35th President of the United States (1961-1963)
Lesser-Known Facts, Untold Stories & Historical Archives
From a sickly child in Brookline to a rebellious prep school prankster to a Harvard graduate who became a bestselling author before age 25.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. In a small cedar box, Rose Kennedy kept health records for her children with a card filing system. On JFK's card, she noted numerous ailments: whooping cough, measles, chicken pox, scarlet fever, mumps, German measles, and bronchitis.
The family joked that if a mosquito bit Jack, it would be sorry because it would catch whatever illness he had at the time. He learned early to underplay the effects of his illnesses and hide his physical suffering.
Source: Heather on History | Boston MagazineIn September 1931, Kennedy began attending Choate, a prestigious prep school in Connecticut. Rose wanted Catholic school, but Joe Sr. believed competing in politics required mingling with prominent Protestant families.
The Nickname: Jack—sickly, underweight—was nicknamed "Rat Face" by his schoolfellows and spent his first two years in his older brother Joe Jr.'s shadow, compensating with rebellious behavior.
The Muckers Club: Their most notorious stunt was exploding a toilet seat with a firecracker. In chapel, headmaster George St. John brandished the toilet seat and condemned "muckers" who would "spit in our sea." Kennedy proudly adopted the name for his group of thirteen members—including lifelong friend Lem Billings.
Almost Expelled: One thwarted scheme was a plan to move a pile of horse manure into the school gym. Despite the pranks, Kennedy graduated in 1935, finishing 64th of 112 students but voted "most likely to succeed."
Source: JFK Library - Muckers Club | CT InsiderScrambling to meet his March 1940 deadline, Kennedy hired typists and stenographers to turn his handwritten drafts into a polished 150-page thesis titled "Appeasement at Munich."
Unique Advantages: Kennedy had unprecedented access—he'd witnessed events firsthand and had access to the U.S. Embassy in London through his father. He supplemented British parliamentary records and declassified documents with personal observations from his 1937 European travels.
The Central Thesis: It wasn't merely Chamberlain's fault, but the entire British political system that prevented timely rearmament against Germany.
Path to Publication: Joe Sr. showed the thesis to journalist Arthur Krock, who helped get it published. The title "Why England Slept" was Krock's suggestion—an allusion to Churchill's "While England Slept." Henry Luce wrote the introduction (Harold Laski had declined, calling it "the book of an immature mind").
Success: Published in July 1940, the book sold 80,000 copies and earned Kennedy $40,000 in royalties. He donated British earnings to bombed Plymouth and bought himself a Buick convertible with the American proceeds.
Source: Wikipedia | JFK Library ArchivesThe controversial patriarch who built a dynasty through ambition, controversy, and an iron will—and whose past would have destroyed his sons' political careers if fully known.
In 1919, Kennedy joined Hayden, Stone & Co., becoming an expert in the unregulated stock market, engaging in tactics later considered insider trading and market manipulation.
Kennedy became a multi-millionaire by taking "short" positions following the 1929 crash. When enlisted to stabilize John D. Hertz's Yellow Cab Company stock against a bear raid, Hertz later suspected Kennedy of carrying out such a raid himself.
The Bootlegging Question: There is strong suggestion he earned significant money bootlegging during Prohibition. He was never caught, and most evidence is anecdotal—but the rumors persisted.
Source: Wikipedia | History CollectionAppointed Ambassador to Great Britain in 1938, Kennedy had no diplomatic experience. He immediately aligned with Prime Minister Chamberlain's appeasement policy and actively sought unauthorized meetings with German diplomats, attempting to arrange personal meetings with Hitler in 1938 and 1939.
Anti-Semitic Remarks: When an aide reported on Nazi assaults on Jews, Kennedy responded: "Well, they brought it on themselves." German Ambassador Herbert von Dirksen claimed Kennedy told him the problem wasn't wanting "to get rid of the Jews" but "the loud clamor with which we accompanied this purpose."
The German Ambassador reportedly referred to Kennedy as "Germany's best friend" in London.
"Democracy is Finished": His November 1940 comments—"Democracy is finished in England. It may be here"—published in the Boston Globe, effectively ended his political career.
Source: All That's Interesting | Warfare History NetworkIn the 1920s, Kennedy moved to Hollywood and had a highly publicized affair with actress Gloria Swanson while still married to Rose. He produced several films and learned the power of image-making—skills he would later use to craft his sons' political careers.
Back in the United States, he blamed Hollywood's "anti-German propaganda" for pushing America into war and blamed the "Jew media" and "Jewish pundits in New York and Los Angeles."
Source: Russell Kirk CenterThe devout Catholic mother who raised nine children, endured unimaginable tragedies, and lived to 104—outliving four of her children.
A strict Catholic, Rose attended mass daily at St. Francis Xavier Parish. For much of her life, she attended Mass twice daily. She used a separate cottage at Hyannis Port to remove herself from the ruckus of her big family, praying in her private retreat.
The Real Head of Household: Because Joseph was often away on business, Rose was responsible for the children's early years. Historian Barbara Perry described her as "Mother Superior."
Strict Methods: Lost interviews from 2017 revealed she had extremely strict rules, including weighing her children once a week. She tracked all nine children's health on index cards. She taught manners, grooming, and decorum, quizzing them at meals: "What did you hear in church today? What was the sermon about?"
Source: JFK Library - Life of Rose Kennedy | BritannicaPope Pius XII honored Rose with the title of Countess in 1951 to celebrate her dedication to the church as well as her "exemplary motherhood and many charitable works."
Even after her 100th birthday in 1990, she rarely missed Sunday mass. Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy outlived four of her nine children, dying at age 104 in 1995.
Source: PBS American ExperienceJFK received the Catholic Last Rites four times in his life before his assassination. He first received them in 1947 after becoming gravely ill in England, then in 1951 when he got a severe fever in Japan, again in 1954 after back surgery, and finally on November 22, 1963.
Source: History.com - 10 Things You May Not Know About JFKThe night before signing the Cuban trade embargo in February 1962, Kennedy asked his press secretary Pierre Salinger to acquire as many Cuban cigars as possible. Salinger returned with 1,200 H. Upmann petit corona cigars. Only after confirming the purchase did Kennedy sign the embargo.
Source: Ranker - Bizarre Facts About JFKThanks to family trusts, Kennedy earned ample annual income. When he entered Congress in 1947, he decided to donate his entire legislative salary to various charities. He quietly maintained this practice as president, becoming the richest man to ever take the oath of office.
