I photographed a lot of politicians. I started with Richard Nixon, Governor Brown in california and john f. Kennedy and many of the events he was present at. Tragically, i was in dallas when he was assassinated. Why this exhibit here in the American Art Museum at this time . Well, its the centennial of his birth. In hundred years ago on may 29 he was born. How do you put an exhibit like this together . Where do you start . First you start with a few researchers. We collected 34,000 photographs of jfk and his family. It took about six months and it became the basis of a very important book that we published with harper collins. From those 34,000 pictures in the 400 and some odd pictures in the book we were able to select 77 photographs that we felt told the story of jfk and his life and times. Jfk was a modern resident. John f. Kennedy was a president who saw americas place in the world. He was a man who understood history, who served in world war ii. He understood the issues of civil rights. He understood many of the conflicts around the world. He was a man with a vision and this exhibit kind of addresses the issue of jfks vision for america. This exhibit is a little bit more than just john f. Kennedy the president. Its the story of the life and his times. Pictures from the family scrap book are very interesting. Here is just a kid with his father in the background out in hyannis on the beach, just like any other kid, romping around. Little did we know he might be the president of the United States. Thats what the cars look like in those days, with the kids on the running board. As jfk got out in the world himself, very few people knew he loved dog spirit when he went off to college, he got in trouble once or twice, because dogs werent allowed in the dormitories. The family traveled a lot and kennedy got a lot of experience. Here they are in the vatican. They were a catholic family. This is a family portrait. Very, very interesting. His father was ambassador to great britain. His mother kept everybody in tow. When jfk went away to college , to harvard, with a graduation picture there, he served in the armed forces. A lot of us know that he was very much involved in saving lives. He was part of the crew of the vehicle that capsized in the war. He hurt his back a little bit. It plagued him for years and years, but he was considered by many to be one of the many war heroes who served in the armed forces. Out of the armed forces, when his father was ambassador to great britain, he was looking around for a job in his father williamletter to willi said my sonrst, he , knows a lot about history. Maybe you can find a job for him ,or what he would call today reporter. He went off to San Francisco and reported on the formation of the United Nations. He wrote a column every couple of days. A service mans view was one of the titles. That started the show not only his writing ability but his understanding of where america was. And what his vision for the country should be. It wasnt long before in the early 1950s that he met this young lady, jacqueline. This was a photo booth shot. It is blown up, it was very small. Used to pay two cents in those days or a nickel, and that is where the early portraits of them. Course, jack and jackie kind of strolling down the street, with Ethel Kennedy in washington, d. C. Ethel was married to his brother, Robert Kennedy, who i photographed quite a bit. I did a lot of Campaign Photography with him. There are these Iconic Images that will take us through history. Here jfk in 1953 getting married. This picture is from the images collection. Here is one of the most famous life magazine pictures, when caroline was born in 1958, this is taken by a fine photographer. Its one of those Iconic Images. Life magazine and many of the publications covered the kennedys quite a bit. Over here, we can see in the early years the photographs from the golden age of journalism. Of photojournalism. That was before television became the communicator of the world. These are the magazines that were published then. These are actual copies of the magazines. And newspapers, the new york times, the springfield republican, and books that jfk wrote himself, the most famous book that won the Pulitzer Prize theyr. Es in courage you are not only seeing the history of jfk but how his image was communicated to the world at large. And the photographs in this exhibit are printed the exact same way they would have been printed in the 1960s, 11 by 14 in size. We use the same technology of the 1960s. So when you see this exhibit, you are seeing the photographs as you would have had you lived in the 1960s and had picked up a magazine. It would have been just like you are going to see here at the American Art Museum. All these magazines and newspapers you are seeing, you are probably saying to yourself who collected these . How did they keep than 50 or 60 years . Well believe it or not they were , all obtained on ebay. Ebay is probably the biggest archive in the world. We built an entire archive of jfk as he was seen around the world, just by spending about a week on ebay purchasing these historic works. They are not expensive. 2. 95, 3. 