Dwight David Eisenhower The taste of victory was fresh and sweet to John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Just about a year ago, he sat in the drawing room of his Georgetown home and spoke breezily about the office he would assume. "Sure it's a big job," he said. "But I don't know anybody who can do it any better than I can. I'm going to be in it for four years. It isn't going to be so bad. you've got time to think -- and besides, the pay is pretty good." One year later, on a cool, grey day, the 35th President of the United States sat at his desk in the oval office of the White House and discussed the same subje