Source: Constitution Center - 10 Fascinating FactsBefore WWII, Kennedy attempted to enlist but failed the physical examinations for both the Army's and Navy's officer candidate schools due to intestinal and back problems. Using his father's connections, he was admitted to the Navy in October 1941.
Source: History.comJFK broke racial barriers by becoming the first president to dance with African American women at an inaugural ball, signaling his commitment to civil rights from the very beginning of his presidency.
Source: The Fact File - JFK FactsJFK was the first president who had been a Boy Scout in his early years. In Bronxville, New York, he was a member of Troop 2 for two years.
Source: Sporcle - 16 Facts About JFKKennedy personally arranged for the production of "Seven Days in May" (1964), a film about a military coup against the president. He vacationed in Hyannis Port and turned over the White House grounds to filmmakers Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster for a weekend, even allowing them to stage riots.
Source: PBS American Experience - JFK Did You KnowKennedy survived four assassination attempts during his life before Dallas. A retired postal worker attempted to kill him barely a month after his election by following him from Hyannis Port to Georgetown to Palm Beach in a car loaded with dynamite. Other plots in Chicago and Tampa were discovered in the weeks before November 22, 1963.
Source: AARP - 60 Surprising JFK Assassination FactsJFK's famous bronzed complexion wasn't from the sun - it was hyperpigmentation from Addison's disease, a condition affecting the adrenal glands. The disease causes darkening of the skin, which gave him his distinctive "healthy" appearance.
Source: Healio - All the President's SecretsIn his 1945 diary while touring post-war Europe as a young journalist, Kennedy visited Hitler's Berchtesgaden and wrote that Hitler "had boundless ambition for his country which rendered him a menace to the peace of the world, but he had a mystery about him in the way he lived and in the manner of his death that will live and grow after him." His research assistant later clarified he was speaking to the mystery, not endorsing Nazi ideology.
Source: CBS News - Young JFK's DiaryKennedy was so obsessed with his weight that he traveled with a bathroom scale wherever he went.
Source: RankerDespite his vigorous public image, JFK was one of the most medically compromised presidents in American history. His health problems were deliberately concealed from the public throughout his political career.
Kennedy was diagnosed with Addison's disease in 1947 at age 30 - a potentially fatal insufficiency of the adrenal glands. During the 1960 campaign, his political enemies charged that he had the disease. The cover-up, orchestrated by Dr. Janet Travell, rested on a cleverly worded statement claiming Kennedy "does not now nor has he ever had an ailment described classically as Addison's disease, which is a tuberculosis destruction of the adrenal gland."
As one historian noted: "He is not denying that he had Addison's disease. He is denying that he had Addison's disease caused by tuberculosis. He is not exactly lying here, but it sounds like he is saying that JFK did not have Addison's disease, when he actually did."
Source: Healio - All the President's SecretsBy the time he was president, Kennedy was on 10 to 12 medications a day: antispasmodics for his bowel, muscle relaxants, Phenobarbital, Librium, pain medications including Codeine, Demerol, and Methadone, oral and injected cortisone, testosterone, and Nembutal for sleep. On top of that, he was getting injected sometimes six times a day on his back by the White House physician with Novocain and Procaine, just to enable him to face the day.
Source: PBS NewsHour - President Kennedy's Health SecretsDr. Max Jacobson, dubbed "Dr. Feelgood" by the Secret Service, made 34 visits to the White House over 20 months. His "miracle tissue regenerator" shots contained amphetamines, animal hormones, bone marrow, enzymes, human placenta, painkillers, steroids, and multivitamins.
Kennedy first met Jacobson before the 1960 Nixon debates when he had lost his voice. Jacobson injected his formula into Kennedy's larynx, and JFK's commanding voice returned. When FDA reports questioned the contents, Kennedy reportedly said: "I don't care if it's horse piss. It works."
Historian Barbara Leaming noted: "Kennedy did himself no favors by facing Khrushchev on speed." His leadership improved noticeably after Jacobson's treatments were discontinued.
Source: HistoryNet - How Dr. Feelgood Almost Drove JFK to the BrinkAt the end of a 5-mile Bunker Hill parade on a hot day in June 1946, Kennedy collapsed. Aides claimed that he turned "yellow and blue... He appeared to me as a man who probably had a heart attack." This was likely an early manifestation of adrenal deterioration before his formal diagnosis.
Source: Annals of Internal Medicine - Endocrine Aspects of JFK's HealthWhen the Kennedy Library opened JFK's medical records to historian Robert Dallek in 2002, he was stunned. "There was hardly a day that went by that he didn't suffer terribly," Dallek stated. Despite managing the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis while on steroids, painkillers, anti-spasmodics, antibiotics, antihistamines, and on at least one occasion an anti-psychotic drug, analysis showed "it didn't seem to have affected his presidency at all."
Source: ABC News - JFK Took Many DrugsThe dramatic true story of how young Lieutenant Kennedy saved his crew and became a war hero - complete with the famous coconut shell message.
On August 2, 1943, Lt. John F. Kennedy and his crew patrolled the waters of Blackett Strait in the mid-Solomon Islands in PT-109. It was an ominously dark night devoid of moonlight or stars. Suddenly, the much larger Japanese destroyer Amagiri rode down the boat, splitting it in two, killing two crew members instantly and injuring Kennedy and another crew member.
Source: JFK Library - John F. Kennedy and PT-109The 11 surviving crew swam to a small, unoccupied island, with Kennedy holding the strap of his injured crewmate Patrick McMahon's lifejacket between his teeth, towing him while he swam roughly three-and-a-half miles. Kennedy was the first to arrive at what the survivors called "Bird Island" because of the bird droppings covering the bushes.
On August 4, Kennedy led the men back into the ocean, striking out for Olasana Island in hopes of finding food and fresh water. Kennedy again hauled McMahon by the strap of his life vest while the rest of the crew clustered around a plank.
Source: Military.com - Coconut Message Rescued Shipwrecked JFKFour days after they had been given up as lost, Kennedy and his surviving crew were discovered by Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, two indigenous Solomon Islands scouts working for the Allied Coastwatchers - a network of agents behind enemy lines.
Kennedy was at a loss for a way to send a message, but Gasa showed him how to scratch words into the husk of a green coconut. The carved message read: "NAURO ISL... COMMANDER... NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT... HE CAN PILOT... 11 ALIVE... NEED SMALL BOAT... KENNEDY."
Gasa and Kumana risked their lives paddling through Japanese-patrolled waters to transport the message to the US base.
