John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. After Kennedy's military service as commander of the USS PT-109 during World War II in the South Pacific, his aspirations turned political. Kennedy represented the state of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat, and in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1961. Kennedy defeated former Vice President and Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election, one of the closest in American history. He is the youngest man and the only practicing Roman Catholic to be elected President. To date he is also the only President to have won a Pulitzer Prize.[LINK: http://www.pulitzer.org/resources/faqs.html] Pulitzer.org FAQ Events during his administration include the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile