Thirty-Fifth President  1961-1963
President John F. Kennedy
On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, John
Fitzgerald Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullets as his motorcade wound through Dallas,
Texas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President; he was the youngest to die.

Of Irish descent, he was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. Graduating from
Harvard in 1940, he entered the Navy. In 1943, when his PT boat was rammed and sunk by a
Japanese destroyer, Kennedy, despite grave injuries, led the survivors through perilous waters to
safety.

Back from the war, he became a Democratic Congressman from the Boston area, advancing in
1953 to the Senate. He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953. In 1955, while
recuperating from a back operation, he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in
history.

In 1956 Kennedy almost gained the Democratic nomination for Vice President, and four years
later was a first-ballot nominee for President. Millions watched his television debates with the
Republican candidate, Richard M. Nixon. Winning by a narrow margin in the popular vote,
Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic President.

I was in Fifth Grade in 1963 when he was assassinated.
The Aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy on which my Uncle Chris Morgan was stationed in the early 1970's.
Christened on May 27, 1967 by President Kennedy's 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, JFK entered active service on
September 7, 1968. During the early 70's that JFK made a number of deployments to the Mediterranean Sea.  JFK
was decommissioned in March 2007 after several tours in the Persian Gulf during both Iraq Wars.
In June of 1963, President John F. Kennedy embarked on a visit to five Western
European nations for the purpose of spreading good will and building unity among
America's allies.

His first stop was Germany, a nation that less than 20 years before had been
engaged in a quest for world conquest under the dictatorship of Hitler. Following
Germany's defeat in the Second World War, the country had been divided in half, with
East Germany under Soviet control and West Germany becoming a democratic
nation.

President Kennedy arrived in Berlin on June 26, 1963, following appearances in
Bonn, Cologne and Frankfurt, where he had given speeches to huge, wildly cheering
crowds. In Berlin, an immense crowd gathered in the Rudolph Wilde Platz near the
Berlin Wall to listen to the President who delivered this memorable speech above all
the noise, concluding with the now famous ending.
Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis
Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest
boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."
A Journey Home: John F. Kennedy in Ireland
His June 26-29 1963 state visit to the country of his
forbears,  to the people of Ireland.

President Kennedy relished his Irish heritage, and during
his historic visit to Ireland remarked to the people of
Limerick, “This is not the land of my birth but it is the
land for which I hold the greatest affection.”

The President’s eight great-grandparents all migrated to
Boston, Massachusetts during the devastating Potato
Famine of the late 1840’s. By the end of the century, both
of President Kennedy’s grandfathers had become
successful Boston politicians. Patrick J. Kennedy was a
tavern owner and later a banker who served in both
Houses of the Massachusetts Legislature and was the
political "boss” of a ward in Boston. John F. ("Honey Fitz")
Fitz­gerald, a colorful politician who served in the
Massachusetts State Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives, was also mayor of Boston for three
terms.
In remarks to the people of New Ross, County Wexford on June 27, 1963,
President Kennedy spoke of his treasured ancestry:

