John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard in 1940 and served in the navy during World War II. Upon his return to Massachusetts, he was elected a Democratic congressman. In 1953 he was elected senator. He won the Pulitzer Prize in history in 1955 for Profiles in Courage. In 1960 he narrowly defeated Richard Nixon to become the first Catholic president of the United States, and the youngest person to hold that office. Kennedy took action in support of the civil rights movement and called for new civil rights legislation. Kennedy also instituted the Alliance for Progress and the Peace Corps. On November 22, 1963, he was killed by an assassin in Dallas, Texas.

Source:
"Past Presidents: John F. Kennedy." The White House. http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jk35.html. 11 February, 2005.