Source: ANU - Why President JFK Kept a Coconut Husk on His DeskKennedy invited both Gasa and Kumana to his inauguration, but the island authorities gave their trip to local officials instead. The two scouts made it to the airport in Honiara but were turned back by Solomon Island officials because "their appearance and pidgin English would be an embarrassment."
Source: ANUKennedy's father later had the coconut shell encased in plastic on a wood base. President Kennedy used it as a paperweight on his desk in the Oval Office throughout his presidency - a daily reminder of the men who saved his life. The artifact is now preserved at the National Archives.
Source: National Archives - Coconut Shell Bearing Rescue MessageThe wreckage of PT-109 was located in May 2002, at a depth of 1,200 feet, when a National Geographic Society expedition headed by Robert Ballard found a torpedo tube from wreckage matching the description and location of Kennedy's vessel.
Source: Wikipedia - PT-109The remarkable story of JFK's closest friendship—a bond that lasted from prep school to the White House and raised questions that remain discussed today.
Kennedy and Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings met in 1933 in their sophomore year at Choate. They worked together on the yearbook, and their bond grew so tight that "they really had no need for friendships with other boys."
Billings was gay at a time when homosexuality was deeply stigmatized. He once admitted making a pass at Jack early on, claiming he was rebuffed—though some biographers dispute this. What is certain is that the moment defined their friendship: they became roommates and remained inseparable.
Source: Wikipedia - Lem Billings | Princeton Alumni WeeklyBillings had his own bedroom in the White House throughout Kennedy's presidency. An exasperated Jackie once complained: "Lem Billings has been a houseguest every weekend since I've been married."
Joseph Kennedy Sr. called him "my second son." Ted Kennedy later remembered: "I was 3 years old before it dawned on me that Lem wasn't one more older brother."
Kennedy asked Billings to be the first director of the Peace Corps—he declined. But he traveled with Jack constantly, even present during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Robert Kennedy named his son Michael LeMoyne Kennedy after him.
Source: JFK Library PodcastAfter the assassination, Billings was devastated. Biographer Sally Bedell Smith referred to him as "probably the saddest of the Kennedy widows."
He never recovered from JFK's death, struggling with depression for the rest of his life. Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on May 28, 1981, at age 65.
Source: OPENLY NewsThe closest presidential election in American history—and the persistent allegations of fraud that Nixon chose not to contest "for the good of the country."
Kennedy won Illinois by just 8,858 votes out of 4.7 million cast—a margin of 0.18%. Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley was known for "delivering whopping Democratic tallies by fair means and foul."
Reporter Earl Mazo investigated and "claimed to have discovered sufficient evidence of vote fraud to prove that the state was stolen for Kennedy." He found "names of the dead who had voted in Chicago, along with 56 people from one house."
The Recount: A recount of 863 precincts showed the original tally had undercounted Nixon's votes—but only by 943, far from the 4,500 needed to change results. In 40% of rechecked precincts, Nixon's vote had actually been overcounted.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Constitution CenterOn November 9, 1960, Nixon conceded, telling Mazo: "Our country cannot afford the agony of a constitutional crisis."
But at a 1960 Christmas party, he was heard greeting guests: "We won but they stole it from us."
The Historical Consensus: Even if Illinois had flipped to Nixon, Kennedy would still have won the Electoral College with 276 votes—seven more than needed. Most historians conclude that while irregularities occurred, they weren't sufficient to change the outcome.
Source: Slate - Was Nixon Robbed?Inside the Kennedy White House: the routines, the swimming pool, and the carefully managed image of vigor that concealed a body in constant pain.
Kennedy swam twice daily to soothe his ailing back. He made a habit of stopping by at noon, stripping down for a swim, and padding back to his bedroom for lunch and a nap in nothing but a robe—then doing the same at day's end.
As Chief Usher JB West observed: "John F. Kennedy wore three separate suits of clothes every day of his White House life."
Source: Helytimes - The White House PoolJFK used the White House pool more than any president except FDR. In 1961, his father gifted him a Caribbean seaside mural painted by Bernard Lamotte along three walls of the pool.
Kennedy was egalitarian about pool access, inviting staffers of all ranks to join him for lunchtime swims, usually accompanied by Charlie, the First Dog, a Welsh terrier.
Source: White House Historical AssociationKennedy began each day reading five newspapers. He took afternoon naps—a practice he maintained throughout his presidency. In 1961, he began treatment with Dr. Hans Kraus, a New York orthopedic surgeon, consisting mainly of targeted exercise sessions that became part of his daily routine, providing pain relief and a pleasant break from presidential demands.
Source: JFK Library - A President's DayThe dangerous dance between the President and the FBI Director who kept files on everyone—including the man in the Oval Office.
JFK first came to Hoover's attention in 1942 during a well-publicized affair with Inga Arvad, a former Nazi sympathizer and suspected spy. The FBI had bugged her house for months. It would not be the last time Hoover was privy to JFK's private life.
Source: Dickinson College - JFK and HooverOn March 22, 1962, Hoover had lunch with Kennedy and revealed what the FBI had learned through bugs and wiretaps: Jack was having an affair with Judith Campbell Exner, who was also sleeping with Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana.
As Tim Weiner wrote: "Hoover's knowledge of JFK's private conduct and RFK's political conspiracies were potentially lethal political weapons. He brandished them now."
Because Hoover knew such tidbits, no president would fire him. Hoover's "secret files" filled four rooms on the fifth floor of FBI headquarters.
Source: Daily Beast - Hoover's Dirty FilesHoover maintained "Official and Confidential" files on presidents, congressmen, and anyone who might threaten his power. As early as 1945, President Truman complained about how Hoover's agents were "dabbling in sex life scandals and plain blackmail when they should be catching criminals."
Historian Ronald Kessler concluded: "Reading the 'Official and Confidential' files that survived makes it clear they could have been gathered for no other purpose than blackmail."
Source: Wikipedia - J. Edgar HooverThe explosive intersection of the White House, the Mafia, and CIA assassination plots—all connected through one woman.
On February 7, 1960—weeks after Kennedy announced his candidacy—Frank Sinatra introduced him to Judith Campbell in Las Vegas. She would later claim to be the mistress of both Kennedy and mob boss Sam Giancana simultaneously.
For about 18 months, Exner claimed she served as the president's link with the Mob, "crisscrossing the nation carrying envelopes between the president and Giancana, and arranging about 10 meetings between the two."
Source: Wikipedia - Judith ExnerDocuments released in 1997 and 2007 confirmed that the CIA recruited mobsters including Giancana to assassinate Fidel Castro. The CIA gave poison pills to Giancana's nominee, Juan Orta, who had access to Castro. After six attempts to introduce poison into Castro's food, Orta demanded to be relieved.
