Just a minor point, but JFK was in his second term as senator in 1960.
Things move quicker these days, I suppose. President Kennedy also had some leadership experience with a small crew on a patrol torpedo boat, but I’ve led squads, much less platoons larger than that, by far, and I was only a specialist, not an officer. Kennedy’s father was near the top of the social strata, whereas Senator Cruz’s father was a refugee from a small communist country. That means that most of what Ted has accomplished so far has been by his own initiative, not helped along by power, money and influence.