“When my great grandfather left here [in 1848] to become a
cooper in East Boston, he carried nothing with him except
two things: a strong religious faith and a strong desire for
liberty. I am glad to say that all of his great-grandchildren
have valued that inheritance.”
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy with
Willy Brandt, 23. February 1962 in Berlin
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also called RFK, was one of two younger brothers of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and served as
United States Attorney General from 1961 to 1964. He was one of President Kennedy's most trusted advisors and worked closely with the president during the Cuban
Missile Crisis. His contribution to the African-American Civil Rights Movement is sometimes considered his greatest legacy. After his brother's assassination in late 1963,
Kennedy continued as Attorney General under President Johnson for nine months. He resigned in September 1964 and was elected to the United States Senate from New
York that November. He broke with Johnson over the Vietnam War and after Eugene McCarthy nearly upset Johnson in the New Hampshire Primary in early 1968 Kennedy
announced his own campaign for president. It was a battle for control of the Democratic Party. Kennedy defeated McCarthy in the critical California primary but was
assassinated moments after claiming victory. On June 9, 1968, President Johnson declared an official day of national mourning in response to the public grief following
Kennedy's death.
On April 4, 1968 Robert Kennedy learned of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
and gave a heartfelt, impromptu speech in Indianapolis' inner city, in which Kennedy
called for a reconciliation between the races. Riots broke out in 60 cities in the wake of
King's death, but not Indianapolis, a fact many attribute to the effect of this speech.
In April 1968 I went with our pastor, Fr. Cloud Billeg, OFM, to the memorial march in St. Louis
in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King.  I was in my Freshman year at Prep South when they were
both assassinated in 1968.
The election of the first Roman Catholic President of the United States, who went
to both Ireland and to the divided Germany, had  a great impact upon my life.
Another major influence upon my
development as a Catholic youth, was
the excitement and reform brought to
the Church, by Pope John XXIII.
Blessed Pope John XXIII (Latin: Ioannes PP. XXIII), (Italian:
Giovanni XXIII), born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (November
25, 1881 – June 3, 1963), was elected as the 261st Pope of
the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City on
October 28, 1958. He called the Second Vatican Council
(1962-1965) but did not live to see it to completion, dying on
June 3, 1963 two months after the completion of his final
encyclical, Pacem in Terris. He was beatified on September
3, 2000, along with Pope Pius IX, the first popes since Pope
St. Pius X to receive this honour.
Jacqueline Kennedy at her audience with
Pope John XXIII, the Vatican, March 11, 1962
June 6, 1968 Los Angeles, California
The Berlin Wall (Berlin Mauer)
was erected in 1961.
Kennedy, Brandt, Adenauer
Dedication of RFK portrait in U.S. Department of Justice 11-19-2001
With French President Charles de Gaulle June of 1963
With Astronaut John Glenn
In NYC for 1960 Presidential Campaign
American troops during the Revolutionary War and 9 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of
Independence were Irish Americans.

The United States had six presidents before an Irish descendant came to the White House. That
was Andrew Jackson, whose parents, Andrew Jackson and Elizabeth Hutchinson, were born in
Carrickfergus, County Antrim. His father's father, Hugh Jackson, died in Ireland about 1782. His
great grandfather, Thomas Jackson, was from Ballyregan in Dundonald, County Down.

James K. Polk, the 11th president, believed his great-grandfather, William Polk, came from County
Donegal and that his great-great grandfather, Robert Pollock, came from the same county. Pollock
immigrated to Maryland's Eastern Shore and changed his name to Polk.

The father of the 15th president, James Buchanan, was born in County Donegal about 1761.

The mother of the 18th president, Ulysses S. Grant, was the granddaughter of John Simpson, who
was born in Northern Ireland about 1738.

The great-great-great grandfather of the 25th president, William McKinley, was born in Ireland in
1705 and immigrated to America.

The grandfather of the 28th president, Woodrow Wilson, was born in Strabane, County Down, in
1787.

John F. Kennedy, the 35th president, probably relished his Irish heritage as much as any president.
His father's great-grandparents were Patrick Kennedy, born in Dunganstown, County Wexford, about
1823, and Bridget Murphy, born in Owenduff, County Wexford, about 1827. His mother's great
grandparents were Thomas Fitzgerald, born in Bruff, County Limerick, in 1823, and Rose Anna Cox,
born in County Cavan in 1835.

As recent books have shown, Kennedy and the 37th president, Richard M. Nixon, actually had a
secret liking for each other, even though they fought each other for the presidency -- possibly
because they shared an Irish heritage. Nixon was descended from James Moore, who was born in
Ballymoney, County Antrim, in 1777. Another ancestor, Thomas Milhous, was born in Carrickfergus,
County Antrim, in 1699.

Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th President of the United States. His great-grandfather, Michael Reagan,
is believed to be from County Tipperary, Ireland and possibly is the Michael Reagan (or Ryan)
baptized there in Ballyporeen  3 September 1829, and being the one who immigrated to the U.S. via
Canada ca 1858. His wife, Catherine Mulcahey, was also born in Ireland. Reagan's other identified
Irish ancestors include: Patrick Cusick, b. ca 1825, Patrick Mulcahey, and (possibly) Sarah Higgins,
the wife of Patrick Cusick; she was born ca 1825 in Ireland or New York.

William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President of the United States.
Two of his great-great-grandparents (the parents of his great-grandmother, Hattie Hayes)
supposedly were born in Ireland, although there is conflicting information. Additionally, some
sources say Hattie Hayes was born at sea, while others say she was born in Florida; and the date of
her birth varies from 1852 to 1858.