Exner later claimed the messages she carried concerned these assassination plans. Giancana and JFK allegedly shared a girlfriend while the CIA and Mob were plotting together against Cuba.
Source: Wikipedia - Sam GiancanaIn 1975, Senator Frank Church's committee discovered the Exner-Kennedy-Giancana connection. Giancana was ordered to testify. On June 19, 1975—before he could appear—he was murdered in his own home: a massive wound in the back of the head and six shots in a circle around his mouth.
Source: Spartacus EducationalThe Nebraska lawyer who became JFK's "intellectual blood bank" and crafted some of the most memorable words in American political history.
Sorensen's relationship with Kennedy began in January 1953. They became so close that Sorensen served effectively as chief of staff (there was none officially) while also serving as primary speechwriter.
"There's nothing like listening to him day after day for a speech writer to find out what goes and what doesn't," Sorensen said. "So our style and our standard fused and grew together."
JFK called him his "intellectual blood bank." No other speechwriter ever had Sorensen's access, and no politician ever benefited more from a wordsmith's talents.
Source: Wikipedia - Ted SorensenSorensen helped draft the inaugural address containing "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
In his 2008 memoir, Sorensen admitted he "wrote a first draft of most of the chapters" of JFK's speeches. But about the famous line, he was always coy: "The truth is that I simply don't remember where the line came from."
When asked if he wrote it, his standard response was: "Ask not."
Source: Medium - JFK's Favourite Writing TrickKennedy's most enduring domestic and foreign policy legacies—programs that have sent hundreds of thousands of Americans around the world.
On October 14, 1960, Kennedy arrived late to speak to students at the University of Michigan—and found 10,000 students waiting at 2 o'clock in the morning. Speaking extemporaneously, he challenged American youth to devote part of their lives to living and working in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Three days after signing the executive order establishing the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961, R. Sargent Shriver—JFK's brother-in-law—became its first director.
Source: Peace Corps - Founding MomentKennedy knew critics would attack the Peace Corps idea. He needed a leader with speed, energy, and diplomatic skills. Shriver developed programs in 55 countries with over 14,500 volunteers in just six years.
He went on to create the Job Corps, Head Start, VISTA, and Upward Bound as architect of the War on Poverty. Over 50 years, nearly a quarter million Americans have served in 140+ countries.
Source: Sargent Shriver Peace InstituteOn March 13, 1961, Kennedy launched the Alliance for Progress—a $20 billion, 10-year initiative to counter communist influence in Latin America through economic development and democratic reform.
Ambitious Goals: 2.5% annual per capita income growth, elimination of adult illiteracy by 1970, land reform, and democratic governments across Latin America.
Mixed Results: The program built housing, schools, hospitals, and water purification projects. But only 2% of 1960s Latin American economic growth directly benefited the poor, and U.S.-Latin American relations deteriorated by decade's end.
Source: JFK Library - Alliance for ProgressThe Soviet Union had just launched two cosmonauts within one day of each other. America was behind in the space race, and Kennedy needed to rally public support for the expensive Apollo program.
The Setting: 40,000 people gathered at Rice Stadium on a warm, sunny day. Kennedy's speechwriter Ted Sorensen prepared initial drafts, but Kennedy made crucial additions.
The Famous Ad-Lib: Handwritten notes show Kennedy added the line "Why does Rice play Texas?" last minute - playing to the local audience and drawing great applause at the underdog football comparison.
Initial Reception: Research materials indicate this speech went relatively unnoticed at the time. It received the usual press coverage, but there was no increase in mail to the White House.
Legacy: The speech galvanized public support, leading to $25 billion in government investment (over $100 billion today). NASA funding reached 4.4% of the national budget in 1966. When Americans landed on the moon in 1969, the speech became immortal.
Twenty-two months after the Berlin Wall was erected, Kennedy visited the divided city. He arrived intending to promote conciliation, but something happened when he saw the crowds.
Departure from Script: The adulation Kennedy received touring Berlin in an open car was beyond anything he'd ever experienced. An immense crowd of 120,000 gathered. He actually gave much of the address impromptu, discarding many prepared remarks.
Language Lessons: Kennedy practiced the German phrases with interpreter Robert Lochner. "It became clear quickly that the president did not have a gift for languages," Lochner recalled. Kennedy practiced several times in Mayor Willy Brandt's offices and wrote phonetic transcriptions on note cards.
The Crowd's Reaction: "Unbelievable rejoicing, people had tears in their eyes. It was like a liberation." Speechwriter Ted Sorensen later said: "If he had said let us march, they might have marched on the wall and torn it down."
The "Jelly Doughnut" Myth: The widespread misconception that Kennedy accidentally said he was a jelly doughnut is false. The type of doughnut called "Berliner" is only used outside of Berlin - in Berlin, it's called "Pfannkuchen."
Diplomatic Fallout: Kennedy's advisors weren't pleased. He had just alienated the Communist Bloc while trying to woo the Soviets into nuclear test ban negotiations. Khrushchev declared Kennedy a war monger.
Just nine months after the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, Kennedy chose a college commencement to announce a dramatic shift in Cold War policy.
Key Announcements: Kennedy announced agreement to negotiations toward a comprehensive test ban treaty and his decision to unilaterally suspend all U.S. atmospheric nuclear testing as long as other nations did the same.
The Message: Using simple, eloquent phrases, Kennedy praised the Soviet people for their achievements and explained the urgent necessity of pursuing peace. "If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity."
American Reception: The speech did not receive much response in the United States.
Soviet Reception: It was warmly received in the USSR, particularly by Premier Khrushchev. Less than two months later, the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed.
Hours after federalizing the Alabama National Guard to force Governor George Wallace to allow Black students into the University of Alabama, Kennedy made a sudden decision to address the nation.
A Last-Minute Speech: The decision to speak that evening was sudden. Although civil rights legislation had been in the works, speechwriter Ted Sorensen didn't start a first draft until that afternoon.
The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door: That morning, Wallace had stood at Foster Auditorium blocking the way of Vivian Malone and James Hood. After Kennedy federalized the National Guard, General Henry Graham commanded Wallace to step aside.
A Moral Issue: Kennedy framed racial injustice as a moral or ethical issue - a groundbreaking approach. "We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and as clear as the American constitution."
Legacy: Kennedy was not able to pass the legislation during his time in office. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2, 1964. Vivian Malone became the first Black graduate of the University of Alabama in 1965.
