Sunday, July 28, 2013

Camelot by the Sea: JFK 50 years ago

Camelot by the Sea: JFK and family boating, swimming and playing golf 50 years ago

President John F. Kennedy speaks at the America's Cup dinner in Rhode Island to the teams and Australian Ambassador

 

 

 

Newly released footage shows John F. Kennedy and his family relaxing at the family's retreat, known as Camelot by the Sea, exactly 50 years ago this weekend. Over the weekend of July 27 to 29 in 1963, the First Family entertained guests including Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, British ambassador to the U.S. David Ormsby-Gore and Secretary of State Dean Rusk, at their Hyannis Port compound in Massachusetts. The 15-minute silent film, released by the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, shows the President enjoying a round of golf and posing for official pictures with his guests at the Squaw Island seafront property. 

 

Downtime: The President enjoys a round of golf as he entertains guests at his coastal retreat

Downtime: The President enjoys a round of golf as he entertains guests at his coastal retreat

Welcome: The British ambassador to the U.S. and Secretary of State were among the weekend guests

Welcome: The British ambassador to the U.S. and Secretary of State were among the weekend guests

Formal: After an official photo shoot, the President and his guests began a more relaxed weekend

Formal: After an official photo shoot, the President and his guests began a more relaxed weekend. His son, John F. Kennedy Jr makes a brief appearance towards the end of the film, as he excitedly watches a helicopter land. The Kennedy compound was an important retreat for the whole family, who first started vacationing there in the 1920s.  Summer fun at 'Camelot by the Sea' with President Kennedy and his...

 

It was where the President first heard that he had won the election, and where the family gathered to mourn after his assassination only a few short months after this footage was taken. He had previously said: 'I always come back to the Cape and walk on the beach when I have a tough decision to make. The Cape is the one place I can think, and be alone,' USA Today reported.

Plain sailing: The President can be seen laughing and chatting with guests on board his boat

Plain sailing: The President can be seen laughing and chatting with guests on board his boat

Cooling off: The First Lady joins her guests as they dive into the sea off Nantucket for a swim

Cooling off: The First Lady joins her guests as they dive into the sea off Nantucket for a swim

Dive in: John F. Kennedy swims in the sea over the last weekend of July in 1963

Dive in: John F. Kennedy swims in the sea over the last weekend of July in 1963

On board: The First Family and their friends enjoy the boat trip off the coast near the Kennedy Compound

On board: The First Family and their friends enjoy the boat trip off the coast near the Kennedy Compound

On board: The First Family and their friends enjoy the boat trip off the coast near the Kennedy Compound

Family man: The President hands his daughter a towel as the boat heads back to the house

Family man: The President hands his daughter a towel as the boat heads back to the house. In the newly released film, the group is also seen heading off for a sail around the Nantucket coast on board the Honey Fitz, where First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, in a large-brimmed sun hat, and a young Caroline Kennedy are seen playing and chatting. It certainly appears to be a relaxed affair, with the President and his guests chatting and reading the newspapers before diving into the sea to cool off. Kennedy is seen as an attentive father, swimming and playing with his daughter, before they all return to the coastal home looking tired and happy.

Daddy's little girl: Caroline Kennedy perches on the arm of her father's chair as he chats to guests

Daddy's little girl: Caroline Kennedy perches on the arm of her father's chair as he chats to guests

Girl talk: Caroline chats to her mother as they sail around Nantucket

Girl talk: Caroline chats to her mother as they sail around Nantucket

Family fun: Not to be left out, John F. Kennedy Jr makes a brief appearance at the end of the footage

Family fun: Not to be left out, John F. Kennedy Jr makes a brief appearance at the end of the footage. Hyannis Port, Squaw Island July 27–29, 1963

To watch the full 15 minute film click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final glimpses of JFK: His last hours as seen by members of the crowd in Texas

  • In JFK: The Final Hours, people who saw the president's last speeches, motorcade, handshake, and other everyday acts describe a man on the verge of becoming a legend

Instead of examining the immediate aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a forthcoming documentary will shed new light on the tragedy by exploring the hours that preceded the president’s death.

JFK: The Final Hours, which airs November 8 at 8pm, portrays the president not as the legend he’s become but as the man he was before his murder. First-hand accounts from people who were among the last to see him alive describe their remarkable brushes with history.

