While the assassination of John F. Kennedy (JFK) has become famous today, not much is known about his upbringing and early years. This leads to the question: Where did the 35th president of the United States grow up?
John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, and spent the first years of his life there. As a young boy, he quickly moved around the country with his family and subsequently lived in New York and Connecticut. However, he always returned to Massachusetts over the years.
Read more below about JFK’s upper-class upbringing that saw him live in Massachusetts first, then move across different parts of America and even travel internationally.
A Massachusetts Boy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29th 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.
The second-oldest among his nine siblings, he was born into the upper-class Kennedy family.
The Kennedy’s were a well-known family in Boston as both Kennedy’s maternal and paternal grandfathers had been successful politicians.
JFK’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy was a renowned politician and businessman of American origin, while his mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was a philanthropist and socialite hailing from Boston’s Irish Catholic upper class.
Kennedy spend the first years of his life in Brookline.
He and his family were avid members of the local Roman Catholic community and attended St. Aidan’s Church, where Kennedy was baptized.
He also went to school in Brookline, attending three different prestigious schools in the time he lived there: Edward Devotion School, Noble and Greenough Lower School and Dexter School.
The Kennedy’s also owned a second home in Massachusetts, in Cape Cod, which where they spent their vacations. Additionally, they owned a summer home in Florida.
Old interviews with Kennedy reveal that his earliest and fondest childhood memories date back to the time he spent living in Brookline, which suggests Massachusetts held a special place in JFK’s heart.
An International Upbringing
While Kennedy was growing up, his father continued to develop his business ventures on wall street and in Hollywood. This meant that he travelled frequently and was away from his family for extended periods of time.
This is why, when Kennedy was only ten years old, the Kennedy’s decided to leave Massachusetts.
They moved to Riverdale, a wealthy suburb of New York City, so they could be closer together as a family.
Kennedy first continued his school education in New York, before then following his older brother’s lead and moving to Connecticut to attend the prestigious ‘Choate’ boarding school there.
While studying in Connecticut, Kennedy was able to travel to Europe with his parents and sister.
Upon returning to the United States he enrolled at Harvard University, which his father attended as well.
But even while at Harvard, JFK continued to travel internationally. He frequently accompanied his father on work trips to England, the Soviet Union and the Middle East.
After graduating from Harvard, Kennedy then joined the U.S. Navy, after which he entered politics and started running for congress.
Massachusetts Ties
While JFK’s political career quickly began to flourish, he in fact remained loyal to his familial roots in Massachusetts all his life.
He frequented the Kennedy family residences throughout his career and went on to purchase his own private property in Massachusetts together with his wife, Jackie Kennedy.
In the months following JFK’s assassination, Jackie herself even choose to retreat to the Kennedy’s vast family residence in Massachusetts.
This leaves the conclusion that while Kennedy’s upbringing saw him live in many different parts of the country and travel to far-flung places abroad, he always remained loyal to the ties he had to Massachusetts from the time he spent growing up there.