John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 2003) was an American politician and diplomat who was the 38th Vice President of the United States and a Senator and Representative from Massachusetts. Kennedy was a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972, until numerous sex scandals came to light, and he was forced to drop out and retire from politics. His career was rehabilitated in 1977, when Edmund Muskie named him to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.