When Jackie Kennedy arrived at the White House, she found it "like a hotel that had been decorated by a wholesale furniture store during a January clearance." What followed was the most ambitious restoration in White House history.
Jackie was horrified by the state of the Executive Mansion. She reportedly told a friend the second floor looked like "a Maison Close" (French for brothel). The furniture was reproduction, the paintings forgettable, and historic artifacts had been dispersed or lost over decades.
Within two weeks of moving in, Jackie began her campaign to transform the White House into a living museum of American history.
Source: White House Historical AssociationJackie established the Fine Arts Committee for the White House in February 1961, recruiting Henry Francis du Pont—the country's foremost expert on American decorative arts—as chairman. She also created the position of White House Curator, a permanent role that continues today.
She personally wrote letters to potential donors, tracked down original White House furniture in private collections, and convinced Congress to pass legislation declaring White House furnishings museum property that could never again be sold.
Source: JFK Library - White House RestorationJackie personally oversaw the creation of "The White House: An Historic Guide"—the first-ever official guidebook. Published in 1962, it sold for $1 and became a bestseller, with proceeds funding further acquisitions. The guidebook has been continuously updated and remains in print today.
Source: White House Historical AssociationOn Valentine's Day 1962, 56 million Americans—three-quarters of all television viewers that evening—watched Jackie lead CBS correspondent Charles Collingwood through the restored rooms. It was the first televised tour of the White House interior.
Technical Challenge: The broadcast required 54 production workers and seven cameras. Jackie pre-recorded most segments over two days, memorizing facts about hundreds of artifacts.
Critical Reception: Some critics mocked her breathy voice, but the public was enchanted. Jackie won an honorary Emmy Award for the broadcast. The show was translated into 26 languages and shown in 50 countries.
Source: JFK Library - White House TourJackie's most celebrated achievement was restoring the Lincoln Bedroom. She tracked down the actual bed Lincoln used (a rosewood bed purchased by Mary Todd Lincoln in 1861) which had been stored in a government warehouse. She also recovered Lincoln's handwritten copy of the Gettysburg Address for display.
When she couldn't find suitable period wallpaper, she had a reproduction made based on an 1850s pattern—a maroon and gold design that remained in the room for decades.
Source: White House Historical AssociationBy the time she left the White House, Jackie had transformed 14 rooms and acquired over 600 works of art and historic furnishings. The White House Historical Association she helped establish has since raised over $50 million for preservation.
Lady Bird Johnson, who continued the project, said: "Mrs. Kennedy made it possible for all of us to appreciate the White House. She made a wonderful contribution to this country."
Source: Washington Post - The Kennedy RestorationThe Kennedy children transformed the White House into something it had never been: a home with young children. Their antics delighted the nation and humanized the presidency.
Caroline's pony, Macaroni, became one of the most famous animals in America. Given to her by Vice President Lyndon Johnson in 1961, Macaroni roamed the White House grounds and became so famous that he received over 50,000 letters from children. The White House staff had to hire someone just to handle his fan mail.
Other pets included Charlie the Welsh terrier, Pushinka (a gift from Soviet Premier Khrushchev), Wolf the Irish wolfhound, Clipper the German shepherd, Shannon the Irish cocker spaniel, and Tom Kitten.
Source: JFK Library - MacaroniIn 1961, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev sent the Kennedy family a puppy named Pushinka—daughter of Strelka, one of the first dogs to orbit Earth and return alive. The gift was a Cold War propaganda coup, reminding Americans of Soviet space supremacy.
The Secret Service X-rayed the dog for listening devices. Finding none, Pushinka joined the Kennedy menagerie. She later had puppies with Charlie the terrier—JFK jokingly called them "pupniks."
Source: JFK Library - PushinkaJackie established a small kindergarten on the third floor of the White House, with ten children including Caroline Kennedy. It was taught by two professional teachers and included a play group, art activities, and field trips around Washington.
The kindergarten operated from October 1961 until the assassination. Jackie wanted to give Caroline as normal a childhood as possible despite living in the most famous house in America.
Source: White House Historical AssociationThe most famous photograph of John Jr. shows him peeking out from the front panel of his father's Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. Photographer Stanley Tretick captured the image on October 15, 1963—just 38 days before the assassination.
JFK had a special panel installed in the desk that could swing open, and John Jr. treated it as his personal hideout during visits to his father's office. Kennedy would work while his son played at his feet.
Source: JFK Library - Oval Office PhotosOn November 25, 1963—John Jr.'s third birthday—he stood on the steps of St. Matthew's Cathedral during his father's funeral procession. As the flag-draped coffin passed, Jackie leaned down and whispered to her son. John Jr. raised his right hand in a salute.
The photograph became one of the most iconic images of the 20th century. Jackie had taught him to salute military personnel just days before, never imagining the context in which he would use it.
Source: TIME - The Story Behind the SaluteThe relationship between JFK and Marilyn Monroe remains one of the most debated topics in Kennedy history. What is documented is strange enough without speculation.
On May 19, 1962, Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday" to President Kennedy at a Democratic fundraiser in Madison Square Garden. It was JFK's 45th birthday celebration (his actual birthday was May 29), attended by 15,000 people.
Peter Lawford introduced her as "the late Marilyn Monroe"—a joke about her notorious tardiness, but eerily prescient given she would die just 11 weeks later.
Source: JFK Library - Birthday CelebrationMonroe's flesh-colored, rhinestone-studded Jean Louis gown was so tight she had to be sewn into it. She wore nothing underneath. Peter Lawford recalled that JFK's comment upon seeing her performance was simply: "What an ass. What an ass."
The dress sold at auction in 1999 for $1.26 million, and again in 2016 for $4.8 million—making it the most expensive dress ever sold at auction. Kim Kardashian famously wore it to the 2022 Met Gala, sparking controversy about potential damage to the historic garment.
Source: Vanity FairDespite decades of speculation, documentable facts are limited. They first met in the 1950s through Peter Lawford, JFK's brother-in-law. Monroe attended several Kennedy gatherings. The FBI monitored her movements and phone calls.
Historian Robert Dallek notes: "There is no credible evidence of a sustained relationship." Mimi Alford, who had an 18-month affair with JFK, wrote that he treated Monroe as "something of a pest."
Monroe's psychiatrist's notes, released in 2005, revealed she felt "rejected" by both Kennedy brothers shortly before her death.
Source: Biography.com - Marilyn Monroe and JFKMonroe died on August 4, 1962, from a barbiturate overdose. The official ruling was "probable suicide." Conspiracy theories linking her death to the Kennedys have never been substantiated despite multiple investigations.
