Timeline of the John F. Kennedy presidency (1961)

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The following is a timeline of the presidency of John F. Kennedy from his inauguration as the 35th president of the United States on January 20, 1961, to December 31, 1961.

Contents

January

January 20:John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States. Jfk inauguration.jpg
January 20:John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States.
January 21:The Cabinet is sworn in by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Swearing-In Ceremony of President Kennedy's Cabinet - NARA - 194172.jpg
January 21:The Cabinet is sworn in by Chief Justice Earl Warren.

February

March

April

May

May 5: President Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, and Vice President Johnson watch the launch of Freedom 7 from the office of his secretary, Evelyn Lincoln Kennedy, Johnson, and others watching flight of Astronaut Shepard on television, 05 May 1961.jpg
May 5: President Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, and Vice President Johnson watch the launch of Freedom 7 from the office of his secretary, Evelyn Lincoln
May 25: Kennedy lays out the goal to "land a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth". Kennedy Giving Historic Speech to Congress - GPN-2000-001658.jpg
May 25: Kennedy lays out the goal to "land a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth".

June

July

August

September

October

November

Rev. Theodore Hesburgh presents the 1961 Laetare Medal to President John F. Kennedy. Fr Edmund P. Joyce to the side. Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh Delivers Remarks at the Presentation of the Laetare Medal to President John F. Kennedy.jpg
Rev. Theodore Hesburgh presents the 1961 Laetare Medal to President John F. Kennedy. Fr Edmund P. Joyce to the side.

December

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 U-2 incident</span> Cold War aircraft shootdown

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold War (1953–1962)</span> Phase of the Cold War during 1953-1962

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennedy Doctrine</span> Foreign policy doctrine

The Kennedy Doctrine refers to foreign policy initiatives of the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, towards Latin America during his administration between 1961 and 1963. Kennedy voiced support for the containment of communism as well as the reversal of communist progress in the Western Hemisphere.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy</span> President of the United States from 1961 to 1963

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, often referred to as JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress prior to his presidency.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidency of John F. Kennedy</span> U.S. presidential administration from 1961 to 1963

John F. Kennedy's tenure as the 35th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1961, and ended with his assassination on November 22, 1963. Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts, took office following his narrow victory over Republican incumbent vice president Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election. He was succeeded by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inauguration of John F. Kennedy</span> 44th United States presidential inauguration

The inauguration of John F. Kennedy as the 35th president of the United States was held on Friday, January 20, 1961, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 44th inauguration and marked the commencement of John F. Kennedy's and Lyndon B. Johnson's only term as president and vice president. Kennedy was assassinated 2 years, 306 days into this term, and Johnson succeeded to the presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American University speech</span> 1963 speech given by John F. Kennedy

The American University speech, titled "A Strategy of Peace", was a commencement address delivered by United States President John F. Kennedy at the American University in Washington, D.C., on Monday, June 10, 1963. Widely considered one of the most powerful speeches Kennedy delivered, he not only outlined a plan to curb nuclear arms, but also "laid out a hopeful, yet realistic route for world peace at a time when the U.S. and Soviet Union faced the potential for an escalating nuclear arms race." In the speech, Kennedy announced his agreement to negotiations "toward early agreement on a comprehensive test ban treaty" and also announced, for the purpose of showing "good faith and solemn convictions", his decision to unilaterally suspend all U.S. atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons as long as all other nations would do the same. Noteworthy are his comments that the United States was seeking a goal of "complete disarmament" of nuclear weapons and his vow that America "will never start a war".

The United States foreign policy during the presidency of John F. Kennedy from 1961 to 1963 included diplomatic and military initiatives in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, all conducted amid considerable Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union and its satellite states in Eastern Europe. Kennedy deployed a new generation of foreign policy experts, dubbed "the best and the brightest". In his inaugural address Kennedy encapsulated his Cold War stance: "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate".

<i>JFK and the Unspeakable</i> 2008 book by James W. Douglass

JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters is a book by theologian and Catholic Worker James W. Douglass that analyzes the presidency of John F. Kennedy as well as the events surrounding his assassination. The book is drawn from many sources, including the Warren Report. The book's central thesis is that Kennedy was a cold warrior who turned to peace-making, and that as a result he was killed by his own security apparatus.

The presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower began on January 20, 1953, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated as the 34th president of the United States, and ended on January 20, 1961.

The United States foreign policy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration, from 1953 to 1961, focused on the Cold War with the Soviet Union and its satellites. The United States built up a stockpile of nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems to deter military threats and save money while cutting back on expensive Army combat units. A major uprising broke out in Hungary in 1956; the Eisenhower administration did not become directly involved, but condemned the military invasion by the Soviet Union. Eisenhower sought to reach a nuclear test ban treaty with the Soviet Union, but following the 1960 U-2 incident the Kremlin canceled a scheduled summit in Paris.

The following is a timeline of the presidency of John F. Kennedy from January 1, 1962, to December 31, 1962.

The following is a timeline of the presidency of John F. Kennedy from January 1, 1963, to November 22, 1963, upon his assassination and death.

References

  1. United States Congress Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. "Swearing-In Ceremony for President John F. Kennedy Forty-Fourth Inaugural Ceremonies, January 20, 1961". senate.gov.
  2. Yale University Law School. "Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy". yale.edu.
  3. Whealan, Ronald E. (October 30, 2005). "January 21, 1961". John F. Kennedy Library . Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  4. David Talbot, The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government (New York: Harper Perrenial, 2015), 417.
  5. "Kennedy Signs Ike's 5 Star Commission". Chicago Tribune. March 24, 1961.
  6. Talbot, The Devil's Crossroads, 403.
  7. Talbot. The Devil's Crossroads, 409-412.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Travels of President John F. Kennedy". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  9. "NASA Langley Research Center's Contributions to the Apollo Program". Langley Research Center. November 21, 2004. Retrieved January 10, 2010. Answering President Kennedy's challenge and landing men on the moon by 1969 required the most sudden burst of technological creativity, and the largest commitment of resources ($24 billion), ever made by any nation in peacetime. At its peak, the Apollo program employed 400,000 Americans and required the support of over 20,000 industrial firms and universities.
  10. "Robert C. Seamans Jr". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. June 10, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2010. President Kennedy had been convinced that America needed to send a man to Mars and back before the decade was out. Bob [Seamans] told me the story of working three days and nights trying to put together, clearly and succinctly, the case for the President that we cannot hit that goal, we need to go to the Moon.
  11. Talbot. The Devil's Crossroads, 423-424.
  12. Talbot, The Devil's Crossroads, 426-428ff.
U.S. presidential administration timelines
Preceded by Kennedy presidency (1961) Succeeded by