Among those first-hand accounts in the National Geographic Channel film, is that of narrator Bill Paxton who, at 8-years-old, was in the crowd in Fort Worth where Kennedy gave one of his last public speeches just three hours before his death.

New take: A new National Geographic documentary called JFK: The Final Hours documents the man who JFK was in the day leading up to his death instead of the legend he became because of it

New take: A new National Geographic documentary called JFK: The Final Hours documents the man who JFK was in the day leading up to his death instead of the legend he became because of it

‘I remember thinking it was like seeing a movie star,’ says the Emmy nominated actor. ‘There stood a man at the peak of his life and his career, but little did he or any of us know that in three hours he would be murdered in cold blood.’

Another account comes from Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who leapt on to the bumper of the Kennedy’s limo after the fatal shots rang out.

Hill recalls the beginnings of an ‘ordinary’ political tour that was transformed into a personal and national nightmare.

Buell Frazier, the man who gave assassin Lee Harvey Oswald a ride to work as he carried what he claimed were curtain rods, describes his uncomfortably close encounter with the killer on the day he changed history.

Legend: In the hours leading up to his assassination, JFK briefly entered the lives of countless Texans. By letting them speak through interviews and photos, the film portrays the man behind the legend

Legend: In the hours leading up to his assassination, JFK briefly entered the lives of countless Texans. By letting them speak through interviews and photos, the film portrays the man behind the legend

Actor Bill Paxton narrates and was himself a witness to JFK's last hours, in a speech at a Ft. Worth hotel. 'Little did he or any of us know that in three hours he would be murdered'

Actor Bill Paxton narrates and was himself a witness to JFK's last hours, in a speech at a Ft. Worth hotel. 'Little did he or any of us know that in three hours he would be murdered'

Corkie Friedman, the first lady of Fort Worth at the time, tells of the moment JFK complimented her earrings on the morning he died, causing her to nearly faint.

Friedman shows the fated earrings, and they are among a trove of objects in the film that have become historical footnotes thanks to their role in Kennedy’s last day.

Oblivious: Vice President Lyndon Johnson smiles with First Lady Jackie Kennedy while Lady Bird Johnson looks on at the Texas Hotel breakfast, just hours before the November 22, 1963 assassination of the president

Oblivious: Vice President Lyndon Johnson smiles with First Lady Jackie Kennedy while Lady Bird Johnson looks on at the Texas Hotel breakfast, just hours before the November 22, 1963 assassination of the president

The objects include the white Lincoln in which Kennedy rode the morning before he died, the 5-ton SX limousine in which Kennedy died, the president’s now-restored Air Force One that carried his corpse, and the wedding band that Lee Harvey Oswald removed the morning before he became history’s most infamous assassin. One inspiration for the two-hour film’s unique take on the 1963 assassination comes from Jacqueline Kennedy, who said in an interview following her husband’s death: ‘Now, he is a legend when he would have preferred to be a man.’

The film will also premiere on the National Geographic Channel internationally in 171 countries and 48 languages.

Last drive: Like a gauntlet, all these people witnessed JFK's Ft. Worth motorcade, his last before taking off for Dallas, where he was assassinated

Last drive: Like a gauntlet, all these people witnessed JFK's Ft. Worth motorcade, his last before taking off for Dallas, where he was assassinated

 

The presidency of JFK, 50 years ago

Fifty years ago this month, John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States. He held the office for just over 1,000 days before his assassination, but they were significant days, and the man and his family became iconic around the world, especially capturing the imagination of Americans at home. This year, a four-year, $10 million effort to digitize the JFK Library and Museum’s archives is nearing completion, and LIFE Magazine has just released a series unpublished photos of the president. Collected here are a sampling of these photos, most from the JFK Library, some from LIFE and other press agencies, looking back 50 years ago. (26 photos total)

President John F. Kennedy addresses the nation from the Oval Office during the Berlin Crisis on July 25th, 1961. (Cecil Stoughton, White House/ John F. Kennedy Library)

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While part of every candidate's retinue, security was simply not the pressing, public concern in 1960 that it would suddenly and necessarily become within a few short years. Here, seemingly alone in a crowd in Logan County, West Virginia, JFK speechifies from a kitchen chair as, mere feet away, a young boy absently plays with a jarringly realistic-looking toy gun. (Hank Walker/TIME & LIFE Pictures) #

