Jack Kennedy was never a great student: not in boyhood, or prep school, or college, either. He'd always read voraciously - English was his best subject - but mostly, he mucked around. Playful as a child, prankish as a teen, by college he was full-out in pursuit of pleasure - and, in the words of The Crimson, "a typical Harvard glamour boy." But even then, beneath the dazzling fun, was an homme sérieux. It only took traveling throughout Europe, Russia and the Middle East in the angry, anxious spring and summer of 1939, to bring him to life. By fall, Jack Kennedy had figured out what he wanted to learn, and late at night, usually, and by himself, he did the work to learn it. That experience formed the basis of his answer, here, to a student's question: "What college curriculum would be most beneficial for a political and legislative career." Listing then, in reply, that which he thought important to know and invaluable to do, he quietly stated what was "most essential" to have - and in so doing, revealed the key to his spectacular rise and success: a thorough knowledge of English.
I believe the most important college courses would be in the government and economics fields; however, I also feel that a thorough knowledge of English is most essential.