George H. and George W. Bush, 41st and 43rd President of the United States, are descendants of
Strongbow, the power-hungry warlord who led the Norman invasion of Ireland thus heralding 800
years of mutual misery. With a long line of Scots Irish presidents including Woodrow Wilson, the
Irish are normally quick to claim US leaders as their own. Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke -
known as Strongbow for his arrow skills - is remembered as a desperate, land-grabbing warlord
whose calamitous foreign adventure led to the suffering of generations. Shunned by Henry II, he
offered his services as a mercenary in the 12th-century invasion of Wexford in exchange for power
and land. When he eventually died of a festering ulcer in his foot, his enemies said it was the
revenge of Irish saints whose shrines he had violated.

Signers of the Declaration of Independence with Irish Ancestors
•        Charles Carroll
•        Thomas Lynch
•        Thomas McKean
•        George Read
•        Edward Rutledge
•        James Smith
•        George Taylor (born in Ireland)
•        Matthew Thornton (born in Ireland)
German American Presidents

Many presidents of the United States have had some German ancestry; however, there have
only been two presidents of primarily German heritage: Dwight Eisenhower (original family
name Eisenhauer) and Herbert Hoover (original family name Huber).
General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, appointed 20 Dec 44. Deceased Mar 69.
Home Town: Laclede, Missouri September 13, 1860
General of the Armies of the United States is the highest
possible land-based rank in the United States military
hierarchy, equal to a Generalissimo. The rank of General
of the Armies has only been bestowed twice in the
history of the United States Army and only once in an
active duty capacity. The rank is superior to that of
General of the Army (note the difference between the
singular and the plural of the two ranks).

The only people in United States history to hold the title
General of the Armies were John J. Pershing, who held
the official title "General of the Armies" and,
posthumously, George Washington, who was appointed
to the official title of "General of the Armies of the United
States".
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, appointed effective 19 Dec 44. Deceased Feb 66.
Eisenhower with Mamie on steps of St.
Mary's University of San Antonio where he
coached football while being stationed at
Fort Sam Houston, Tx.
Eisenhower, Truman and Hoover
wife, Elizabeth von Jagvodin. He entered the Prussian army in 1746 as lance-corporal. Major Friederich von
Steuben became a general staff officer and aide-de-camp to Frederick the Great in 1761 during the Seven Years'
War and was wounded in battle on the Russian front. After the demobilization of 1763, he secured the post of
Grand Marshall in the court of the Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. In 1769 he was awarded the Order of
Fidelity, an honorary knighthood, by the Margrave of Baden. French War Minister, Count de St. Germain, introduced
Steuben offered his services "as a Volunteer" to the American Congress in December 1777 and is best
remembered for organizing and training the Continental troops at Valley Forge. He was commissioned
Inspector-General on May 5, 1778. He retired from military service in March 1784. Major-General Baron von
Steuben died at Remsen, Oneida County, New York, on November 28, 1794.
In a sense, General Steuben is the "Father of the American Military." The training and organization he brought to
the army contributed substantially however discreetly to the final victory. In kitchen terms, he was the yeast that
made the bread rise.
The U.S. Revolutionary War hero - General von Steuben from Germany.
Steuben in Valley Forge drilling his guard, who then trained the other militia and regulars.
Mary (Ludwig) Hays McCauley,
known as “Molly Pitcher,” heroine
at Battle of Monmouth
JFK, Truman, Eisenhower, LBJ at
Eleanor Roosevelts funeral 1962
The Blue Dogs are a coalition of
like-minded Democrats whose primary
mission is to promote fiscally responsible
budget reforms and accountability for
taxpayer dollars. The Blue Dog Coalition
was formed in 1994 during the 104th
Congress to give more conservative
members from the Democratic Party a
unified voice. The Blue Dogs are viewed by
some as a continuation of the socially
conservative wing of the Democratic Party
made prominent during the presidencies
of Lyndon Johnson and Harry S. Truman,
whom many in the Blue-Dog movement
consider to be the first two Blue Dog
presidents. Blue Dogs seek to promote
positions which bridge the gap between
ideological extremes.
JFK at NYU in 1960