John F. Kennedy Jr.: A Comprehensive Look at His Education and Life

John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. (November 25, 1960 - July 16, 1999), often referred to as John-John or JFK Jr., was a prominent American figure known as an attorney, journalist, and magazine publisher. As the son of President John F. Kennedy, he lived a life marked by both privilege and tragedy, remaining in the public eye from his early childhood until his untimely death. This article explores his educational background, career, and the significant events that shaped his life.

Early Life and Education

John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. was born at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., on November 25, 1960. His father, Massachusetts senator John F. Kennedy, had been elected president less than three weeks earlier and was inaugurated two months after his son's birth. John Jr. had an older sister, Caroline, and a younger brother, Patrick, who died of respiratory distress syndrome two days after his premature birth in 1963.

Life in the White House

John Jr. lived in the White House during the first three years of his life. Photographs of John-John playing in the Oval Office as his father worked added to the public’s perception of his parents as a young, vigorous couple leading a young and optimistic country. He remained in the public spotlight as a young adult.

The Assassination and Its Aftermath

A defining moment in his early life came on November 22, 1963, when his father was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. In a moment that became a famous scene of his life, John Jr. stepped forward and rendered a final salute as his father's flag-draped casket was carried out from St. Matthew's Cathedral. NBC News vice president Julian Goodman called the image "the most impressive…shot in the history of television."

Following President Kennedy's assassination, the family continued with their plans for a birthday party to demonstrate that they would go on despite the death of the president. They moved to the Georgetown area of Washington for a short time, and then to a luxury apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, where John Jr. grew up.

Read also: Kennedy on Education

Education in Manhattan and Beyond

In 1968, Jackie took Caroline and John Jr. out of the United States, saying: "If they're killing Kennedys, then my children are targets … I want to get out of this country." She married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis that year and the family moved to his private island of Skorpios. Kennedy is said to have considered his stepfather "a joke". In 1971 Kennedy returned to the White House with his mother and sister for the first time since the assassination.

Kennedy attended private schools in Manhattan, starting at Saint David's School and moving to Collegiate School, which he attended from third through tenth grade. He completed his education at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. After graduating he accompanied his mother on a trip to Africa.

Humanitarian Efforts

In 1976, Kennedy and his cousin visited an earthquake disaster zone at Rabinal in Guatemala, helping with heavy building work and distributing food. The local priest said that they "ate what the people of Rabinal ate and dressed in Guatemalan clothes and slept in tents like most of the earthquake victims," adding that the two "did more for their country's image" in Guatemala "than a roomful of ambassadors."

On his 16th birthday Kennedy's Secret Service protection ended and he spent the summer of 1978 working as a wrangler in Wyoming.

College Years at Brown University

In 1979, the John F. Kennedy attended Brown University, where he majored in American studies. He co-founded a student discussion group that focused on contemporary issues such as apartheid in South Africa, gun control, and civil rights. He was appalled by apartheid when visiting South Africa on a summer break and arranged for U.N. ambassador Andrew Young to speak about the topic at Brown. By his junior year at Brown he had moved off campus to live with several other students in a shared house and spent time at Xenon, a club owned by Howard Stein.

In January 1983 Kennedy's Massachusetts driver's license was suspended when he received more than three speeding summonses in twelve months and failed to appear at a hearing. The family's lawyer explained he most likely "became immersed in exams and just forgot the date of the hearing." He graduated that same year with a bachelor's degree in American studies and took a break, traveling to India and spending some time at the University of Delhi where he did his post-graduate work and met Mother Teresa.

Career Path

After the 1984 Democratic Convention in San Francisco Kennedy returned to New York and earned $20,000 a year in a position at the Office of Business Development, where his boss reflected that he worked "in the same crummy cubbyhole as everybody else. I heaped on the work and was always pleased." He continued there as deputy director of the 42nd Street Development Corporation in 1986, conducting negotiations with developers and city agencies. From 1989, Kennedy headed Reaching Up, a nonprofit group which provided educational and other opportunities for workers who helped people with disabilities.

Legal Career and the Manhattan DA's Office

In 1989 Kennedy earned a Juris Doctor degree from the New York University School of Law. He then failed the New York bar exam twice before passing on his third try in July 1990. After failing the exam for a second time Kennedy vowed that he would continue to take it until he was ninety-five years old or passed. If he had failed a third time he would have been ineligible to serve as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA's Office, where he worked for the next four years.

Journalism and George Magazine

In the summer of 1992 he worked as a journalist and was commissioned by The New York Times to write an article about his kayaking expedition to the Åland Archipelago, where he saved one of his friends when a kayak capsized. He then considered creating a magazine with his friend, public-relations magnate Michael J. Berman, a plan which his mother thought too risky.

