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- President John F. Kennedy lived with his family in the White House for less than three years.
- His brief presidency was postmarked by increasing tensions with Russia, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Civil Rights movement.
- His kids enjoyed making the most of the expansive White House grounds, while his wife famously restored the residence.
The Kennedys’ time in the White House was brief but iconic.
For less than three years, President John F. Kennedy, his wife Jackie and their two children, Caroline and John Jr., lived in the White House.
During his tenure as the chief of the nation, Kennedy dealt with international nuclear tensions and domestic unrest during the Civil Rights movement. He was unable to get many of his laws through Congress and was assassinated before he could run for re-election.
But due to the iconic image their family created — that of a handsome, wealthy couple with two happy children who hosted glamorous state dinners and redecorated the White House — their legacy is still remembered and celebrated over half a century later.
Here’s how the Kennedys’ life in the White House left such a lasting impression.
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Source: History.com
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Source: JFK Library
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Source: PBS
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Source: History.com
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He is also remembered for his rumored extramarital relationships with women — including Marilyn Monroe and reportedly members of his staff, though the affairs have never been officially confirmed.
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Michael Hogan, a professor of history at University of Illinois at Springfield, the Kennedy brand became “a sacred symbol of all that was good in American life, his virtues those of the nation itself.”
Source: The Conversation
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Kennedy’s foreign policy helped boost his ratings, too. Even though he was responsible for the disastrous Cuba invasion, he was also responsible for ending the Cuban Missile Crisis, showing a reluctance to escalate global affairs.
This meant that after his assassination, he was compared favorably to President Lyndon B. Johnson, who ramped up the war in Vietnam after taking over the presidency from Kennedy.
Sources: The Conversation, New York Magazine
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Source: Time
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Source: Cape Cod Times
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Kennedy didn’t disagree, but he said he didn’t have the time to handle it, which was where Salinger came in.
Source: Los Angeles Times
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Sources: Washington Post, JFK Library
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Sources: Washington Post, JFK Library
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Following a doctor’s recommendation, he used rocking chairs and installed several throughout the White House, including one Jackie had stained and upholstered with foam rubber.
Source: New York Times
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Source: PBS
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Source: PBS
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Source: Wall Street Journal
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Source: Wall Street Journal
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Source: Wall Street Journal
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Source: Wall Street Journal
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Source: Reader’s Digest
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Source: Reader’s Digest
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Source: JFK Library
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Source: Sun Sentinel
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Source: Washington Post
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Source: JFK Library
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Source: Washington Post
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Source: PBS