Written By: Ben Cosgrove
January 20, 1961, was a bitterly cold day in Washington. And yet, as John and Jackie Kennedy set out on foot from the White House to the Capitol for JFK’s inauguration as president, the sense of cheer and confidence was palpable.
This was the dawn of “Camelot“—the evocative label associated with Kennedy’s administration, born of the young president’s fondness for the musical of the same name. LIFE magazine sent several of its best photographers to D.C. to chronicle the inauguration (and its slew of star-studded parties). A week later, the magazine ran nearly 20 pictures from the event. Many, many more photos were not published in LIFE. Here, LIFE.com presents the best of those pictures that ran, and many that did not.
In his inaugural address one of the most memorable in history Kennedy did not skirt the very real, very present danger posed by mutual mistrust and enmity between East and West at the height of the Cold War, nor did he accept that danger as a fixed, immutable state of affairs.
“If a beachhead of cooperation,” he said, “may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides [America and its allies, and the Soviet Union and its satellites] join in creating a new endeavor not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved. This will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”
“To those nations who would make themselves our adversary,” Kennedy said, “we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.”
Perhaps the most heartfelt words uttered that day, meanwhile, came not from JFK, but from the 87-year-old poet Robert Frost. A four-time Pulitzer Prize winner and the quintessential New England bard (albeit born in California), Frost penned a new poem for the inauguration, but the intense glare of the January sun made it impossible for him to read his own manuscript. After struggling for a bit, and after Lyndon Johnson stood and tried to help (using his own top hat to shield the page), Frost abandoned the effort and instead recited, from memory, a famous, earlier poem: “The Gift Outright,” written nearly 20 years before, which reads in part, “we gave ourselves outright … To the land vaguely realizing westward.”
It seemed then, and still feels, an appropriately optimistic sentiment in the early days of the 1960s.
John and Jackie Kennedy walked to JFK’s inauguration ceremony from the White House, January 1961.
Paul Schutzer/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
From left: Jackie Kennedy, turned to someone behind her; President Dwight Eisenhower; President-Elect Kennedy; and on the right, Vice-President-Elect Lyndon Johnson and outgoing VP Richard Nixon, January 1961.
Paul Schutzer/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John and Jackie Kennedy dressed in formal wear on the evening before the inauguration.
Paul Schutzer/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
People bundled up as they lined Pennsylvania Avenue for the Inauguration.
Leonard McCombe/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A smiling President Kennedy and the First Lady Jackie Kennedy rode through cheering crowds in the Inaugural Parade, January 1961.
Leonard McCombe/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A freak overnight storm dumped inches of snow on to Washington on the eve of JFK’s inauguration.
Andreas Feininger/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Eisenhower’s secretary, Ann Whitman, helped the president don a borrowed tie on the morning of the inauguration, January 1961.
Ed Clark/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Jackie Kennedy at her husband’s Inaugural Gala.
Paul Schutzer/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
On the night before the inauguration, many of the biggest names in show business came together for a gala produced by Kennedy’s friend and supporter, Frank Sinatra, and Kennedy’s brother-in-law, Peter Lawford.
Leonard McCombe/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Sidney Poitier read a statement at the Inaugural Gala.
Leonard McCombe/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John Kennedy spoke to the crowd during the evening of the Inaugural Gala.
Paul Schutzer/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John Kennedy among well-wishers at the inaugural gala.
Joseph Scherschel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Gene Kelly performed at John Kennedy’s Inaugural Gala
Leonard McCombe/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A woman in a gown and a man in a suit with a top hat danced at one of the ball’s celebrating John Kennedy’s inauguration.
Leonard McCombe/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John and Jackie Kennedy in the Presidential Box overlooked the crowd during JFK’s Inaugural Ball, January 1961.
Paul Schutzer/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John Connally (left), John and Jackie Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower and others prepared at the White House for the inauguration, January 1961.
Ed Clark/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Lady Bird Johnson, Jackie Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon during JFK’s inauguration.
Joe Scherschel/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A man bundled against the cold during John Kennedy’s inauguration, January 1961.
Leonard McComb/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Robert Frost, 87, read a poem at John Kennedy’s inauguration.
George Silk/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John Kennedy spoke to the press during a snowstorm the day before his inauguration.
Paul Schutzer/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
The Army’s Pershing medium-range ballistic missile made its first appearance before the general public in Kennedy’s Inaugural Parade, January 1961.
Al Fenn/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A Buffalo Bill character performed at the inaugural parade, January 1961.
Al Fenn/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Jackie Kennedy at the D.C. Armory during the Frank Sinatra- and Peter Lawford-produced gala.
Paul Schutzer/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John Kennedy at his inauguration, January 1961.
Joe Scherschel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Four past, present, and future First Ladies side-by-side during John Kennedy’s inauguration, January 1961 (from left): Pat Nixon, Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, and Jacqueline Kennedy.
George Silk/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Richard Nixon and Jack Kennedy spoke during a reception after JFK was sworn in as president, January 1961.
Ed Clark/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John F Kennedy watched former president Harry Truman, 77, sign his autograph on a program during the inaugural luncheon, January 1961.
Paul Schutzer/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s driver tok the snow chains off the tires of his limo before driving the former president and his wife Mamie home, January 1961.
Ed Clark/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John Kennedy delivering his Inaugural Address.
George Silk/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
