The life of John F. Kennedy is so often defined by his death. His assassination in November 1963 came to be seen as a turning point for America, a shift from an age of innocence and hope to one of violence and change. JFK himself was transformed from man into legend. But that reading of history can disguise the fascinating and contradictory man behind the myth. JFK's public life details his travels through Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and fighting the Japanese in WWII, including swimming for survival to a tropical island. His personal life, including many different illnesses, was often hidden from the public. His glamorous marriage to Jackie and his meteoric rise to become a Senator and eventually President captured the imagination of the public.