John Kennedy: Young

约翰·肯尼迪：年轻

VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语介绍美国总统栏目。

Today we are talking about John Fitzgerald Kennedy. He was also known as Jack Kennedy, or by the letters JFK.
今天，我们来谈论约翰·菲茨杰尔德·肯尼迪。他也被称作杰克·肯尼迪，或名字首字母JFK。

When he took office in 1961, Kennedy was 43 years old. He was the youngest elected president in United States’ history.
1961年就任总统时，肯尼迪年仅43岁。他是美国历史上最年轻的当选为总统的人。

Kennedy was also the first Catholic to be elected U.S. president.
肯尼迪也是第一位罗马天主教徒的美国总统。

Kennedy’s youth and religion raised questions in the minds of some Americans that Kennedy could lead the country. They wondered if he would always follow the policies of the Roman Catholic Church.
肯尼迪的年轻和信仰让一些美国人不禁产生了他是否能够领导美国的疑问。他们怀疑肯尼迪会一直遵循罗马天主教会的政策。

But Kennedy became well-known as a statesman, and popular with people around the world. He was intelligent, funny and good-looking. For many, Kennedy was a sign of new energy and hope.
但肯尼迪成为了一名著名的政治家，并受到全世界人民的欢迎。他富有智慧，有趣并且英俊。对许多人而言，肯尼迪意味着新能量和希望。

The public was shocked, then, when the president’s term was violently cut short.
然而，公众对于这位总统的职业生涯被暴力打断而感到震惊。

Early life 早年生活

John F. Kennedy was born in 1917 near Boston, Massachusetts. He was the second of nine children.
约翰·F·肯尼迪1917年出生于马萨诸塞州的波士顿附近。他在九个孩子当中排行老二。

Both his parents were Catholic, with ancestors from Ireland. Many years ago, Irish Catholics often faced discrimination in the United States. But the Kennedy family was also politically powerful and wealthy.
他的父母都是天主教徒，祖先来自爱尔兰。很多年前，爱尔兰天主教徒在美国经常受到歧视。但肯尼迪家族在政治上非常有影响力并且很富有。

As a result, young Jack Kennedy grew up in big, beautiful houses and received a top quality education. His family did not suffer during the Great Depression, as many Americans had. Instead, the Kennedy children swam, sailed boats and played sports.
因此，年轻的杰克·肯尼迪是在宽敞漂亮的房子里长大，并且接受最顶尖的教育。美国经济大萧条时期，很多美国人受到了影响，但肯尼迪家族却没有。相反，肯尼迪的孩子们照常游泳，划船和进行体育运动。

Jack also enjoyed reading books and following the news. His older brother Joe wanted to enter politics, but Jack said he might become a teacher or writer. When he was a college student at Harvard, Jack wrote a long paper about Britain in the years leading up to World War II. A version of it was published in 1940 as a book.
杰克还沉迷于阅读以及追踪新闻。他的哥哥约瑟夫想要进入政坛，但杰克说他想要成为教师或作家。杰克在哈佛期间写了关于英国在二战前期的长篇论文。这篇论文的一个版本在1940年出版成书。

The war changed Jack’s thinking about his future plans. During World War II, both Jack and his older brother joined the U.S. Navy. In the Pacific, Jack became a hero. He won medals for leading some of his troops to safety after a Japanese warship struck a boat they were on.
战争改变了杰克的未来规划。二战期间，杰克和他的哥哥都参加了美国海军。杰克在太平洋成为了英雄。一艘日本军舰撞上了他们的船，他带领部队脱险，因此获得了一枚勋章。

But Joe was killed. In 1944, his airplane exploded over Europe.
但他的哥哥约瑟夫牺牲了。1944年，他的飞机在欧洲坠毁。

When the war ended, Jack’s father urged him to follow his brother’s dream of succeeding in politics. Jack agreed, and he set his sights on becoming the country’s first Catholic president.
战争结束后，杰克的父亲催促他去完成他哥哥在政治上的遗愿。杰克同意了，并将目标瞄准在美国第一位天主教徒总统。

