A narrative can be made more vivid by using different kinds of past tenses. 
The examples given here are from a biography.

The simple past (verb+ed) is used to describe events that happened in 
the past in chronological order.

Example

The following year he married Jacqueline Bouvier who bore him 4
children in the following years. However only two survived to infancy: Caroline
and John.

The past continuous tense (be+ verb+ing)is used to describe a longer action 
that is interrupted by a shorter action.

Example

Kennedy was killed while
he was riding in an open car.

'while he was riding' can be reduced to  'while riding'
When the subject of the two verbs is identical the auxiliary can be left out
and an elliptical structure is thus created.

The past perfect tense (Had + past participle of the verb) is used when an
event happened before another past event.

Example

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May
29, 1917. Kennedy's family had emigrated from Ireland in 1849. 

The past perfect is sometimes used to improve style : to show part of the story in a flashback. 
Certain words in the text may indicate that the event had happened earlier (for example 'before'), 
in which case the use of the past perfect is not necessary.

Example

Khrushchev ordered his ships
to turn back before they reached the Navy

The past perfect tense can be used with adverbs such as "barely", "hardly ...when", "no sooner..than"
 to describe en event that had been completed just before another one happened. With "barely", "hardly ...when" the verb and the subject can be inverted, 
with "no sooner ...than" inversion of the subject and verb is obligatory .

Example

He had barely had time to work on the civil rights bill as he was assassinated
in Dallas ...
 <p> Hardly had he finished when his friend arrived.

 <p>No sooner had Peter received the letter than he rung her.

The past perfect tense is the equivalent of the present perfect tense in a past context.

Example

 ... the first Roman Catholic president who had ever been elected.

The above tenses can be used in the passive voice as well.
 
Simple past passive : was/were+past participle
Past perfect passive : had been +past participle

Example

Because he had been badly injured, he was then sent back to the USA ...

"Would+verb" form is used to describe a future event in a past context; This structure is also called the "future in the past".

Exemple

This confrontation would mark a change in the development of the Cold
War.

"would+verb" can also refer to indirect speech.

Example

He told me he wouldn't go to that party.

was/were to +verb is used to describe an event that necessarily had to happen. it has a similar meaning to "would+verb". 

Example

In 1961, he was to become  the first Roman Catholic president ...

\exercise{module=H5/english/oefkennedy.fr&exo=practice_pasts}{ Past tenses: practice}