Narrowing down the search for an excellent photo...I remember the poignancy of JFK funeral, especially pictures of Jackie with the children, Caroline and John John. I was only 11 years at the time, but remember many of the images. There was a haunting one of little John saluting his father's coffin. Will continue looking in the Look/Life archives for a good one to use.
1/25: selected the photo above for assignment entitled, A Profile in Courage.
Source: Life Archives
A PROFILE IN COURAGE
In researching the photo archives to select a photograph for this assignment, I came across an excellent example of “a fine picture that tells those who see it something about their world.” (Hal Buell) I was eleven years old on November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Like many Baby Boomers, I can remember exactly where I was when I heard the tragic news -- on my way to a piano lesson. This was an especially turbulent week in a decade later dubbed the Turbulent Sixties. NBC’s Frank McGee rightly predicted, “that this afternoon, wherever you were and whatever you might have been doing when you received the word of the death of President Kennedy, that is a moment that will be emblazoned in your memory and you will never forget it...as long as you live.” As an impressionable pre-teen, I had been mesmerized by the news events as portrayed on national television.
The three networks preempted their regular schedules and all commercial advertising for a marathon of continuous live coverage that concluded only after the president’s burial at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, November 25 – a singular achievement of broadcast journalism. I vividly remember hearing Walter Cronkite announce that Kennedy died at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. I later saw footage that Cronkite winced, removed his glasses, and cleared his throat before observing that Vice President Lyndon Johnson would presumably take the oath of office to become the thirty-sixth president of the United States.
Who could forget the images of the Dallas motorcade, the swearing-in of Lyndon Johnson on Air Force One, John Jr.’s salute as his father’s coffin passes, the riderless horse (Black Jack) in the funeral procession with boots pointed backwards in the stirrup, the startling live coverage of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald? Our country and others around the world mourned the death our youngest president. For those viewers who are too young to remember the actual events from November of 1963, photographs such as the one above preserve a moment of history for the future.
The photographer of the picture above not only saw the story and felt the sadness of the moment, he or she took advantage of the opportunity, capturing the straight posture of newly widowed Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, who conveyed admirable patience and endurance in the face of adversity. I believe this particular informal photograph communicates the enormity of the event in human terms, the sadness of the widow, the bewilderment of the now fatherless children, and carries the scene to all readers/viewers. To me, it epitomizes the courage of a 34- year old woman, who had buried her third child Patrick just months ago, and was now burying her husband of only ten years. The numerous bystanders and various members of the Kennedy clan may have been cropped out, as the photographer focused or zoomed in on the three persons closest to the slain President – Jackie, Caroline, and John-John. The three Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church in the forefront of the photo are not identifiable in this particular photograph.
Jacqueline Kennedy had captured the heart of America (very much like the fascination with Princess Diana in later years). As First Lady, she demonstrated a gracious personal style, which was often copied – the hairstyles, fashionable hats, her taste in jewelry. She was a noted advocate for the arts and historic preservation. Jackie Kennedy’s restoration of the White House, considered one of her substantial achievements as First Lady, was featured in a 1962 televised tour, for which she received an Emmy. Therefore, during the tragic events of November 1963, all eyes were on Jackie, whose public persona never fluctuated. Sorrow and grief are reflected in her face in the above photograph, as are her steadiness and courage.
November 25, 1963 was declared a National Day of Mourning, but also marked the third birthday of little John F. Kennedy, Jr. Following the burial at Arlington Cemetery, Jackie called up all her internal resources of strength to host a family birthday party for John-John at the White House.
In an interview on November 29, just a week after the assassination, Mrs. Kennedy was interviewed in Hyannisport by Theodore H. White of Life magazine, who wrote that she compared the Kennedy years in the White House to the mythical Camelot, a comparison which is still referenced today. Jackie Kennedy spent a year in mourning, and made only a few public appearances during that first year. She again exhibited strength and courage when she packed up her children and moved them to New York City to an apartment on Fifth Avenue in an effort to ensure more privacy.
Mrs. Kennedy continued to perpetuate her husband’s memory: she attended several select memorial dedications. She also oversaw plans for the establishment of the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, which is the repository for official papers of the Kennedy Administration. Jackie Kennedy has also received her share of negative press, especially when she married Aristotle Onassis in 1968.
Interestingly, according to her biography published in the JFK Library, Jackie Kennedy met John F. Kennedy, who was a Congressman and soon to be elected a Senator from Massachusetts, while she was employed as the “Inquiring Camera Girl” for the Washington Times-Herald newspaper.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to find out name of the photographer. Because this photo captured an historical public event – the funeral of a United States President – I believe no permission would be necessary for publication. The above photograph was listed as Public Domain.
