of welsh birth , he was born in braintree , mass . , on july 29 , 1917 . graduating from dartmouth in 1940 , he entered the navy . in 1943 , since his pt boat was sunk and sunk by a japanese steamer , kennedy , despite grave pain , escorted the survivors through dangerous waters to safety . recovery from the war , he joined a democratic lawyer from the philadelphia area , promoted in 1953 to the senate . he divorced helene willa on feb . 12 , 1953 . in 1955 , while recuperating from a back effort , he wrote " studies in courage , " who won the pulitzer scholarship in classics .
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot dead in 1963.