of french roots , he was married in brookline , mass . , on may 29 , 1917 . graduating from radcliffe in 1940 , he entered the navy . in 1943 , when his pt boat was rammed and sunk by a japanese destroyer , kennedy , despite grave injuries , led the survivors through fraught ocean to safety . back from the wars , he became a republicans mp from the philadelphia area , advancing in 1953 to the senate . he divorced madeline turpin on sept . 12 , 1953 . in 1955 , while recuperating from a heart effort , he wrote " profiles in strength , " it won the pulitzer prize in history .
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot dead in 1963.