Kennedy, John F Kaunda, Kenneth (1924– ) first Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, a Zambian nationalist, led the struggle for independence against the British and became the first president of independent Zambia in 1964 Kaunda was born in what was then Northern Rhodesia and, like many first-generation African nationalists, he was educated at Christian mission schools He worked as a miner, as a teacher, and, for a short period of time, as an instructor in the army Kaunda joined several African nationalist movements and in Lusaka became secretarygeneral of the African National Congress (ANC) He quit the ANC to form the Zambia African National Congress (ZANC); when the British banned ZANC in 1959, Kaunda was imprisoned Upon his release Kaunda became president of the new United National Independence Party (UNIP) that replaced the banned ZANC; he supported demonstrations and civil disobedience against British control Kaunda became president of newly independent Zambia in 1964 and held the presidency until 1991 During his tenure in power, Kaunda became increasingly authoritarian and, in a trajectory similar to other African rulers in the 1970s–1980s, declared Zambia a one-party state in 1972 As agricultural productivity faltered, Zambia’s economy became dependent on copper exports, and Kaunda was accused of corruption and responsibility for the economic problems In face of mounting political opposition, Kaunda stepped down from power, and Frederick Chiluba replaced him as president in 1991 Chiluba maneuvered to prevent Kaunda from contesting further elections and, after being accused of involvement in an attempted coup d’état, Kaunda retired from politics in 1997 Further reading: Kaunda, Kenneth Zambia Shall Be Free: An Autobiography by Kenneth D Kaunda New York: Praeger, 1963; Macpherson, Fergus Kenneth Kauda of Zambia Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974 Janice J Terry Kennedy, John F (1917–1963) U.S president John F Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in November 1963 Prior to that he had a prominent military career, served in the House of Representatives 237 and then in the Senate from 1947 to 1960, and was the youngest person to be elected president He is also the only Roman Catholic to be elected president John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, the second son of Joseph P Kennedy and Rose (née Fitzgerald) He attended Dexter School, Riverdale Country School, Canterbury School, and later Choate School Graduating in 1935, he went to London to study at the London School of Economics but fell ill and returned to the United States where he attended Princeton University briefly He then went to Harvard College, spending the summer holidays in 1937, 1938, and 1939 in Europe John Kennedy was in Germany in August 1939, returning to London by September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland In 1940 Kennedy completed his honors thesis, “Appeasement in Munich,” which was subsequently published as Why England Slept In May and June 1941 Kennedy went to South America He volunteered for the U.S Army but was rejected because of his bad back However, using contacts in the Office of Naval Intelligence, he was accepted for the navy in September, and when war broke out with Japan in December 1941, he served in the Pacific On August 2, 1943, the boat which Kennedy was in, the PT-109, was rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri while on a night-time patrol near New Georgia in the Solomon Islands He towed a wounded man to safety and was personally involved in rescuing two others Initially, John Kennedy had some thoughts about becoming a journalist The death of his older brother, Joe, in 1944, however, propelled him into politics and in 1946 he ran for a seat in the House of Representatives as a Democrat for Massachusetts, winning with a large majority In 1952 he defeated the incumbent Republican Henry Cabot Lodge for the U.S Senate, and served in the Senate from 1953 to 1960 His book, Profiles in to Courage, was published in 1956, winning the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957 Kennedy’s connections with Senator Joe McCarthy were to damage his standing in the liberal establishment, but he did support the Civil Rights Act of 1957 On September 12, 1953, John Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier They had four children: a daughter, stillborn in 1956; Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, born in 1957; John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., born in 1960; and Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, born in 1963 In 1960 Kennedy ran for president What was particularly noteworthy was the first television debate that Kennedy had with his Republican opponent,