Presidency 总统生涯

Kennedy was nominated as the Democratic Party’s candidate, and he was elected in 1960.
肯尼迪被提名为民主党总统候选人，并于1960年当选为总统。

He easily defeated Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican candidate, in the Electoral College. But Kennedy won only narrowly in the popular vote.
他在选举团的投票中，轻松击败了共和党候选人、副总统理查德·尼克松。但在普选中肯尼迪只稍微赢了一点点。

Though he was young, Kennedy brought experience to the job. In addition to being a naval officer, Kennedy had been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives as well as a senator from Massachusetts.
尽管肯尼迪年轻，但当总统前还是积累了不少经验。肯尼迪除了当过海军军官，还当过众议员以及马萨诸塞州的参议员。

He also published a Pulitzer Prize-winning book called “Profiles in Courage.”
他还出版了一本获得普利策奖的书，叫作《肯尼迪：信仰在风中飘扬》

And he had become a husband and father. He married a wealthy, well-educated woman who had been working as a newspaper photographer. Her name was Jacqueline Bouvier, but she was sometimes called Jackie.
他是一位丈夫和父亲。他娶了一位富有、受过良好教育的报社摄影师，她的名字叫杰奎琳·鲍维尔，但有时人们称她为杰基。

She became pregnant five times, but only two of her children would survive: a daughter named Caroline, and a son, John F. Kennedy, Junior.
她怀孕了五次，但只有两个孩子活了下来：一个女儿卡罗琳，一个儿子小约翰·F·肯尼迪。

The family of four moved into the White House in January 1961. On the day he was sworn-in, Kennedy gave a speech that many people still remember today. It celebrated the “new generation of Americans,” and promised to “pay any price” for liberty.
1961年1月，这个四口之家搬到了白宫。肯尼迪宣誓当天，发表了一篇至今让人们记忆犹新的演讲。他宣告了“新一代美国人”的到来，并承诺不惜任何代价来捍卫自由。

Supporters of the new president loved his energy and sense of hope. In his most famous line, Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
这位新任总统的支持者喜欢他的活力和希望。肯尼迪最著名的一句话是：“不要问国家能为你做什么，而要问你能为国家做什么。”

Many young people remembered that line when they volunteered for a program Kennedy created in 1961: the Peace Corps.
许多年轻人在自愿参加肯尼迪1961年创建的“和平队”项目时，还记得这句话。

Other Americans remembered the line when they watched two Apollo 11 astronauts walk on the moon in 1969. Kennedy strongly supported the country’s space program. He promised that Americans would land on the moon by the end of the 1960s, and they did.
1969年，当其他美国人看到两位阿波罗11号宇航员登上月球时，他们想到了这句话。肯尼迪非常支持美国太空项目。他承诺美国人会在20世纪60年代末登上月球，他们做到了。

Kennedy also supported efforts to improve civil rights across the U.S., although his administration moved slowly. Calls to end legalized racism were growing stronger during Kennedy’s time in office, particularly because of the leadership of Martin Luther King, Junior.
尽管肯尼迪政府行动缓慢，但肯尼迪还是支持改善美国的公民权利。肯尼迪执政期间，呼吁废除种族歧视合法化的声音越来越强，尤其是因为马丁·路德·金的领导。

In June of 1963, King spoke to hundreds of thousands of people at a civil rights protest called the March on Washington. He told the crowd that he dreamed “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
1963年6月，马丁·路德·金在一个名为“华盛顿大游行”的民权抗议活动中对数十万人发表了讲话。他对群众说，他梦想“我的四个孩子将来有一天能够生活在一个不以肤色，而是以他们的品格优劣来评价的国家。”

The March on Washington, among other events, showed the power of the civil rights movement. In late 1963, President Kennedy sent a civil rights bill to Congress and spoke to Americans about the injustice that remained in the country.
夹杂在其他事件中的“华盛顿大游行”显示了民权运动的力量。1963年末，肯尼迪总统向国会递交了一项民权法案，并向美国人民讲述了这个国家仍然存在的不公正。

