President Kennedy is forced to improvise a stump speech in Tennessee, after discovering that his speech didn't make the trip.

FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

RELATED CONTENT

As only the second Catholic to run for presidential office in a majority Protestant nation, John F. Kennedy was confronted with the issue of his religion throughout his campaign. In order to defuse concerns that his religious views would interfere with his ability as chief executive, he delivers a speech on September 12, 1960, to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association stressing the importance of the separation of church and state.

John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. in 1961.

Excerpts from John F. Kennedy's inaugural address on Friday, January 20, 1961.

In a speech delivered in Berlin on June 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy expresses his hopes for the reunification of Germany and shows solidarity with the crowd when he says, "I take pride in the words: Ich bin ein Berliner."

After many unfruitful telephone conversations with Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett, President John F. Kennedy calls the governor one more time to discuss the building tension over James Meredith’s impending registration at the University of Mississippi. Though the governor has made clear his opposition to the Supreme Court order to allow Meredith to attend the school, President Kennedy tries to assess whether the governor will maintain law and order when Meredith arrives.

When Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett refused to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling demanding desegregation at the University of Mississippi and the admittance of James Meredith, President John F. Kennedy was forced to intervene. In his address to the nation on September 30, 1962, Kennedy explains his decision to federalize the state national guard in order to maintain law and order while Meredith registers at the college.