JFK’s ties to this stretch of Florida

John F. Kennedy had strong ties to Cape Canaveral, just to the north of the Treasure Coast, and to Palm Beach, just to the south.  In fact, Kennedy spent time in both place shortly before he was killed in Dallas on November 22^nd, 1963.  On Friday, November 15^th, he flew to Palm Beach to relax at his family’s mansion.  On November 16^th, he went to Cape Canaveral to watch the launch of a Polaris missile from a submarine.  On November 17^th, he was back in Palm Beach.  Then it was on to Tampa and Miami, Washington and finally Texas.  He visited Cape Canaveral twice in 1962 to see what progress was being made toward his goal of landing an American on the moon before 1970.  The goal was met in 1969.  After the assassination, the launch site was re-named the Kennedy Space Center.  At his family’s Palm Beach home, Kennedy wrote his inaugural speech and chose his cabinet.  Here in 1955 he recovered from a near-fatal back operation while he worked on his Pulitzer-winning book, “Profiles in Courage.”  In 1991, William Kennedy Smith, a nephew of Senator Ted Kennedy, was accused of raping a woman near the swimming pool.  He was acquitted.  The Kennedy family sold the place in 1995 -- to a Republican.  For 88.9 FM, this is Paul Janensch.