In 1982, the Los Angeles District Attorney investigated and found "no credible evidence" of foul play. In 2022, newly released FBI documents showed the agency had monitored Monroe but contained no evidence linking the Kennedys to her death.
Source: FBI Vault - Marilyn Monroe FilesKennedy's Pulitzer Prize-winning book remains controversial. Did he actually write it? The answer is more complicated than either side admits.
"Profiles in Courage" (1956) told the stories of eight U.S. Senators who risked their careers by taking unpopular positions. Published while Kennedy was recovering from back surgery, it became a bestseller and won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
The book transformed Kennedy's image from wealthy playboy to thoughtful intellectual, perfectly positioning him for his 1960 presidential run.
Source: JFK Library - Profiles in CourageOn December 7, 1957, columnist Drew Pearson appeared on The Mike Wallace Interview and stated that Kennedy's book was "ghost-written" and "Ted Sorensen actually wrote the book." He called Kennedy "the only man in history that I know who won a Pulitzer Prize on a book which was ghostwritten for him."
Kennedy threatened to sue ABC for $50 million. The network issued a retraction and apology, stating Pearson's remarks were "unfounded."
Source: History News Network - The Ghostwriting ControversyFor decades, Sorensen insisted Kennedy wrote the book. But in his 2008 memoir "Counselor," published a year before his death, Sorensen finally acknowledged: "I wrote a first draft of most of the chapters."
He clarified that Kennedy extensively revised his drafts, conducted much of the research himself, and was responsible for the book's overall conception and themes. "He was the author of the book in every genuine sense," Sorensen maintained.
Source: New York Times - Sorensen Acknowledges Writing JFK BookHistorian Herbert Parmet examined all available evidence in 1980 and concluded: "The research, the words, and most of the ideas came from Sorensen." The JFK Library holds extensive files showing Sorensen's drafts with Kennedy's handwritten corrections.
However, Kennedy was bedridden for months with severe back problems, dictating notes and directions while in constant pain. Whether this constitutes "authorship" depends on how one defines the term.
The Pulitzer Prize has never been rescinded.
Source: Washington Post - Jack Kennedy and the Ghost"The Kennedy Curse" refers to a series of deaths, accidents, assassinations, and calamities involving members of the Kennedy family. Following the Chappaquiddick incident in 1969, Ted Kennedy questioned if "some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys."
Rose Marie "Rosemary" Kennedy, the eldest daughter, reportedly exhibited developmental delays from birth due to oxygen deprivation during delivery. As she grew older, she became more rebellious with mood swings, seizures, and violent outbursts.
The Secret Surgery: Joseph Kennedy secretly arranged for her to undergo a prefrontal lobotomy. Dr. James Watts later told author Ronald Kessler that in his opinion, Rosemary did not have "mental retardation" but rather a form of depression. Joe Kennedy referred to her as mentally retarded rather than mentally ill to protect John's reputation for a presidential run.
The Aftermath: The lobotomy was botched, leaving Rosemary with the intellectual capabilities of a 2-year-old and taking away her ability to walk and talk. Her mother did not visit her for 20 years. Her father never visited at all. None of her siblings knew of her whereabouts for 20 years.
Source: Wikipedia - Rosemary KennedyThe eldest son, groomed by his father for the presidency, died at age 29 when his military aircraft exploded over East Suffolk, England during Project Anvil in World War II. An explosive in his plane detonated early, destroying the aircraft and killing Kennedy and his co-pilot instantly. The details were kept secret until after the war.
Source: History Hit - Kennedy Curse TimelineJFK's favorite sister died in a plane crash in France at age 28. Her husband, William Cavendish, had been fatally shot by a German sniper in Belgium on September 9, 1944 - just four years earlier.
Source: History HitIn addition to Caroline and John Jr., the Kennedys had two other children. In 1956, Jackie gave birth to a stillborn girl whom they intended to name Arabella. In August 1963, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born five-and-a-half weeks early and died two days later. The loss of Patrick brought Jack and Jackie closer together. Arthur Schlesinger wrote that their marriage "never seemed more solid than in the later months of 1963." Both children were later moved to Arlington National Cemetery to be next to their father.
Source: History.comJFK's brother and Attorney General was assassinated in Los Angeles after winning the California Democratic presidential primary.
Source: Wikipedia - Kennedy CurseJFK's son died when his plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard. His wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette also died in the crash.
Source: Wikipedia - Kennedy CurseOf Joe Kennedy's nine children: one was confined to an institution for life, two were killed in plane crashes, two were assassinated in public office, and one had his political career ruined by an accident that resulted in the death of a young campaign worker.
Source: Irish Central - Kennedy Family CurseWhen the Kennedys moved into the White House in 1961, "Jackie had a secret spy in the office of Jack's personal secretary and told her, 'I need you to keep an eye on what's going on.'"
Source: Yahoo Entertainment - New Book Reveals Jackie Kennedy Had a Secret SpyIn 1956, JFK began an affair with flight attendant Joan Lundberg that nearly drove Jackie to divorce him. When Joe Kennedy Sr. found out about her divorce plans, he "told Jackie that if she agreed to stay in the marriage, he could give her the freedom to do whatever she liked. He would offer her $100,000 upon the birth of her and Jack's first child." Jackie accepted.
Source: NewsNation - JFK Biography Reveals What Jackie KnewKennedy had affairs with two secretaries on his staff: Jill Cowan and Priscilla Wear. They were given the Secret Service nicknames "Fiddle and Faddle" and would reportedly accompany JFK on business trips. According to press aide Barbara Gamarekian, Jackie once stated while speaking in French to a Paris-Match reporter, "This is the girl that's sleeping with my husband."
Source: SheKnows - JFK's Affairs"Jackie Style" author Pamela Keogh claims the example set by Jackie's father, who had affairs during his marriage to her mother, set the tone for what she would expect. "She came from a world where that is what men did, and it was accepted."
Jackie later told a family member: "I was doing my best with the cards I'd been dealt. I loved Jack. I know he loved me. I had to ignore the rest of it. My marriage was like a deep black hole and I knew if I looked down, I'd fall in."
Source: Katie Couric Media - Inside the Early CourtshipJacqueline Kennedy fiercely guarded her privacy, especially following the assassination. Just three months before her death at 64 in 1994, she burned a stack of letters from friends, lovers and family, including JFK.
Source: Wikipedia - Jacqueline Kennedy OnassisAir Force One touches down in Fort Worth, Texas. The President and First Lady arrive at Hotel Texas at 11:35 PM.
Kennedy makes speeches at a parking lot and Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast, then flies to Dallas Love Field.
