John F. Kennedy

==U.S. House of Representatives (1947–1953)==
Kennedy's elder brother Joe Jr. had been the [[Kennedy family|family's political standard-bearer]] and had been tapped by their father to seek the presidency. After Joe's death, the assignment fell to JFK as the second eldest.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=118}} Boston mayor [[Maurice J. Tobin]] discussed the possibility of John becoming his running mate in [[1946 Massachusetts gubernatorial election|1946]] as a candidate for [[Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts lieutenant governor]], but Joe Sr. preferred a congressional campaign that could send John to Washington, where he could have national visibility.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=122}}

[[File:Portrait of congressional freshman class of 1947.jpg|thumb|Kennedy (back row, second from right) and Richard Nixon (far right) participate in a radio broadcast as 1947 freshmen House members.]]
At the urging of Kennedy's father, U.S. Representative [[James Michael Curley]] vacated his seat in the strongly Democratic [[11th congressional district of Massachusetts]] to become mayor of Boston in 1946. Kennedy established legal residency at 122 Bowdoin Street across from the [[Massachusetts State House]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Kennedy|url=https://archive.org/details/kennedysorerich|url-access=registration|first=Ted|last=Sorensen|pages=[https://archive.org/details/kennedysorerich/page/21 21]|year=1965|isbn= 978-1-56852-035-3|publisher=Harper & Row}}</ref> Kennedy won the Democratic primary with 42 percent of the vote, defeating nine other candidates.<ref>{{cite book|title=Massachusetts Secretary of Commonwealth: Election Statistics 1946|url=https://archive.org/details/electionstatisti19461948mass/page/n75/mode/2up}}</ref> According to Logevall, Joe Sr. <blockquote>spent hours on the phone with reporters and editors, seeking information, trading confidences, and cajoling them into publishing puff pieces on John, ones that invariably played up his war record in the Pacific. He oversaw a professional advertising campaign that ensured ads went up in just the right places the campaign had a virtual monopoly on [[MBTA subway|[Boston] subway]] space, and on window stickers ("Kennedy for Congress") for cars and homes and was the force behind the mass mailing of Hersey's ''PT-109'' article.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Logevall |first1=Fredrik |title=JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 |date=2020 |publisher=Random House |page=424}}</ref></blockquote> Though Republicans took control of the House in the [[1946 United States House of Representatives elections|1946 elections]], Kennedy defeated his Republican opponent in the general election, taking 73 percent of the vote.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=24–26}}

Kennedy served in the House for six years, joining the influential [[Education and Labor Committee]] and the [[Veterans' Affairs Committee]]. He concentrated his attention on international affairs, supporting the [[Truman Doctrine]] as the appropriate response to the emerging [[Cold War]]. He also supported [[public housing]] and opposed the [[Labor Management Relations Act of 1947]], which restricted the power of labor unions. Though not as vocally anti-communist as [[Joseph McCarthy]], Kennedy supported the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952]], which required communists to register with the government, and he deplored the "[[loss of China]]."{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=26–29}} During a speech in [[Salem, Massachusetts]] on January 30, 1949, Kennedy denounced Truman and the State Department for contributing to the "tragic story of China whose freedom we once fought to preserve. What our young men had saved [in World War II], our diplomats and our President have frittered away."{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=160}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Remarks Of Representative John F. Kennedy At The Philip J. Durkin Testimonial Dinner, Salem, Massachusetts, January 30, 1949 |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/salem-ma-19490130 |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=June 1, 2023 |archive-date=June 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601210904/https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/salem-ma-19490130 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In November 1947, Kennedy delivered a speech in Congress supporting a $227 million aid package to Italy. He maintained that Italy was in danger from an "onslaught of the communist minority" and that the country was the "initial battleground in the communist drive to capture Western Europe."<ref>{{cite web |title=Remarks Of Representative John F. Kennedy In The House Of Representatives, Washington, D.C., November 20, 1947 |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/united-states-house-of-representatives-19471120 |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=June 3, 2023 |archive-date=June 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603060711/https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/united-states-house-of-representatives-19471120 |url-status=live }}</ref> This speech was calculated to appeal to the large Italian-American voting bloc in Massachusetts as Kennedy was beginning to position himself for statewide office. To combat Soviet efforts to take control in Middle Eastern and Asian countries like [[French Indochina|Indochina]], Kennedy wanted the United States to develop nonmilitary techniques of resistance that would not create suspicions of neoimperialism or add to the country's financial burden. The problem, as he saw it, was not simply to be anti-communist but to stand for something that these emerging nations would find appealing.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=159–165}}

Having served as a [[Scouts BSA|boy scout]] during his childhood, Kennedy was active in the [[Scouting in Massachusetts|Boston Council]] from 1946 to 1955 as district vice chairman, member of the executive board, vice-president, and National Council Representative.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy|title=Fast Facts about John F. Kennedy|website=jfklibrary.org|access-date=February 7, 2019|archive-date=July 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730085947/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyjfk.com/boy-scouts/|title=JFK John F. Kennedy boy scouts|date=January 2, 1961|access-date=April 14, 2018|archive-date=April 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414092128/http://www.dailyjfk.com/boy-scouts/|url-status=live}}</ref> Almost every weekend that Congress was in session, Kennedy would fly back to Massachusetts to give speeches to veteran, fraternal, and civic groups, while maintaining an index card file on individuals who might be helpful for a campaign for statewide office.<ref>{{cite book|title=John F. Kennedy: A Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/johnfkennedybiog00phdm|url-access=limited|first=Michael|last=Meagher|pages=[https://archive.org/details/johnfkennedybiog00phdm/page/n51 35]|year=2011|publisher=Greenwood}}</ref> Contemplating whether to run for the [[U.S. Senate]] or [[governor of Massachusetts]], Kennedy abandoned interest in the latter, believing that the governor "sat in an office, handing out sewer contracts."{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=168}}