John F. Kennedy Jr. | |
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Kennedy greets invited guests at the HBO
and Imagine Entertainment premiere held at the Kennedy Space Center in 1998. |
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Born |
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. November 25, 1960 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Died | July 16, 1999 Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, U.S. |
(aged 38)
Cause of death | Plane crash |
Alma mater |
Brown University (A.B.) New York University (J.D.) |
Occupation | Journalist, lawyer, magazine publisher |
Spouse(s) | Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (m. 1996) |
Parent(s) |
John F. Kennedy Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis |
Relatives | See Kennedy family |
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. (November 25, 1960 – July 16, 1999), often referred to as JFK Jr. or John John, was an American lawyer, journalist, and magazine publisher. He was the son of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and the younger brother of former Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy. His father was assassinated, just three days before his third birthday.
From his early childhood years at the White House and beyond, Kennedy was the subject of great media scrutiny, and he became a popular social figure of Manhattan. Trained as a lawyer, Kennedy worked as a New York City Assistant District Attorney for almost four years. In 1995, he launched George magazine, using his political and celebrity status to publicize it. Kennedy died in a plane crash in 1999.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. was born at Georgetown University Hospital on November 25, 1960, two weeks after his father was elected president. His parents had a stillborn daughter named Arabella four years before John Jr.'s birth. John Jr. had an older sister, Caroline, and an infant brother, Patrick, who died two days after his premature birth in 1963. His putative nickname, "John-John", came from a reporter who misheard JFK calling him "John" twice in quick succession; the name was not used by his family.
John Jr. lived in the White House during the first three years of his life, and later remained in the public spotlight up until his death. His father was assassinated on November 22, 1963, and the state funeral was held three days later on John Jr.'s third birthday. In a moment that became an iconic image of the 1960s, John Jr. stepped forward and rendered a final salute as his father's flag-draped casket was carried out from St. Matthew's Cathedral. The family continued with their plans for a birthday party, to demonstrate that the Kennedys would go on despite the death of their father.