The motorcade begins its 10-mile route through downtown Dallas in a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible.
As the limousine passes the Texas School Book Depository and turns onto Elm Street at Dealey Plaza, shots ring out. The first shot misses. The second strikes Kennedy in the upper back, exits through his throat, and wounds Governor Connally. The third and fatal shot hits Kennedy in the head.
President Kennedy is pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital - just 30 minutes after the shooting.
Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit is murdered in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. Three spent cartridge shells are discovered in a "sniper's perch" on the sixth floor of the Depository.
Lee Harvey Oswald is captured at the Texas Theatre, about three miles from Dealey Plaza, after shooting Officer Tippit.
Lyndon B. Johnson takes the oath of office as the 36th President aboard Air Force One at Love Field. Judge Sarah T. Hughes administers the oath - the first and only time a woman has done so, and the only time it was taken on an airplane. Jackie Kennedy, still wearing clothes stained with her husband's blood, stands beside Johnson.
Air Force One departs for Washington.
The Secret Service agent who climbed onto the back of the presidential limousine after the shots became an unwitting witness to history—and carried the weight of that day for the rest of his life.
Clinton J. Hill was assigned to protect First Lady Jackie Kennedy. When the shots rang out in Dealey Plaza, Hill sprinted from the follow-up car toward the limousine. The famous Zapruder film shows him climbing onto the trunk as Jackie reached backward.
"I saw her hand come back onto the back of the car," Hill recalled. "I was afraid she was going to be hit, or fall off, or be shot." He pushed her back into the seat and covered the President and First Lady with his body as the motorcade raced to Parkland Hospital.
Source: JFK Library - Warren Commission TestimonyHill spent decades tormented by the belief that he could have saved Kennedy if he had been faster. "That's a guilt I've had to deal with," he told 60 Minutes in 2010. "I'll never get rid of it."
He suffered from severe depression and alcohol abuse for years. "I couldn't protect him. And that's my failure. And it will be with me for the rest of my life." Fellow agents noted he rarely spoke about Dallas for decades.
Source: CBS News - Clint Hill: I Still Feel ResponsibleHill rode with Jackie in the limousine to Parkland. He was the one who told Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff that Kennedy was dead, minutes before the official announcement. "I told him the President's condition was very, very serious."
He remained at Jackie's side throughout the flight back to Washington, standing beside her as Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office aboard Air Force One.
Source: Washington Post - Clint Hill's Life After the AssassinationJackie Kennedy personally requested that Hill remain her Secret Service agent after the assassination. He protected her and the children for another year. When she remarried Aristotle Onassis in 1968, she asked Hill to give her away—he declined, feeling it inappropriate.
"She was the bravest woman I have ever known," Hill said. "She put her husband's head back together and held it there until we got to the hospital."
Source: Newsweek - Clint Hill Looks BackAfter decades of silence, Hill published his memoir "Mrs. Kennedy and Me" in 2012. Now in his 90s, he has written several books about his experiences. He has said that writing helped him finally process the trauma of November 22, 1963.
"I've accepted I did all I could," Hill said in a 2021 interview. "It took me a long time to come to that. But I'm at peace with it now."
Source: Mrs. Kennedy and Me (2012)How Jackie Kennedy transformed her husband's brief presidency into an enduring myth—and why she chose an eternal flame to mark his grave.
The eternal flame at Arlington National Cemetery was Jackie Kennedy's idea, conceived just days after the assassination. She had seen the eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and remembered being moved by it.
The Secretary of the Army initially worried it couldn't be done in time. But military engineers worked through the night before the funeral to install a propane gas line. The flame was lit by Jackie at the burial ceremony on November 25, 1963.
Source: Arlington National Cemetery - JFK GravesiteThe current eternal flame was installed in 1967 when JFK's body was moved from its temporary grave to the permanent memorial. It uses a constant spark to reignite itself if wind or rain extinguishes it—which happens more than the public realizes.
The flame burns natural gas at 3,000 BTUs, consuming about 200 cubic feet of gas per hour. It has only been intentionally extinguished once—during the 1967 relocation—and was relit by Jackie and Robert Kennedy.
Source: White House Historical AssociationJust one week after the assassination, Jackie Kennedy invited Theodore H. White to Hyannis Port for an exclusive interview for Life magazine. She told him: "At night, before we'd go to sleep, Jack liked to play some records; and the song he loved most came at the very end of this record. The lines he loved to hear were: 'Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.'"
The reference was to the Broadway musical "Camelot," which had opened in 1960—the year of JFK's election.
Source: JFK Library - The Camelot LegendTheodore White later expressed ambivalence about what he had created. "She wanted the Kennedy years to be remembered as a magic moment," he wrote in his memoir. "She was asking me to give her husband a place in history."
"The Camelot comparison was Jackie's idea," White admitted. "I was her instrument." His editors wanted to cut the Camelot reference as too sentimental, but Jackie personally lobbied to keep it in.
Source: Smithsonian - How Camelot Shaped JFK's LegacyThe Camelot myth has been criticized by historians as oversimplifying Kennedy's presidency. Yet it endures. Historian William Manchester wrote: "The third decade of the century belonged to F.D.R. and the New Deal. The fourth to Truman and the Marshall Plan. The fifth was Eisenhower's—peaceful, easy, aimless. But we have given a special name to those thousand days of the sixth decade—Camelot."
Jackie Kennedy understood something about memory: the power of a single, resonant image can outlast any number of policy debates. The eternal flame burns still.
Source: Miller Center - JFK Impact and LegacyOn January 23, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the release of all remaining assassination records. The release contained over 80,000 pages of previously classified records with no redactions - including CIA covert operations, sources and methods, agent identities, global targets, and previously unknown clandestine activities.
Source: National Archives - 2025 JFK Documents ReleaseOne document revealed that 47% of political officers working in overseas U.S. embassies in 1961 were actually intelligence agents working under diplomatic cover. At the U.S. Embassy in France alone, the CIA had 123 undercover agents acting as diplomats.
Source: National Security Archive - CIA Covert OpsProfessor Marc Selverstone from the University of Virginia stated: "I didn't really see anything to change the narrative indicating that Oswald as the lone gunman was the person who killed John F Kennedy and that it was not the result of a conspiracy."
The documents confirm that Oswald visited both the Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico City before the assassination.
Source: UVA News - Declassified JFK PapersA 2023 Gallup poll found that 65 percent of Americans still reject the Warren Commission's conclusion about the assassination.
