Thursday, January 19, 1961
January 19, 1961
On the day before the inauguration, JFK had a jam-packed schedule. During the day, he met as seen in the photo below with President Eisenhower, the outgoing cabinet secretaries, and his incoming team. Pictured (L-R) are Robert S. McNamara (Defense), Thomas S. Gates, Jr., Dean Rusk (State), Christian A. Herter, JFK, Eisenhower, Robert Anderson (Treasury), and Douglas Dillon.
The evening before the inauguration, JFK and Jackie along with close friend Bill Walton attended an 8PM reception being given in honor of Eleanor Roosevelt and then attended a pre-inaugural concert at Convention Hall.
The Kennedy’s then moved onto a show being held at the National Guard Armory and organized by brother-in-law Peter Lawford and Frank Sinatra who crooned “That Old Jack Magic. JFK also watched performances by Leonard Bernstein, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte, Bette Davis, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Sir Laurence Olivier, and Ethel Merman who sang “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”.
Exhausted at the end of the show, Jackie returned home, leaving JFK to go to yet another party being hosted by his father at Paul Young’s restaurant. Kennedy reportedly returned to his house on N Street at dawn
I recently saw a post wherein JFK spoke of minute men militia and the date on the post was Jan.19th.1961 was wondering where he might have included that in a speech since he was not inaugrated until Jan,20th.1961