The Peace Corps, the Space Race, and civil rights are all part of Kennedy’s legacy.
和平队，太空竞赛，以及民权都是肯尼迪的部分功绩。

Kennedy is also remembered for several troubling international events. In one, known as the Bay of Pigs, Americans supported Cuban refugees in an effort to oust the government of Fidel Castro. Not only did the refugees fail, but Kennedy’s government was found to be lying about their support of the effort.
肯尼迪也因多个棘手的国际事件而知名。其中一个便是猪湾事件，美国人支持古巴流亡分子驱逐菲德尔·卡斯特罗政府。但流亡分子失败了，而且肯尼迪政府还被发现在支持流亡分子的问题上撒谎。

And Kennedy faced off with the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev. In 1962, American leaders learned that the Soviets had hidden nuclear weapons in Cuba. The missiles would be able to reach the U.S. mainland easily.
并且，肯尼迪与苏联领导人赫鲁晓夫也一直对峙。1962年，美国领导人了解到苏联在古巴秘密部署了核武器，这些导弹能够轻易打到美国本土。

Kennedy ordered a blockade of Cuba. People around the world held their breath as they waited to see if the U.S. and the Soviet Union would launch a nuclear war. They did not. After several very tense weeks, Kennedy and Khrushchev reached an agreement that ended the crisis.
肯尼迪命令封锁古巴。全世界人民都屏住呼吸，等着看美国和苏联是否会发动一场核战争。最终，他们没有。经过几周非常紧张的局势之后，肯尼迪和赫鲁晓夫达成一致，结束了危机。

Kennedy went on to reach an agreement with the Soviet Union and Britain to limit nuclear weapons testing. He said the agreement was one of the presidential acts of which he was most satisfied.
肯尼迪与苏联和英国后来达成一项协议来限制核武器试验。他说，这项协议是他总统生涯中最满意的成果之一。

Historians still debate Kennedy’s actions, and what else might have happened during his presidency. They wonder especially what he would have done about the increasing conflict in Vietnam.
历史学家对于肯尼迪的行动一直持有争议，以及在他总统任期内可能会发生的其他事。他们尤其想知道，肯尼迪在持续升级、日益加剧的越南冲突中会做些什么。

But Kennedy did not live to finish his first term.
但肯尼迪没有活到第一届任期结束。

Death 死亡

By November 22, 1963, Kennedy had been president for just under three years. The next election was still a year away, but it was time to start campaigning again.
截至1963年11月22日，肯尼迪执政不到3年。下届大选还有一年时间，但是时候再次开始竞选活动了。

So the president and his wife went to Dallas, Texas to connect with voters. They were riding in a car with other official vehicles that drove slowly through the center of the city. Jack, Jackie, and the Texas governor and his wife sat in a convertible – an automobile without protection over the seats.
所以，总统和他的妻子去了得克萨斯州的达拉斯与选民互动。他们坐在一辆车里，和其他政府车辆缓慢驶过市中心。杰克，杰基，以及德州州长和他的妻子坐在一辆敞篷轿车里，没有保护座位。

The president was waving at the crowd. Suddenly, several gunshots were fired. The president was struck twice.
总统正向群众挥手致意。突然，几声枪响，总统被射中了两枪。

The governor was also hit and injured.
州长也被击中并受伤。

Kennedy was hurried to a hospital, but doctors were unable to help him. News reporters announced his death to a stunned public.
肯尼迪立即被送往一家医院，但医生们束手无策。新闻记者向还处于震惊当中的公众宣布了他的死讯。

Hours later, Jackie Kennedy appeared next to the former vice president – now president – Lyndon Johnson. She still wore the clothes with her husband’s blood on them.
数小时后，杰基肯尼迪出现在前副总统、现任总统林登·约翰逊的身旁。她仍然穿着沾有他丈夫鲜血的衣服。

