John F. Kennedy

==U.S. Senate (1953–1960)==
{{See also|1952 United States Senate election in Massachusetts|1958 United States Senate election in Massachusetts}}
[[File:JFK 52MA Senate.png|thumb|400px|Campaign slogan for Kennedy's 1952 U.S. Senate campaign in Massachusetts]]

As early as 1949, Kennedy began preparing to run for the Senate in [[1952 United States Senate election in Massachusetts|1952]] against Republican three-term incumbent [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]] with the campaign slogan "KENNEDY WILL DO ''MORE'' FOR MASSACHUSETTS".{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=254}} Joe Sr. again financed his son's candidacy (persuading the ''[[The Boston Post|Boston Post]]'' to switch its support to Kennedy by promising the publisher a $500,000 loan),{{sfn|Giglio|2006|p=9}} while John's younger brother [[Robert F. Kennedy|Robert]] emerged as campaign manager.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=29–31}} Kennedy's mother and sisters contributed as highly effective canvassers by hosting a series of "teas" at hotels and parlors across Massachusetts to reach out to women voters.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=John T. |url=https://archive.org/details/jfkinsenatepathw0000shaw_y7x0/page/41/mode/2up |title=JFK in the Senate |date=October 15, 2013 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-230-34183-8 |page=41 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Robert F. Jr.|title=American Values: Lessons I Learned from My Family |date=May 15, 2018 |publisher=Harper |isbn=978-0-06-084834-7 |page=142}}</ref> In the presidential election, Republican [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] carried Massachusetts by 208,000 votes, but Kennedy narrowly defeated Lodge by 70,000 votes for the Senate seat.<ref name="John F. Kennedy">{{cite encyclopedia |title=John F. Kennedy |access-date=January 16, 2017 |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |archive-date=January 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118183301/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy |url-status=live }}</ref> The following year, he married [[Jacqueline Bouvier]].{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=29}}

Kennedy underwent several spinal operations over the next two years. Often absent from the Senate, he was at times critically ill and received Catholic [[last rites]]. During his convalescence in 1956, he published ''[[Profiles in Courage]]'', a book about U.S. senators who risked their careers for their personal beliefs, for which he won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Biography]] in 1957.<ref name="Jean3" /> Rumors that this work was [[Ghostwriter|ghostwritten]] by his close adviser and [[speechwriter]], [[Ted Sorensen]], were confirmed in Sorensen's 2008 autobiography.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tofel |first=Richard J. |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121029817046479539 |title=In His Own Words |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=May 9, 2008 |access-date=March 28, 2010 |archive-date=February 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223071017/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121029817046479539 |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the start of his first term, Kennedy focused on fulfilling the promise of his campaign to do "more for Massachusetts" than his predecessor. Although Kennedy's and Lodge's legislative records were similarly liberal, Lodge voted for the [[Taft-Hartley Act of 1947]] and Kennedy voted against it. On [[NBC]]'s ''[[Meet the Press]]'', Kennedy excoriated Lodge for not doing enough to prevent the increasing migration of manufacturing jobs from Massachusetts to the South, and blamed the [[Right-to-work law|right-to-work]] provision for giving the South an unfair advantage over Massachusetts in labor costs.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Savage |first1=Sean J. |title=JFK, LBJ, and the Democratic Party |date=2004 |publisher=State University of New York Press |page=11}}</ref> In May 1953, Kennedy introduced "The Economic Problems of New England",<ref>{{cite web |title=Economic Problems Of New England, May 1953: 18-20 |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKSEN/0893/JFKSEN-0893-013 |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=June 18, 2023 |archive-date=June 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230618052357/https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKSEN/0893/JFKSEN-0893-013 |url-status=live }}</ref> a 36-point program to help Massachusetts industries such as [[Fishing industry|fishing]], [[textile manufacturing]], [[watchmaking]], and [[shipbuilding]], as well as the Boston seaport.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=181–82}} Kennedy's policy agenda included [[protective tariffs]], preventing excessive [[speculation]] in raw wool, stronger efforts to research and market American fish products, an increase in the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|Fish and Wildlife Service]] budget, modernizing [[Reserve fleet|reserve-fleet vessels]], [[tax incentives]] to prevent further business relocations, and the development of [[Hydroelectric power in the United States|hydroelectric]] and [[Nuclear power in the United States|nuclear power]] in Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Savage |first1=Sean J. |title=The Senator from New England: The Rise of JFK |date=2015 |publisher=State University of New York Press |page=22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=MacGregor Burns |first1=James |title=John Kennedy: A Political Profile |date=1960 |pages=120–121}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKPPP-64.aspx|title=The U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy Story|work=jfklibrary.org|access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802120837/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKPPP-64.aspx |archive-date=August 2, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy's suggestions for stimulating the region's economy appealed to both parties by offering benefits to business and labor, and promising to serve national defense. Congress would eventually enact most of the program.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=181–82}} Kennedy, a [[Massachusetts Audubon Society]] supporter, wanted to make sure that the shorelines of [[Cape Cod]] remained unsullied by industrialization. On September 3, 1959, Kennedy co-sponsored the [[Cape Cod National Seashore]] bill with his Republican colleague Senator [[Leverett Saltonstall]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.audubon.org/magazine/may-june-2012/rachel-carson-and-jfk-environmental-tag-team|title=Rachel Carson and JFK, an Environmental Tag Team|date=May 8, 2012|website=Audubon|access-date=March 31, 2024|archive-date=January 7, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107203923/https://www.audubon.org/magazine/may-june-2012/rachel-carson-and-jfk-environmental-tag-team|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Savage |first1=Sean J. |title=The Senator from New England: The Rise of JFK |date=2015 |publisher=State University of New York Press |page=71}}</ref>
[[File:John F. Kennedy nominates Adlai Stevenson 1956.JPG|thumb|left|Kennedy endorsing [[Adlai Stevenson II]] for the presidential nomination at the [[1956 Democratic National Convention]]]]

