the mosaic that made up JFK
Overcoming adversity
Much of his childhood was spent battling scarlet fever, whooping cough, measles,
chicken pox, German measles, bronchitis and asthma. Despite his physical problems,
he did his best to compete and always tried to match his older brother successes.
Inspired by his father
His teachers thought he was intelligent, but his grades were poor. He hooked up
with friends who looked for trouble and avoided schoolwork as much as possible.
Finally the school had enough and called in his father and threatened expulsion.
Jack feared his father would react angrily, but instead he told him he believed in
him and that he had the ability and intelligence, but it was time to put it to use.
No substitute for hard work
As a teenager, he contracted hepatitis, a disease of the liver and had to take a
leave from school. When he was released from the hospital, his parents decided a
summer in Arizona would help him regain his strength. His father got him a job at a
cattle ranch near the Mexican border. His job required long horseback rides along
the boundaries of the 43,000 acre ranch to keep the barbed wire in repair. The
grueling hard work helped him regain his strength.
Driven by competition
His father was very competitive, and told his nine children that coming in second
was unacceptable. Once the brothers were in a sailing race, and when the younger
Ted refused to follow an order, his brothers threw him overboard. His father loved
football and encouraged the boys to compete. His brother Joe made the Varsity at
Harvard, but Jack did not. They said he was talented on offense, but at 150
pounds he was simply overmatched physically. Jack went on to graduate from
Harvard, become Senator of Massachusetts, and ultimately the youngest President
of the United States.
Leadership, charisma, and powers of persuasion
Among his most inspiring moments, at the dawn of the space program, when the
United States had fallen almost hopelessly behind the Soviets, he declared his vision
of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. What was then
incomprehensible now seems routine. Among his many other memorable
accomplishments were the establishment of the Peace Corps, and standing up to
the Soviet Leader Khrushchev in the Cuban Missile Crisis. His courage and
instincts about people enabled him to NOT take the offensive and give the
powerful Soviet Leader room to back out of the stalemate with dignity before it
escalated into nuclear war.
Overcoming adversity
Much of his childhood was spent battling scarlet fever, whooping cough, measles,
chicken pox, German measles, bronchitis and asthma. Despite his physical problems,
he did his best to compete and always tried to match his older brother successes.
Inspired by his father
His teachers thought he was intelligent, but his grades were poor. He hooked up
with friends who looked for trouble and avoided schoolwork as much as possible.
Finally the school had enough and called in his father and threatened expulsion.
Jack feared his father would react angrily, but instead he told him he believed in
him and that he had the ability and intelligence, but it was time to put it to use.
No substitute for hard work
As a teenager, he contracted hepatitis, a disease of the liver and had to take a
leave from school. When he was released from the hospital, his parents decided a
summer in Arizona would help him regain his strength. His father got him a job at a
cattle ranch near the Mexican border. His job required long horseback rides along
the boundaries of the 43,000 acre ranch to keep the barbed wire in repair. The
grueling hard work helped him regain his strength.
Driven by competition
His father was very competitive, and told his nine children that coming in second
was unacceptable. Once the brothers were in a sailing race, and when the younger
Ted refused to follow an order, his brothers threw him overboard. His father loved
football and encouraged the boys to compete. His brother Joe made the Varsity at
Harvard, but Jack did not. They said he was talented on offense, but at 150
pounds he was simply overmatched physically. Jack went on to graduate from
Harvard, become Senator of Massachusetts, and ultimately the youngest President
of the United States.
Leadership, charisma, and powers of persuasion
Among his most inspiring moments, at the dawn of the space program, when the
United States had fallen almost hopelessly behind the Soviets, he declared his vision
of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. What was then
incomprehensible now seems routine. Among his many other memorable
accomplishments were the establishment of the Peace Corps, and standing up to
the Soviet Leader Khrushchev in the Cuban Missile Crisis. His courage and
instincts about people enabled him to NOT take the offensive and give the
powerful Soviet Leader room to back out of the stalemate with dignity before it
escalated into nuclear war.