Source: The Nation - JFK Assassination: The Final SecretsIn the summer of 1962, recording devices were secretly installed in the White House at Kennedy's request. Known only to the President, his secretary, Robert Kennedy, and the technicians who installed them, these devices captured 248 hours of meeting tapes and 12 hours of telephone recordings - including over 20 hours from the Cuban Missile Crisis ExComm meetings.
Source: JFK Library - White House Tape RecordingsThese documentaries and archives are available for free viewing without paywalls.
A four-hour documentary offering "a new perspective on the beloved and enigmatic John F. Kennedy's private life, his relationship with his wife, his close connection to his brother Robert, and his bond with his father." Features interviews with Kennedy family members, historians Robert Dallek, Robert Caro, and Evan Thomas.
How to Watch Free: Available on pbs.org and the free PBS App (iPhone, Apple TV, Android, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Vizio).
Watch on PBS →The full American Experience documentary is available for free download and streaming on the Internet Archive.
Watch on Internet Archive →Extensive collection of JFK-related video files including news clips, speeches, and historical footage available for free.
Browse Collection → More JFK Videos →Original motion picture footage covering the final two days in President Kennedy's life - scenes of his public appearances in San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth, and Dallas, including his last public words.
Watch A-Roll Footage → Watch B-Roll Footage →Public domain footage including JFK's Cuban Missile Crisis address (1962), Moon Speech at Rice Stadium (1962), State of the Union addresses (1961, 1962), Berlin Speech (1963), and Inaugural Address (1961).
Browse Footage →Excerpts from the 43 hours of secret recordings from ExComm meetings during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Listen to Audio Clips →Full collection of JFK's most important speeches with audio and video where available.
Browse Speeches →Over six million pages of records, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings, and artifacts - the vast majority now declassified and available online.
Browse Records →The following archives contain thousands of Kennedy family photographs, many now digitized and freely accessible.
Approximately 6,000 items documenting the Kennedy and Fitzgerald families over 100 years (1878-1980). All photographs, scrapbooks, and albums have been digitized and are accessible online. Includes over 8,600 scanned images and approximately 8,000 scanned pages across 52 bound volumes.
Browse Collection → Source: JFK Library Archives BlogThe JFK Library audiovisual archives contain over 400,000 still photographs taken from 1863 to 1984, including the public domain White House photo series. Many are available through the National Archives and Mary Ferrell Foundation.
Browse White House Photos →Search the full digital archives including photographs, documents, and audiovisual materials.
Search Archives →Images and materials related to JFK's 1963 visit to Ireland and the Kennedy family's Irish roots in Dunganstown, County Wexford.
View Homecoming Collection →Collections related to the assassination, including photographs of Dealey Plaza, the motorcade, and aftermath.
Visit Museum Site →While the National Archives owns the physical materials in the Kennedy Family Collection, copyright to many photographs is held by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation or the original photographers. Documents prepared by U.S. officials as part of their duties are in the public domain. Always check individual item descriptions for restrictions before republishing.
Source: JFK Library - Copyright InformationThe Library of Congress holds millions of items documenting American history, including extensive Kennedy-era materials. All digital collections are freely accessible to the public.
Search over 17 million images including thousands of Kennedy-era photographs. Collections include the U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection, New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection, and Look Magazine Photograph Collection—all containing significant JFK coverage.
Search tip: Use terms like "Kennedy," "JFK," "John F. Kennedy," or "Kennedy family" to find relevant images. Many photographs are rights-free for personal use.
Search Photographs → Kennedy Photo Results →Search digitized American newspapers from 1770-1963. Find contemporaneous coverage of Kennedy's rise, the 1960 campaign, his presidency, and the assassination as it was reported in real-time across the nation.
Key dates to search: November 9, 1960 (election), January 20, 1961 (inauguration), October 1962 (Cuban Missile Crisis), November 22-25, 1963 (assassination and funeral).
Search Historic Newspapers → Kennedy Coverage 1960-1963 →The Library's audio collections include historical recordings, speeches, and broadcasts. Search for Kennedy speeches, press conferences, and radio coverage from the era.
Browse National Jukebox → Search All Audio →The Library of Congress preserves America's film heritage through the National Film Registry and extensive newsreel collections. Find historical footage of Kennedy-era events, political campaigns, and news coverage.
Browse Film Collections → National Film Registry →The Manuscript Division holds the papers of 23 U.S. Presidents (though JFK's official papers are at the JFK Library). Related collections include papers of journalists, diplomats, and political figures who interacted with Kennedy.
Search Manuscripts →Historical maps from the Kennedy era including Cold War-era maps, Cuba (relevant to the Missile Crisis), Berlin, Vietnam, and other locations significant to Kennedy's foreign policy.
Search Maps →The Library's web archives preserve significant websites. Search for archived Kennedy-related web content and digital resources that may no longer be available elsewhere.
Browse Web Archives →Rights & Access: Most items created by U.S. government employees are in the public domain. For other materials, check the "Rights Advisory" on each item's page. The Library provides rights information but cannot grant or deny permission to use materials.
Downloading: High-resolution images and documents can often be downloaded directly. Look for download options on individual item pages.
Citation: When using LOC materials, cite as: [Item title], [Collection name], Library of Congress, [URL].
Source: Library of Congress - Legal InformationKennedy's advisers warned him not to meet with Khrushchev so soon after the Bay of Pigs disaster. They were right. Kennedy arrived confident he could charm the Soviet leader, but Khrushchev "just beat the hell out of me."
During their private meeting, Khrushchev declared, "Force will be met by force. If the US wants war, that's its problem." Kennedy retorted, "Then, Mr. Chairman, there will be a war. It will be a cold winter."
Kennedy confided to journalist James Reston afterward, describing it as the "worst thing in my life." Khrushchev told aides Kennedy was "very young, not strong enough; too smart and too weak." Two months later, the Soviets erected the Berlin Wall.
Source: History.com - JFK Was Completely UnpreparedKennedy's visit to Ireland in June 1963 marked the first visit of an Irish-American President, the first of a Catholic President, and the first of a sitting President. No one traveling with him had ever seen him happier.
Visiting his relatives in New Ross and the ancestral homestead in Dunganstown, Kennedy was ecstatic. A press aide recalls seeing him running up the stairs of the American Embassy in Dublin exclaiming, "They love me in Ireland!"
"It took 115 years to make this trip, and 6,000 miles, and three generations," he said by the River Barrow. Five months later, he was dead. The JFK-Ireland legacy lives on: a flame from his Arlington gravesite was used to light the Emigrant Flame in New Ross.
Source: Kennedy Homestead | Irish Echo