As a senator, Kennedy quickly won a reputation for responsiveness to requests from constituents (i.e., co-sponsoring legislation to provide federal loans to help rebuild communities damaged by the [[1953 Worcester tornado]]), except when the national interest was at stake.<ref>{{cite web |title=John F. Kennedy |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/Congressman-and-senator |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=June 5, 2023 |archive-date=June 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605051832/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy/Congressman-and-senator |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Savage |first1=Sean J. |title=The Senator from New England: The Rise of JFK |date=2015 |publisher=State University of New York Press |pages=48, 54–55}}</ref> In 1954, Kennedy voted in favor of the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]] which would connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, despite opposition from Massachusetts politicians who argued that the project would hurt the [[Port of Boston]] economically.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=182}} "His stand on the St. Lawrence project had the effect of making him a national figure," Ted Sorensen later remarked.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=183}}

In 1956, Kennedy, aided by [[Kenneth O'Donnell]] and [[Larry O'Brien]], gained control of the [[Massachusetts Democratic Party]],{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=201}} and delivered the state delegation to the party's presidential nominee, [[Adlai Stevenson II]], at the [[1956 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]] in August.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=34–35}} Stevenson let the convention [[1956 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection|select the vice presidential nominee]]. Kennedy finished second in the balloting, losing to Senator [[Estes Kefauver]] of Tennessee, but receiving national exposure.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://us.macmillan.com/jfkinthesenatepathwaytothepresidency/johntshaw |title=JFK in the Senate: Pathway to the Presidency |publisher=Macmillan |access-date=August 3, 2016 |author=Shaw, John T. }}{{dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

In 1957, Kennedy joined the Senate's [[United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management|Select Committee on Labor Rackets]] (also known as the McClellan Committee) with his brother Robert, who was chief counsel, to investigate [[racketeering]] in labor-management relations.<ref name="pophistorydig.com">{{Cite web|url=https://pophistorydig.com/topics/jfks-1957-campaign/|title="JFK's Early Campaign"1957 &#124; The Pop History Dig|website=pophistorydig.com|access-date=December 28, 2022|archive-date=December 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228043518/https://pophistorydig.com/topics/jfks-1957-campaign/|url-status=live}}</ref> The hearings attracted extensive radio and television coverage where the Kennedy brothers engaged in dramatic arguments with controversial labor leaders, including [[Jimmy Hoffa]], of the [[Teamsters Union]]. The following year, Kennedy introduced a bill to prevent the expenditure of union dues for improper purposes or private gain; to forbid loans from union funds for illicit transactions; and to compel audits of unions, which would ensure against false financial reports.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=219}} It was the first major labor relations bill to pass either house since the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947 and dealt largely with the control of union abuses exposed by the McClellan Committee but did not incorporate tough Taft–Hartley amendments requested by President Eisenhower. It survived Senate floor attempts to include Taft-Hartley amendments and passed but was rejected by the House.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy/voting-record-and-stands-on-issues-page2|title=John F. Kennedy's Pre-Presidential Voting Record & Stands on Issues (p. 2 of 9)|website=jfklibrary.org|access-date=March 31, 2024|archive-date=January 18, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118001726/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy/voting-record-and-stands-on-issues-page2|url-status=live}}</ref> "Honest union members and the general public can only regard it as a tragedy that politics has prevented the recommendations of the McClellan committee from being carried out this year," Kennedy announced.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=220}}

