VOLUME 'V NUMBER 30
25 JULY I960
The man that the Democratic Party has chosen to carry its standard in the
forthcoming November presidential election is Senator John F. Kennedy,
The Massachusetts Democrat is a Purple Heart veteran of the Pacific War, He
skippered a PT-boat which was cut in two by a Japanese Destroyer off the Solomon
Islands in August 1943, LT(jg) Kennedy and his crew spent hours in the water
before reaching a tiny atoll where they spent five days surrounded by the enemy,
'In 311 honesty," said one member of that crew recently* "The survivors owe
their lives to him. Never, at any time, did he lose control of himself or get
•hook up,
W Kennedy was cited by the Navy for this action. Today he is medically re
tired with Lieutenant's rank.
Born May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Mass,, a suburb of Boston, he was the sec
ond of nine children. He is the son of Joseph P. Kennedy, U. S. Ambassador to
3reat Britain under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Before throwing his hat in the ring for the 1960 election, Kennedy had a
degree of political experience that belies his youthful appearance. Massachusetts
sent him to the House of Representatives three times and to the Senate twice.
A graduate of Harvard, he was only 23 when he published a best-selling book,
"Why England Slept. A later best-seller by Kennedy, "Profiles in Courage, a col
lection of essays on acts of political courage by senators, won a Pulitzer Prize
for biography.
Kennedy is widely traveled. After his discharge from the Navy in 1945 he
served as a correspondent for the International News Service, covering the San
Francisco Conference, the British election of that year, and the Potsdam Confer
ence.
He was married to Jacqueline Bouvier in Sept. 1953. Their daughter Caroline
was born in 1957. The Kennedys live in Hyanis Port on Cape Cod, Mass.,and when .in
Washington, in the Georgetown Section.
The Sun will provide a portrait of the Republican Candidate at a later date.