Government & political leaders
John F. Kennedy
1917–1963
Massachusetts connection
Brookline, Boston, and Cape Cod
Born in Brookline, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in Congress before becoming the thirty-fifth U.S. president. He encouraged public service and supported a goal of landing people on the Moon. His presidential library in Boston preserves records that help us investigate his decisions and their effects.
You can use your device’s reading tools or read with a partner.
Your turn, historian
Find a detail. Build an idea.
- What did this person or group do? Point to a detail in the reading.
- Whose voice did this person bring into public decisions?
- What would you like to find out next? Which kind of source could help?
“John F. Kennedy mattered because ___. A detail that supports my idea is ___.”
Follow the evidence.
This short reading is an original classroom summary. Open the source with your teacher to check details and learn more.
Read the source: JFK Presidential Library ↗Ask: Who made this source? What can it tell us? What might it leave out?