John F. Kennedy Jr.

I was born on November 25, 1960 in Washington, D.C., less than a month after my father, John F. Kennedy, was elected to the presidency of the United States. What people don't know is that I was actually born 17 days early. I spent my first three years living on the White House before my father was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. I hardly knew who he was. When I was a kid, everyone called me John-John to distinguish myself from my father. But after my father passed away, about two weeks after his funeral, my mother, Jacqueline moved my sister Caroline and I out of the White House and to Manhattan, where she made every attempt to raise my sister and I as normal as possible, and out of the public eye. This was very hard as we always had secret service agents around us during those first few years. I attended St. David's school in Manhattan along with my cousins Chris, Steve, Willie, and Tony. In 1968, my mother transferred me to the Collegiate School for Boys and I stayed there until 1976. But that year was very rough for me. My mother remarried and my uncle Bobby was killed in Los Angeles. That was the toughest death I had been through because I was at an age where I was beginning to understand that concept of death. I never really knew my father and I was too young to understand what had happened to him. But I had grown close to Uncle Bobby and I considered him my father figure. Even my step father Aristotle did not play a particularly significant role in my life as he died when I was 14. Nevertheless, my mother succeed in raising two children and we turned into two mature compassionate, responsible, independent adults. I am very thankful for that.I grew up mostly in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where I enjoyed bike riding, working out, and crew. I then attended Phillips Academy in Massachusetts for High School and graduated in 1979.One of the first passions I ever had was theatre, and I was even in a play called, "Winners." This was back in 1985 at the Irish Arts Center. I always loved acting and I love to do it part time. I even got a small role in a film called "A Matter of Degrees" in which I play the guitar and I sing Elvis Costello's song "Alison."In 1988, I made my political debut when I spoke at the Democratic National Convention for Senator Dukakis. I introduced my uncle Teddy that night. Even though we lost that race to President Bush, that was my coming out party so to speak, and I thank my uncle Teddy for his total support that year. I couldn't have done it without him. That was a big year for me because that same year People magazine dubbed me as the "Sexiest Man Alive."The next year I graduated from NYU Law School and I didnt pass the New York State Bar Exam until that summer on the third try. After failing it twice, I must say that the third time was a charm.In 1990, I joined the Manhattan District Attorney's Office where I stayed for 4 years winning all 6 of my cases. After leaving the DA's office I decided to become a journalist in 1995 with the debut of George magazine. The motto for the publication was "not just politics as usual." Its trademark became celebrity covers; the first issue featured Cindy Crawford dressed as George Washington, sporting a bra top, white wig and tight pants. I thought that idea was a brilliant move on my part because I wanted to have a political magazine that had an edge and offered a bit of a twist.My personal life became better in September the following year when I married the woman of my dreams, Carolyn Bessette on Cumberland Island in Georgia. She was a Calvin Klein executive and I was smitten with her class and beauty. No other woman ever challenged me like she did. And I can honestly say that I am very happy.