American Experience

Out of the military, Jack begins a career as a journalist, reporting on the charter for the new United Nations in San Francisco and on the British Parliament.

Joe Sr. buys Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, the largest privately-owned building in the world.

Robert F. Kennedy begins a tour of duty aboard the U.S.S. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.

Jack announces that he will run for Massachusetts' 11th Congressional district seat, left vacant by once-again-mayor James Michael Curley. His grandfather, John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, who held the seat a half-century earlier, campaigns with him. Once Kennedy wins the primary, he is a shoo-in for the seat in Democratic Boston. He will represent his district for the next six years.

Kathleen is killed in a plane crash over southern France.

Jack becomes ill in London. He is diagnosed with Addison's disease, a hormonal disorder that causes fatigue and compromises the immune system.

Robert Kennedy graduates from Harvard College and enters law school at the University of Virginia.

John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald dies.

Robert Kennedy marries Ethel Skakel.

Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy enters Harvard College.

Ted is caught cheating on an exam and is expelled from Harvard. He enlists in the Army and will serve for the next 16 months.

Kathleen Hartington Kennedy is born to Robert and Ethel. She is Joe and Rose's first grandchild. Robert and Ethel will have 10 more children.

Jack wins a place in the United States Senate, unseating the descendant of a Boston Brahmin family, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Jack’s brother Robert manages the campaign.

Robert Kennedy becomes assistant counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations chaired by Joseph McCarthy.

Eunice Kennedy marries Robert Sargent Shriver Jr.

Jack marries Jacqueline Bouvier.

Jack nearly dies during a major spinal operation. A second operation, four months later, will also have complications. During his convalescence, he will write Profiles in Courage, published in 1956.

Patricia Kennedy marries Peter Lawford.

Jean Ann Kennedy marries Stephen Edward Smith.

Ted graduates from Harvard and enrolls in the University of Virginia Law School.

Adlai Stevenson throws the choice of a running mate to the Democratic convention. Senator Kennedy is a candidate, but Estes Kefauver is chosen.

Jacqueline Kennedy gives birth prematurely to a stillborn daughter. Jack is in France.

Profiles in Courage wins the Pulitzer Prize for biography.
The Senate Rackets Committee investigates organized labor. Jack Kennedy is a member; Robert Kennedy is the chief counsel.
As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jack Kennedy argues for the independence of Algeria from France.

Daughter Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is born to Jacqueline and Jack Kennedy.

Jack is re-elected to the Senate.

Jack announces his candidacy for the presidency. The viability of a Catholic candidate is tested in state primaries throughout the year.

Jack Kennedy wins the nomination for president at the Democratic convention in Los Angeles.

Kennedy debates Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the first of four televised meetings.

John F. Kennedy is elected the 35th president of the U.S. He is the youngest president ever to be elected -- and the first Roman Catholic.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. is born to Jacqueline and Jack Kennedy.

Joe Kennedy insists that Robert F. Kennedy be given a cabinet appointment; Robert is named attorney general.In his inaugural address, Jack Kennedy urges Americans, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

At a time of deep Cold War fears, Jack is counseled on a counterinsurgency plan against Fidel Castro’s Communist government in Cuba.

President Kennedy signs into law the creation of the Peace Corps.

The U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba is a failure.

President Kennedy announces his goal to land a man on the moon and return him to earth before the end of the decade, and before the Soviets do.

President Kennedy meets Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna. The meeting ends badly.

The Soviets build a dividing wall in the German city of Berlin.

Joe Sr. suffers a stroke. He is paralyzed and will remain unable to speak for the last eight years of his life.

Ted resigns as assistant district attorney in Suffolk County and announces his candidacy for his brother Jack's unexpired Senate seat.

At President Kennedy's 45th birthday party at Madison Square Garden, Marilyn Monroe sings a breathless "Happy Birthday" to the president.

James Meredith, the first black student to enroll, arrives at the University of Mississippi. Local protesters stridently oppose school desegregation. On orders of attorney general Robert Kennedy, three hundred federal marshals accompany Meredith; a deadly riot breaks out.

The discovery of Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba engulfs the presidency in crisis. After numerous rounds of public and private diplomacy, the Cuban Missile Crisis is resolved. The Soviets will remove their missiles, and the United States will remove similar missiles from Turkey in the near future.

The people of Massachusetts elect Ted Kennedy to the U.S. Senate.

President Kennedy calls for a moratorium on nuclear weapons tests.Kennedy gives a national television address on civil rights.

A third child, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, is born to the President and First Lady; he will live only two days.

Robert Kennedy declares his candidacy for a U.S. Senate seat for New York held by Republican Kenneth Keating. He will resign as attorney general weeks later.

President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson takes the oath of office on Air Force One.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren chairs a commission established to investigate the death of President Kennedy.

Senator Ted Kennedy's back is broken in a plane crash that kills his aide and the pilot.

The Warren Commission report concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy.

Pursuit of Justice by Robert Kennedy is published.

Lyndon Johnson is elected president; Robert Kennedy is elected to the Senate.

Patricia Kennedy divorces Peter Lawford.