YOUNGEST ELECTED POTUS TAKES OATH OF OFFICE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 20, 1961, with the Nation's Capital blanketed by snow, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated 35th President of the United States on the East Front of the United States Capitol.
JFK took the oath of office at 12:51 p.m. Eastern time with the temperature being 22 degrees F. along with a wind chill of 7 degrees F.
Todd Purdum of Vanity Fair describes the scene...
"Washington had never seen anything like it: the tidal wave of glamour, promise, and high spirits that descended on the capital for the 1961 inauguration of the youngest president ever elected, John F. Kennedy--a movable, star-studded bash that couldn't be stopped even by a massive snowstorm."
Marian Anderson sang the National Anthem after which JFK's priest, Richard Cardinal Cushing, delivered the opening prayer. Robert Frost attempted unsuccessfully to read a poem that he wrote for the historic event. The bright sun reflecting off the Capitol dome along with the snow covered roofs of surrounding buildings made it impossible for the poet to see.
Instead, Mr. Frost recited one of his poems that he knew 'by heart,' "The Gift Outright"...then Chief Justice Earl Warren administered the oath of office as JFK was sworn on the Fitzgerald family Bible.
President Kennedy's Inaugural Address, considered one of the best of the 20th century, included the following words...
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days; nor in the life of this Administration; nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."
Geoffrey Perret writes...
"Standing in the sunshine, hatless and coatless, he gives a performance not even he could have forseen," Later in the Rotunda, Jacqueline Kennedy gently touched her husband on the cheek and said...
"Oh, Jack, you were wonderful. What a day!"
JFK+50 NOTE:
Three POTUS & three future POTUS attended this inauguration: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ, Nixon & Ford. Five First Ladies and 3 future First Ladies also attended: Edith Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, Jackie Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon and Betty Ford.
SOURCES
"From That Day Forth," by Todd S. Purdum, Vanity Fair, February 2011.
"Jack: A Life Like No Other," by Geoffrey Perret, Random House, New York, 2001.
JFK Gives Inaugural Address
January 20, 1961
Washington, D.C.
Photo by CWO Donald Mingfield
U.S. Army Signal Corps
JFK Library Image