The events remain intense in the minds of many Americans who were alive at the time. The images remain easily recognizable parts of American history. The pictures of Kennedy’s family at his funeral are especially memorable. In one, three-year-old John holds up his arm and salutes his father’s casket.
该事件在当时许多美国人的记忆中仍然非常强烈。当时的场景仍然是美国历史当中很容易回忆起的一部分。肯尼迪一家在葬礼上的照片尤其令人印象深刻。其中一张是3岁的约翰举起手臂向他父亲的棺材致敬。

Attention quickly turned to the gunman. It was reportedly a 24-year-old man named Lee Harvey Oswald. Shortly after the president and the governor were shot, Oswald shot a policeman who questioned him.
注意力很快转移到凶手身上。据报道，凶手是一名叫李·哈维·奥斯瓦尔德的24岁男子。总统和州长被射击后不久，奥斯瓦尔德又射杀了一名询问他的警察。

Oswald was eventually detained. Officials planned to bring him to court for the death of the president and the policeman. But on the way from the police station to the jail, a local night-club owner shot and killed Oswald.
奥斯瓦尔德最终被拘留。警察计划将他告上法庭，因为他杀害了总统和警察。但当奥斯瓦尔德从警察局转移到监狱的途中时，当地一名夜总会老板开枪击毙了他。

As a result, the case never came to trial. Many Americans believe the reason for the attack has yet to be clarified.
因此，这件案子一直没有审讯。许多美国人认为此次暗杀的原因还没有调查清楚。

Legacy 遗产

Historians have a mixed reaction to Kennedy’s years as a president, although their opinions are generally positive.
历史学家对于肯尼迪的总统生涯有着不同的反应，尽管他们的看法总体上是积极的。

His image with the public suffered some years after his death because of reports that he had romantic relationships with women other than Jackie throughout his marriage.
他死后几年，公众对他的印象有所下降，因为有报道说他与杰基的整个婚姻过程中与其他女人有染。

In time, the public also learned about Kennedy’s health problems. He suffered from severe back pain and Addison’s disease. He often used strong medicine to help control the conditions. The health problems are at odds with Kennedy’s image of health and love of sports.
最后，公众了解到肯尼迪的健康问题。他有严重的背痛和爱迪生氏病。他经常通过大量药物来控制身体状况。健康问题由于肯尼迪给人们以健康和热爱运动的印象而存在争执。

Quai D'Orsay, Paris

Yet even with these new details, Kennedy is still one of the country’s best-remembered leaders. He was a charismatic man whose career influenced many other Americans to enter public service.
然而，即使有这些传闻，肯尼迪仍然是美国最出名的领导人之一。他拥有超凡魅力，职业生涯影响了其他许多美国人进入公共服务。

Americans also remember his stylish, cultured wife. Jackie Kennedy compared the Kennedy years at the White House to Camelot, the legendary court of King Arthur.
美国人对他的时尚以及有涵养的妻子印象深刻。杰基·肯尼迪将肯尼迪在白宫的岁月比作传说中亚瑟王的宫殿卡米洛特。

Their remains, along with those of two of their children, are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington. They are honored there with an eternal flame – one designed so the fire will never go out.
他们和两个孩子的遗体，被安葬在阿灵顿国家公墓，公墓从华盛顿穿过波托马克河。他们在那里被纪念为永恒的火焰 — 一种被设计为永不熄灭的火焰。

I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

content - n. the things that are in something - 内容

legacy - n. something that happened in the past or that comes from someone in the past - 遗产

casket - n. coffin - 棺材

nightclub - n. a place that is open at night, has music, dancing, or a show, and usually serves alcoholic drinks and food - 夜总会

positive - adj. showing or expressing support, approval, or agreement - 积极的

at odds - n. not agreeing with each other : in a state of disagreement - 争执，不一致

charismatic - adj. having great charm or appeal : filled with charisma - 超凡魅力的

eternal - adj. having no beginning and no end in time : lasting forever - 永恒的

flame - n. the hot, glowing gas that can be seen when a fire is burning - 火焰>