John F. Kennedy: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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In 1939, Kennedy toured Europe, the [[Soviet Union]], the [[Balkans]], and the Middle East in preparation for his Harvard senior honors thesis. He then went to Berlin, where the U.S. diplomatic representative gave him a secret message about war breaking out soon to pass on to his father, and to [[Czechoslovakia]] before returning to London on September 1, 1939, the day that [[Invasion of Poland|Germany invaded Poland]] to mark the beginning of [[World War II]].{{sfn|Daum|2008|pp=127}} Two days later, the family was in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] for speeches endorsing the United Kingdom's declaration of war on Germany. Kennedy was sent as his father's representative to help with arrangements for American survivors of {{SS|Athenia|1922|6}} before flying back to the U.S. from [[Foynes]], Ireland, on his first transatlantic flight.

While Kennedy was an upperclassman at Harvard, he began to take his studies more seriously and developed an interest in [[political philosophy]]. He made the [[Dean's List|dean's list]] in his junior year.<ref name="Harvard Presidents">{{cite web | url = http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/11/obama-joins-list-of-seven-presidents-with-harvard-degrees/ | title = Obama joins list of seven presidents with Harvard degrees | work = Harvard Gazette | publisher = [[Harvard University]] | date = November 6, 2008 | access-date =February 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801190338/http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/11/obama-joins-list-of-seven-presidents-with-harvard-degrees/|archive-date=August 1, 2016 }}</ref> In 1940 Kennedy completed his thesis, "Appeasement in Munich", about British negotiations during the [[Munich Agreement]]. The thesis was released on July 24, under the title ''[[Why England Slept]]''.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=61–66}} The book was one of the first to offer information about the war and its origins, and quickly becoamebecame a bestseller as a result.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Logevall |first=Fredrik |title=JFK - Volume One |publisher=[[Penguin (publisher)|Penguin]] |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-241-97201-4 |pages=269–270 |language=en}}</ref> In addition to addressing Britain's unwillingness to strengthen its military in the lead-up to World War II, the book also called for an [[Anglo-American alliance]] against the rising totalitarian powers. Kennedy became increasingly supportive of U.S. intervention in World War II, and his father's isolationist beliefs resulted in the latter's dismissal as ambassador to the United Kingdom. This created a split between the Kennedy and Roosevelt families.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=15–17}}

In 1940, Kennedy graduated ''[[cum laude]]'' from Harvard with a Bachelor of Arts in government, concentrating on [[international affairs]]. That fall, he enrolled at the [[Stanford Graduate School of Business]] and audited classes there.{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=18}} In early 1941, Kennedy left and helped his father write a memoir of his time as an American ambassador. He then traveled throughout South America; his itinerary included Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=68}}{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=21}}