“A man may die, a nation may rise and fall, but an idea lives on” (John F. Kennedy quotes 1). The leader of a country has a great amount of power, and his ideas are able to influence people for years. John F. Kennedy was an intelligent, dependable, caring and principled man. He was also the 35th president of the United States. He not only concentrated on foreign relations, domestic policies, and his main focus, civil rights, but he was a role model to many politicians and private citizens. On November 22, 1963, an assassin cut Kennedy’s life short, but his legacy and his influence lived on. John F. Kennedy influenced the sixties through his actions, his politics, and the legacy left after his death. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, to a European Ambassador, Joseph Kennedy and his wife, Rose. He had eight brothers and sisters, including his brothers Robert and Ted, who both grew up to take part in politics. As a child, John, commonly known as Jack, was often ill. He suffered from Addison’s disease, which causes the body’s immune system to weaken, and he had an injured back, resulting in two, near lethal, surgeries. Despite all his ailments, Jack was a kindhearted child and “Rose described him as a ‘funny little boy’ who ‘said things in such an original, vivid way’” (Hamilton 2). He attended Harvard University, where he studied government. In 1941, John Kennedy joined the United States Navy, and by 1943, he had a torpedo boat, PT 109, under his command. Months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Kennedy’s boat was struck by a Japanese bomber and instantly sunk. Ten out of the twelve sailors survived, and hung on to the ship debris while floating in the Blackett Strait of the Solomon Islands, until they saw an island in the distance and made their way toward it. One sailor was unable to swim because of his injuries, and, unwilling to see