3

On a drive through Illinois during the 1960 campaign, photographer Paul Schutzer turns his camera on his colleagues in the press. (Paul Schutzer/TIME & LIFE Pictures) #

4

Vice President Lyndon Johnson, President John F. Kennedy and Special Assistant to the President Dave Powers during Opening Day of the 1961 baseball season at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum) #

5

Watching the lift-off of the first American in space on May 5th, 1961. From left to right, Vice President Johnson, Arthur Schlesinger, Adm. Arliegh Burke, President Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy. (Cecil Stoughton, White House/ John F. Kennedy Library) #

6

President Kennedy sailing aboard the U. S. Coast Guard yacht "Manitou" on August 26th, 1962 in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. (Robert Knudsen, White House/John F. Kennedy Library) #

7

President Kennedy's address to the people of Berlin, Germany on June 26th, 1963. (Robert Knudsen, White House/John F. Kennedy Library) #

8

In Miami, Florida, after President Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy address the 2506 Cuban Invasion Brigade at the Orange Bowl Stadium, Mrs. Kennedy informally speaks with some of the members on December 29th, 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

9

President Kennedy with his children, Caroline and John Jr. in the Oval Office of the White House on October 10th, 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

10

President Kennedy's arrival in Hyannisport, Massachusetts on May 11th, 1963. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

11

A large group of photographers, including White House Photographers Cecil Stoughton and Abbie Rowe, crowd around the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to document President Kennedy's signature in the Treaty Room on October 7th, 1963. (Robert Knudsen, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

12

President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy confer outside the West Wing of the White House on October 3rd, 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

13

President John F. Kennedy peers into space capsule at the presentation ceremony of NASA Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) to Astronaut and Colonel John Glenn, Jr. at Hangar 'S' at Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 23rd, 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

14

Florida Senator George Smathers and President John F. Kennedy at NASA's Cape Canaveral, Pad B, Complex 37, where they were briefed on the Saturn rocket by Dr. Werner Von Braun (not pictured) on November 16th, 1963. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

15

President John F. Kennedy signs the Equal Pay Act on June 10th, 1963. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

16

Mrs. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr., late 1962 in the White House Nursery. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

17

President Kennedy speaks at Rice University Stadium in Houston, Texas on September 12th, 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library)#

18

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and her sister Princess Lee Radziwill ride an elephant while on tour in India in March of 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

19

President John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office of the White on July 11th, 1963. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

20

President Kennedy appears in a motorcade in Cork, Ireland on June 28th, 1963. (Robert Knudsen, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

21

November 22nd, 1963 - President Kennedy reaches out to the crowd gathered at the Hotel Texas Parking Lot Rally in Fort Worth, Texas. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

22

Moments after he was shot, the limousine carrying mortally wounded President John F. Kennedy races toward the hospital in Dallas, Texas on November 22nd, 1963. Secret service agent Clinton Hill rides on the back of the car, Mrs. John Connally, wife of the Texas governor, bends over her wounded husband, and Mrs. Kennedy leans over the president. (AP Photo/Justin Newman) #

23

President Kennedy's casket is loaded onto Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas, Texas on November 22nd, 1963. Onlookers include Lawrence "Larry" O'Brien, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Dave Powers. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

24

On November 22nd, 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson takes the oath of office on Air Force One following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. From left to right: Mac Kilduff (holding dictating machine), Judge Sarah T. Hughes, Jack Valenti, Congressman Albert Thomas, Marie Fehmer (behind Thomas), First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Evelyn Lincoln (eyeglasses only visible above LBJ's shoulder), Congressman Homer Thornberry (in shadow, partially obscured by LBJ), Roy Kellerman (partially obscured by Thornberry), Lem Johns (partially obscured by Mrs. Kennedy), former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Pamela Tunure (behind Brooks), Congressman Jack Brooks, Bill Moyers (mostly obscured by Brooks) Date 22 November 1963(1963-11-22) (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

25

The body of President John F. Kennedy lies in state in a casket in the East Room, at the White House as the Honor Guard stands guard on November 23rd, 1963. (Robert Knudsen, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

26

Family members and others march in the Funeral Procession of President John F. Kennedy in Washington D.C. on November 25th, 1963. Image includes: Robert F. Kennedy, Mrs. John F. Kennedy, Edward M. Kennedy, R. Sargent Shriver, Stephen E. Smith. (Robert Knudsen, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

   

   

   
   
   
   
     

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