In 1995 Kennedy and Michael Berman founded George, a glossy, politics-as-lifestyle and fashion monthly, with Kennedy controlling 50 percent of the shares. Each issue of the magazine contained an editor's column and interviews written by Kennedy, who believed they could make politics "accessible by covering it in an entertaining and compelling way", allowing "popular interest and involvement" to follow. The first issue was criticized for its image of Cindy Crawford posing as George Washington in a powdered wig and ruffled shirt. By early 1997 Kennedy and Berman were locked in a power struggle, which led to screaming matches, slammed doors, and even a physical altercation. Berman sold his share of the company and Kennedy took on Berman's responsibilities. Hachette Filipacchi Magazines were partners in George. CEO David Pecker said the decline was due to Kennedy's refusal to "take risks as an editor, despite the fact that he was an extraordinary risk taker in other areas of his life."

Personal Life and Relationships

Kennedy had appeared in many plays while at Brown and had done a bit of acting afterwards. He expressed interest in acting as a career but his mother strongly disapproved, considering it an unsuitable profession. Kennedy made his New York acting debut on August 4, 1985 in front of an invitation-only audience at the Irish Theater on Manhattan's West Side.

While attending Brown University Kennedy met Sally Munro. They dated for six years, and visited India together in 1983. Kennedy had known actress Daryl Hannah since their two families had vacationed together in St. Maarten in the early '80s. From 1985 to 1990 Kennedy dated Christina Haag. After his relationship with Daryl Hannah ended Kennedy lived with Carolyn Bessette, who worked in the fashion industry. They were engaged for a year, though Kennedy consistently denied reports of this. The next day, Kennedy's cousin Patrick revealed that the pair had married. When they returned to their Manhattan home a mass of reporters was on the doorstep. One of them asked Kennedy if he had enjoyed his honeymoon, to which he responded: "Very much." He added "Getting married is a big adjustment for us, and for a private citizen like Carolyn even more so. But Carolyn was badly disoriented by the constant attention of the paparazzi. The couple were permanently on show, both at fashionable Manhattan events and on their travels to visit celebrities such as Mariuccia Mandelli and Gianni Versace.

Public Service and Political Involvement

Kennedy addressed the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, introducing his uncle Senator Ted Kennedy. He invoked his father's inaugural address, calling "a generation to public service", and received a two-minute standing ovation. Republican consultant Richard Viguerie said he did not remember a word of the speech, but remembered "a good delivery" and added, "I think it was a plus for the Democrats and the boy. Kennedy participated in his cousin Patrick J. Kennedy's campaign for a seat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives by visiting the district. He sat outside the polling booth and had his picture taken with "would-be" voters. Senate against challenger Mitt Romney in 1994.

Passion for Flying and Tragic Death

Kennedy wanted to become a pilot since he was a child. He took flying lessons at the Flight Safety Academy in Vero Beach, Florida and received his pilot's license in April 1998. The death of his cousin Michael in a skiing accident had prompted John to take a hiatus from his piloting lessons for three months.

On July 16, 1999 Kennedy departed from Fairfield, New Jersey at the controls of his Piper Saratoga light aircraft. He was traveling with his wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette. Lauren was to be dropped off at Martha's Vineyard and Kennedy and his wife would continue on to Hyannis Port, Massachusetts to attend the wedding of his cousin Rory Kennedy. Carolyn and Lauren were passengers sitting in the second row of seats.

On July 18 a Coast Guard admiral declared an end to the rescue efforts. On July 19 the fragments of Kennedy's plane were found by the NOAA vessel Rude using side-scan sonar. The next day Navy divers descended into the 62 °F (17 °C) water. They found part of the shattered plane strewn over a broad area of seabed 120 feet (37 m) below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. The search ended in the late afternoon of July 21 when high-resolution images of the ocean bottom helped Navy divers recover the three bodies from the ocean floor. The bodies were taken by motorcade to the county medical examiner's office. Divers found Carolyn's and Lauren's bodies near the twisted and broken fuselage while Kennedy's body was still strapped into the pilot's seat. Admiral Richard M.

On the evening of July 21 the bodies were autopsied at the county medical examiner's office and taken from Hyannis to Duxbury, Massachusetts, where they were cremated in the Mayflower Cemetery crematorium. The families announced their plans for memorial services the same day. The autopsy determined that the crash victims had died upon impact. A memorial service was held for Kennedy on July 23, 1999 at the Church of St. Thomas More, a parish that Kennedy had often attended with his mother and sister.

Legacy and Memorials

In 2000, Reaching Up, the organization which Kennedy founded in 1989, joined with The City University of New York to establish the John F. Kennedy Jr. Institute. In 2003, the ARCO Forum at Harvard Kennedy School was renamed the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum of Public Affairs. Kennedy had been a member of the Senior Advisory Committee of Harvard's Institute of Politics for fifteen years and an active participant in Forum events.

In 2013, on the fiftieth anniversary of the 1963 presidential assassination, the New York Daily News re-ran the famous photograph of the three-year-old John Jr. saluting his father's coffin during the funeral procession.

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