroom. Now the accounts of various persons filled the air:

“He has been shot in the head!”

“Governor Connally also!”

“I don’t believe it!”

“It cannot be true!”

By this time, someone had gotten a radio and students gathered around it. The professor walked in with a blank stare in his eyes that I cannot forget. It looked as if he could not see, only an indefinable space. The radio blared through the static. The announcer in a deep voice with quick-paced words was giving the facts of the shooting. It was here that I came to the realization that I was not in an unreal, strange world. I had up to this time clung to the hope that it was a false rumor, and that if it were true, the wound was superficial. But the radio report brought it all to a stark realization.

JFK in his motorcade driving the city of Dallas, Texas minutes before the assassination. (November 22, 1963). Source: Walt Cisco, Dallas Morning News, Creative Commons.

The room was quiet, sullen, and the drawn shades darkened it. It was now around 2:15 p.m. All the sparse news of before was being filled in. An unidentified assailant had shot President Kennedy while in a motor cavalcade. In the same car rode the governor of the state of Texas, John B. Connally, who also was wounded. The two had been rushed to a nearby Dallas hospital. The two were reported in serious conditions. Two priests were giving the last rites to the President.

Up to this time I had sat in my chair virtually incredulous. The students in the room sat still with heads bowed. The professor embraced his head in his arms, from time to time looking without seeing around the room. I clenched my fists, bit my fingernails and bowed my head in prayer. “Please help him Lord, please have him live.” For now, although still not real for me, I became aware of the possibility of death.

Confused reports were coming in over the radio. Then, there was a momentary silence. Suddenly, the announcer broke in and slowly spoke, “Ladies and Gentlemen…” I believe all in that room looked, staring at the radio, transfixed, not really seeing. I think they all knew what was about to be said: “..The president of the United States is dead.”

I said softly to myself in disbelief, “No!” The classroom slowly emptied. Students were stunned and teary-eyed.

I only can vaguely recall my own reflections. I repeated again and again that it was all too implausible. The announcement of the death caused a chill to run completely through me. It was a quick feeling, over before it started. But the memory of it remains.

The walk back to the dorm was long. I listened to the radio. I sat slumped in a chair, not knowing what to do. I was stunned. I could not believe it. What could one say?

The event, obviously, took all by surprise. For myself, I had no knowledge that President Kennedy was even in Texas. The whole thing seemed like a tremendous fairy tale, a fantasy, out of the realm of believability.

JFK being sworn in as president during his inauguration in which he gave his famous inauguration speech: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” (January 20, 1961). Source: Creative Commons.

At the present time, some 30 hours later, the event, which has been repeated again and again over the mass media, causes those who still don’t believe to involuntarily face the realities of the situation. I know that although I still cannot comprehend the magnitude or immensity of the fatal happenings, there is no excuse for it. What is hard to believe is that in America, in the United States of America, where one can go about in freedom and in peace, this ugly thing can happen in our midst. No matter what one thought of President Kennedy, all people all over the world must unite in mourning. They will, at least pay tribute to his courage. He was a man that had a friendly and ready smile, a real warmth about him.

Although he is dead, I am sure he will live on. I only hope that his belief in his fellow man, his ardent desire for peace and his hope for the future will now become the goals of those who follow. His desired world is the world where all men are brothers. His desired world must be the world which all of us must dedicate ourselves.

The words that I will always remember, which President Kennedy spoke not too long ago at his inauguration are the words I hope all Americans will remember now: “And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

The post Assassination of John F. Kennedy
[Text] Remembering JFK’s Assassination and His ‘Desired World’ appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evGdoRrFkOs

In an interview from 2008, well-known American speechwriter, Ted Sorensen, discusses what has changed in the craft of speechwriting since he worked for John F. Kennedy. Sorensen says his access to President Kennedy and ability to even influence policy-making allowed him to pen good speeches for the president–such as the “Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You” speech. He believes speechwriting is a “noble profession” and describes what makes a speech a great speech: “Short sentences.”

The post John F. Kennedy
JFK’s Speechwriter Ted Sorensen on Crafting Political Rhetoric appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y74oWon5VTo

Hear Marilyn Monroe’s iconic very happy birthday to JFK>  Actress and singer Marilyn Monroe is filmed while singing “Happy Birthday” to John F. Kennedy in Madison Square Garden ten days before the president’s 45th birthday. After the performance, Kennedy comes on stage thanking Monroe and claims that he can “now retire from politics.”

The post John F. Kennedy
JFK’s Very Happy Birthday appeared first on Witnify.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy on Friday, November 22, 1963 shocked the nation. JFK was riding in a presidential motorcade with First Lady Jackie Onassis, the governor of Texas, and the governor’s wife when he was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald.

Scroll through the photo gallery to relive the history.

The post Assassination of John F. Kennedy
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJrX-JSUcEI

President Kennedy speaks at Amherst College on October 26, 1963 to honor poet Robert Frost, who died on January 29, 1963. Kennedy speaks about the message behind Frost’s poetry and explains what lessons we should take away from his work.

The post John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy’s Speech Honoring Robert Frost After His Death appeared first on Witnify.