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John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Shirley Seltzer Cooper, 1919 - 1999
Sitter
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 29 May 1917 - 22 Nov 1963
Date
1961
Type
Drawing
Medium
Pastel
Dimensions
Sheet: 61.6 x 46.4cm (24 1/4 x 18 1/4")
Frame: 81.4 x 66.3cm (32 1/16 x 26 1/8")
Topic
Interior
Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Necktie
John Fitzgerald Kennedy: Male
John Fitzgerald Kennedy: Literature\Writer
John Fitzgerald Kennedy: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Massachusetts
John Fitzgerald Kennedy: Military and Intelligence\Navy\Officer
John Fitzgerald Kennedy: Politics and Government\President of US
John Fitzgerald Kennedy: Politics and Government\US Senator\Massachusetts
John Fitzgerald Kennedy: Pulitzer Prize
John Fitzgerald Kennedy: Presidential Medal of Freedom
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Ted Cooper
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Object number
NPG.99.128
Exhibition Label
Thirty-fifth president of the United States
On Inauguration Day 1961, John F. Kennedy became the youngest president—and the first Roman Catholic—ever elected to the presidency. His address to the nation, delivered while wearing a morning coat on a frigid day, was eloquent, authoritative, and high-minded. It was indicative of the man himself and ushered in a new era of vigorous leadership. The country was entranced by his charisma, his stylish wife, Jackie, and their two small children—the first young family to live in the White House since Theodore Roosevelt sixty years before. Kennedy’s agenda promised new opportunities in an age of accelerating challenges. Yet his initiatives and reforms for containing the Cold War, increasing civil rights, and exploring space never came to fruition during his presidency, which was curtailed by an assassin’s bullet. Still, his legacy lived on in such programs as the Peace Corps and space exploration when, in 1969, Americans walked on the moon.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view