That same year, Kennedy joined the Senate's [[Foreign Relations Committee]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=John T. |url=https://archive.org/details/jfkinsenatepathw0000shaw_y7x0/page/183/mode/2up |title=JFK in the Senate |date=October 15, 2013 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-230-34183-8 |page=183 |url-access=registration}}</ref> There he supported [[Algerian War|Algeria's effort to gain independence]] from France and sponsored an amendment to the [[Mutual Defense Assistance Act]] that would provide aid to Soviet satellite nations. Kennedy also introduced an amendment to the [[National Defense Education Act]] in 1959 to eliminate the requirement that aid recipients sign a loyalty oath and provide supporting affidavits.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy/voting-record-and-stands-on-issues|title=John F. Kennedy's Pre-Presidential Voting Record & Stands on Issues (p. 1 of 9)|website=jfklibrary.org|access-date=March 31, 2024|archive-date=December 5, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205181944/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy/voting-record-and-stands-on-issues|url-status=live}}</ref>

Kennedy cast a procedural vote against President Eisenhower's bill for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]] and this was considered by some to be an appeasement of Southern Democratic opponents of the bill.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=370}} Kennedy did vote for Title III of the act, which would have given the Attorney General powers to enjoin, but Majority Leader [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] agreed to let the provision die as a compromise measure.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|pp=370, 371}} Kennedy also voted for the "Jury Trial Amendment." Many civil rights advocates criticized that vote as one which would weaken the act.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=372}} A final compromise bill, which Kennedy supported, was passed in September 1957.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=374}} As a senator from Massachusetts, which lacked a sizable Black population, Kennedy was not particularly sensitive to the problems of African Americans. Robert Kennedy later reflected, "We weren't thinking of the Negroes of Mississippi or Alabama—what should be done for them. We were thinking of what needed to be done in Massachusetts."{{sfn|Bryant|2006b|pp=23–24}}
[[File:1958 United States Senate election in Massachusetts results map by municipality.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Results of the 1958 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts by [[List of municipalities in Massachusetts|municipality]]. Kennedy's margin of victory of 874,608 votes was the largest in [[Politics of Massachusetts|Massachusetts political]] history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy|title=John F. Kennedy – Presidential candidate and president|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=July 4, 2023|access-date=January 16, 2017|archive-date=January 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118183301/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=37}}]]

Kennedy's father was a strong supporter and friend of Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]]. Robert Kennedy worked for McCarthy's subcommittee as an assistant counsel, and McCarthy dated Kennedy's sister Patricia. Kennedy told historian [[Arthur Schlesinger Jr.]], "Hell, half my voters in Massachusetts look on McCarthy as a hero."<ref name=amex>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/kennedys/ ''The Kennedys''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227180938/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/kennedys/ |date=February 27, 2010 }}. ''[[American Experience]]''. Boston, Massachusetts: [[WGBH-TV|WGBH]]. 2009.</ref>{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|p=12}} In 1954, the Senate voted to censure McCarthy, and Kennedy drafted a speech supporting the censure. However, it was not delivered because Kennedy was hospitalized for back surgery in Boston.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dallek |first1=Robert |title=Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1908-1960 |date=1991 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=458}}</ref> Although Kennedy never indicated how he would have voted, the episode damaged his support among members of the [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]] community in the 1956 and 1960 elections.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|pp=274–79, 394–99}}

In [[1958 United States Senate election in Massachusetts|1958]], Kennedy was re-elected to the Senate, defeating his Republican opponent, Boston lawyer Vincent J. Celeste, with 73.6 percent of the vote, the largest winning margin in the history of Massachusetts politics.<ref name="John F. Kennedy" /> In the aftermath of his re-election, Kennedy began preparing to run for president by traveling throughout the U.S. with the aim of building his candidacy for 1960.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=35–36}}<ref name="pophistorydig.com" />

Most historians and political scientists who have written about Kennedy refer to his U.S. Senate years as an interlude.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=John T. |url=https://archive.org/details/jfkinsenatepathw0000shaw_y7x0/page/191/mode/2up |title=JFK in the Senate |date=October 15, 2013 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-230-34183-8 |page=191 |url-access=registration}}</ref> "His Senate career," concludes historian [[Robert Dallek]], "produced no major legislation that contributed substantially to the national well-being."{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=226}} According to biographer [[Robert Caro]], Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson viewed Kennedy as a "[[Playboy lifestyle|playboy]]", describing his performance in the Senate as "pathetic."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Caro |first1=Robert |title=[[The Years of Lyndon Johnson|The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson]] |date=2012 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |page=33}}</ref> Author John T. Shaw acknowledges that while his Senate career is not associated with acts of "historic statesmanship" or "novel political thought," Kennedy made modest contributions as a legislator, drafting more than 300 bills to assist Massachusetts and the New England region (some of which became law).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=John T. |url=https://archive.org/details/jfkinsenatepathw0000shaw_y7x0/page/193/mode/2up |title=JFK in the Senate |date=October 15, 2013 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-230-34183-8 |page=193 |url-access=registration}}</ref>