James Shea (literary character)

James Kavanaugh 'Jimmy' Shea (1919-1964) is the fictional president of the United States in the 1960 election. He appears in the novels "The Godfather Returns" and "The Godfather's Revenge" in a role that greatly mirrors the actual President of the time, John F. Kennedy.

James Kavanaugh Shea was born to Mickey Shea and an unnamed mother in New York in 1919. He is the older brother of future attorney general Danny Shea. He grew up being a tough kid and a womanizer, and even met Michael Corleone in the 1930s. He was married in the 1950s and had a son and daughter.

Jimmy Shea was the governor of New Jersey from 1956 to 1960. He was a presidential candidate in the 1960 presidential election. He was backed by Michael Corleone at a commission meeting and was then backed by the mafia. He was known to be unfaithful to his wife and date many starlets, including Michael's current girlfriend.

In January 1961, he had the Central Intelligence Agency director Albert Soffet contact Nick Geraci to lead an assassin squad in New Jersey. This squad was used in 1962 to assassinate a Fidel Castro double and almost led to war with Cuba. He made his brother the attorney general and they both came down hard on organized crime.

In 1963, his presidency came under fire when it was discovered that Cuba was hiding missiles for the Soviet Union, and it resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963. Cuba and Russia stepped down however, throwing him into even more popularity. His brother also at this time prosecuted crime lord Carlo Tramonti.

In 1964 however, his presidency came to an abrupt end when he was assassinated while he was swimming. He was shot three times by a lone gunman, Juan Carlos Santiago, and Santiago was himself killed in a few seconds. His death was a sudden sadness to all Americans and became a milestone in American history.

Despite constant references to him in the Godfather Novels, there is never any dialogue that involves him speaking, aside from a flashback scene with Michael Corleone.