10. Of course you have to pay the postage. On this well over here, you see this young man starting to run for congress, kind of sitting there with the poster for those days. A portrait of his mother and father, taken in 1946 when he gets elected for congress. The family had some money. A little bit more than just some. His father not only hired the worldhotographers in the to photograph jfk and Robert Kennedy and his older brother but also they hired advertising , agencies to properly promote the image of the Kennedy Family and jfk as he started to run for political office. The composition of this picture is not only the product of the photographer but product of a photographer, but also the product of a good smart advertising guy. That poster is part of the madman ara. As we were to later say, jfk was the first president in the great in the gray flannel suit. A natural public speaker he was. In this photograph shows what the technology of the day was, not these fine video cameras that give you such clarity. Here we are shooting in natural light. Here jfk is under the spotlight. Him, your once said to appealed swimming you will get , yourself elected. There is joke about this picture. You see about 200 women lined up to meet jfk in massachusetts. And there is a joke about that picture. Did someone say you better be on crutches . You would get a little more sympathy. He would go out in the field for the first year of campaigning and being a congressman he went into his district. He went to the docks here. He is being shown around. Of course, here jfk and Bobby Kennedy are together working side by side. They had a very special bond. Bobby at times was his Campaign Manager and advisor. There was a lot of controversy when jfk becomes president , because he appoints his brother as attorney general with not a lot of experience. But bobby stood up to the task. 1959, he starts to really understand the weight of the issues around the world. Jfk knew he was going to run for president in 1960 and hoped to get the nomination from the democratic party. He traveled widely in the United States and this sure by a photographer who photographed years is number of very interesting. You see jfk at a moment in which he has to make some strong decisions. Over on this while here is one of the many pictures that wound up being on the cover of life magazine. This was taken actually by a sports photographer, a famous boxing photographer. None of us could figure out why he got this assignment. But this one up on the cover of life magazine and was taken in 1953. It is a really beautiful picture and shows the spirit of jfk. Of course in 1957, prior to him running for president , the great photographer, who had more life magazine covers than any other photographer during life magazines many years as a leading publication of the world and a beautiful portrait. This is in essence the early years of jfk and in a moment we will get into the tougher years where he becomes a politician, a world leader and somebody who sets the stage and the foundation for america for Foreign Policy and a modern america. In 1960 when jfk decided he was going to run for president , his father gave him an airplane and they called it the caroline which was the name of his , daughter. This picture of jfk leaving on his First Campaign in the United Campaign trip around the United States. He would hit almost every single state. Here was this young member of congress, a catholic, going out there, out everywhere with his wife and family. Jackie kennedy was one of the greatest assets any politician could have. Not only was she lovable and huggable, but she related to people in a very human way. Eventually when jfk goes to france, he cracked this remark and im paraphrasing, im just a guy going along with jackie, shes really the star. But he went out on the campaign trail seeking the nomination of the democratic party. He went everywhere and there was nothing holier than thou about his campaign. He would go out to the appalachian mountains. He would stand on trucks, wave from cars. re in massachusetts and massachusetts in july he is campaigning, and the eventual campaign led to the Democratic National convention, which took place in los angeles, california. I was working for life magazine but they assigned me to who they , thought would be the winner. I was assigned to photograph Richard Nixon. Of course the strategy of , getting that nomination was no easy task. Hank walker, one of the life here, made this iconic image of robert and jfk in a hotel room, kind of deciding who they would offer the vice presidency to. Lyndon johnson eventually becomes the running mate to jfk. A surprise to a lot of people. I have seen this picture published in parts of the world where they are discussing the cuban missile crisis. Or they are discussing armament. This is a hotel in vienna where they are meeting with khrushchev. In fact it is july 13, 1960 at the Democratic National convention. It wasnt long before he secured that nomination and really had to go out on the road to prove himself. In california, he is up there with governor pat brown. Here he is preparing some notes for a democratic rally. The wonderful thing about the kennedys is they never pushed photographers or writers away. They didnt care how they were photographed. They didnt care whether the tile was fixed or the coat was on, this or that. They knew that if they made themselves accessible to the media, they would be published. And, of course it was a , groundswell. There is no question about it that the Media Coverage of jfk was the first time we had ever seen anything like it. Here at an airport, campaigning in real, texas, there is a plain rearing the engine. Jfk gets upset that Lyndon Johnson is hollering turn the engine off, but he carried around a lot of the copies of this book called profiles in courage. He is to autograph them and throw them out to the audience. The publisher sold a lot of copies of that version. It wasnt long until he came headtohead with Richard Nixon. Nixon, who the republicans had nominated. Everyone thought Richard Nixon would win the election. What really turned the tide in a very, very unique way was the first televised debates between the candidates. Americans had never seen anything like that before. The first debate here in october , jackie is very nervous and she is off by the corner, kind of looking out, trying to figure out and make sure that her husband is going to do the right thing. Interestingy, very when these debates started. Octoberif you would have listened to the debate on radio nixon was the clear winner. ,his voice was convincing. He spoke very well. But if you watched it as tens of millions of americans did on tv, you saw a very nervous Richard Nixon. You saw a man sweating, yet you saw president john f. Kennedy poised, relaxed, articulate, and many writers, including norman mailer, who wrote this incredible piece. He said that the Television Debates placed jfk on the road to victory. The election was on november 8. Ethel castingand their vote and i was in los angeles at the Ambassador Hotel with nixon. This is a picture i made of the election votes coming in statebystate. In the old days, it was done by chalk. It wasnt electronic as we have today on television. Five minutes later, erase it and put another one. The Kennedy Family that night was in hyannis port. They were very, very nervous. Bobby hyndeith his and ethel. Here is this interesting picture bobby, and ethel. Here is this interesting picture we saw before write up on the wall by hank walker. Election night, the electoral vote was very close and nobody knew. At 3 00 in the morning, jfk needed 11 more electoral votes and a lot of people felt he wasnt going to get it. Or in hyannis port was where the media was. All of the sudden at 3 00 in the morning, Richard Nixon decides to go on television, even though he had not lost the election yet. This is the media watching it. Of course, i, who was assigned to photograph nixon, was with him at 3 00 in the morning. On november 9,ng as he went to the podium at the Ambassador Hotel and conceded the election to jfk before he had actually won it. That was an extraordinary move. But in hyannis, four hours later, the boston globe announces his presidency and this is a wonderful picture taken by a very fine photographer. As the Early Morning newspapers arrived at Election Campaign quarters in hyannis. By midday the election had been decided. John f. Kennedy became the first catholic president of the United States. He rallied his entire family here. Here in hyannis for this group picture. His brotherinlaw, peter lawford, who is an entertainer actor, teddy, his youngest brother, Robert Kennedy, smith, one of his sisters, his brother and father and at the end kennedys husband over there. This is an interesting little moment. Here is jackie looking up at her husband. A wonderful picture. In january, there is the inauguration. It was an interesting, snowy day. Jfk and the family cited to walk from the white house to the inauguration. Rather than just showing a picture of jfk making his speech, this is a very unique view to show what the crowd was like. That was the great moment where paraphrase,r me to as not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. It was an incredible call for action, worldwide. Of course, that night festivities continued. Here we are that evening at one of the many, many balls with jfk and his tuxedo with jackie. It was a brilliant occasion to be remembered. He was young, handsome, he understood the responsibilities. But little did he know about the first tough hundred days he would have in american politics. Now we are going to come into the president ial years. These are the years from 1961 through the tragic day in dallas, texas. Jfk was really a family man. Here in october of 1963, just before his tragic death, he is walking john john and yet over here he is dressed with jackie. They brought culture into the white house. She was a person who understood the arts and understood the role that is played in american culture. When they went to france on a diplomatic trip, jackie convinced the french government to allow the mona lisa to come to the United States. It was extraordinary. It was one of the art exchanges of the century. Jackie kennedy, with the photographer made this fine picture. Were here at the smithsonian American Art Museum. Here jackie views the plans for the redevelopment of the Lafayette Square part of the museum. She helped raise funds and went out and supported all the way back from 1958, this museum and all the other cultural locations in washington. Tragically, this is a very unique, very rarely seen photograph. What is different about it . She is wearing the same suit she same suit that she was wearing the day that her husband lost his life in dallas. Any time the kids had nothing to do, they were in the white house. They had the full run of the place. Here they show up again unannounced in jfks oval office in 1962. John john is playing around on the carpet. Above is a picture taken in hyannis, also in 1962. Teddys kids and Robert Kennedys kids and jfks kids. This is a golf cart that they had. So they would run around the compound and have a lot of fun. One of these pictures wound up being on the cover of look magazine. Here is a very, very famous picture taken in july of 1963. This is a young 16yearold kid by the name of bill clinton. Little did he know where he would wind up. There he is meeting the president of the United States in the rose garden. He was there with the American Legion voice nation forum. He had this opportunity. That becomes a very famous photograph that clinton uses when he himself runs not only for governor of arkansas, but also for president of the United States. Above it is a picture taken in 1962 by a friend of mine. He was a photographer at that time working for the los angeles times. Kennedy would spend a lot of time with his brotherinlaw and his sister in malibu, california just outside of l. A. Every once in a while, unan