At JFK's centennial, book chronicles presidency, day-by-day

John F. Kennedy was born 100 years ago Monday, and a new book recounts his brief but eventful presidency — and the style and wit with which he shaped the hopes of a generation — through day-by-day reports drawn from coverage at the time, right up to his assassination in November 1963.

Kennedy's 1,036 days in office saw many crises, including the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, the Soviet Union's menace to West Berlin and, most dangerously, the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.

Kennedy sought legislation, but it would not come on his watch.

Besides touching on reports from the fraught, history-making days of his presidency, the book includes lighter dispatches, including reports of the three birthdays Kennedy celebrated as president:

NEW YORK — Fifteen thousand people attended President Kennedy's birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden last night — and 15,000 jaws dropped to the floor during a performance by Marilyn Monroe.

Wearing a skintight, flesh-colored, rhinestone-studded dress, America's most popular sex symbol sang "Happy Birthday" with a breathy, sultry delivery, concluding, "Happy birthday, Mr. President, happy birthday to you."

In the evening, the president was joined by the first lady, brothers Robert and Edward, and about 20 of his closest friends and associates on board the presidential yacht Sequoia.

Civil rights issues remained at the top of Kennedy's agenda, as he organized a meeting with business leaders to sit down and discuss the difficulties minorities face with regard to equal employment and access to public facilities and services.

A Daily Chronicle of the White House Years, a comprehensive look at all 1,036 days of his presidency, in words, recollections of correspondents and AP photos.