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John F. Kennedy

President John F. Kennedy sits in the Oval Office with West Berlin's Mayor Willy Brandt in 1961. The Berlin Wall would be erected only a few months later.

Where the Myth of JFK’s ‘Jelly Donut’ Mistake Came From

The misinterpretation didn’t arise until years after his death

Donna Mahan's "Safeguarding" was made with a castoff window from the residence.

Cool Finds

This Art Was Made from JFK’s Cape Cod Home

The Hyannis Port house was the stuff of family legend. Now it’s the source of new art

John F. Kennedy meeting with Soviet politician Nikita Khrushchev.

Top Hats, James Bond and a Shipwreck: Seven Fun Facts About John F. Kennedy

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of JFK’s birth, a look at his extraordinary life

The First Couple head to the inauguration ceremony, Washington, DC, January 20, 1961

JFK’s Presidency Was Custom Made for the Golden Age of Photojournalism

A new exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum concentrates on the White House’s most photogenic couple

JFK as a Harvard student in 1939

Trending Today

Hear a 20-Year-Old John F. Kennedy Speak

Archivist have recently digitized a clip from a 1937 public speaking course, believed to be the oldest recording of the president

Frances Oldham Kelsey, a pharmacologist with the Food & Drug Administration, helped prevent a generation of children born with congenital deformities in the United States.

Women Who Shaped History

The Woman Who Stood Between America and a Generation of ‘Thalidomide Babies’

How the United States escaped a national tragedy in the 1960s

Sold: Diary of 28-Year-Old JFK

Kennedy recorded his impressions of a formative trip through post-War Europe

Sergei Korolev was technically still a political prisoner when he began working on the Soviet rocket program.

The First Manned Space Flight Was the Rocket Designer’s Victory as Much as Yuri Gagarin’s

Sergei Korolev designed the entire Soviet rocket program. But nobody knew his name until after he died

John F. Kennedy's permanent gravesite at the Arlington National Cemetery.

The Man Who Dug JFK’s Grave, Twice

Clifton Pollard dug graves in the Arlington National Cemetery for more than thirty years

Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy in the new film Jackie directed by Pablo Larraín.

Natalie Portman’s “Jackie” Reminds Us Why JFK’s Assassination Became Our National Tragedy

A Smithsonian scholar revisits those critical decisions Jacqueline Kennedy made following the death of her husband

It's thought that JFK's heartfelt letter to his mistress, Mary Pinchot Meyer, was written just a month before his assassination.

Cool Finds

A Steamy Letter From JFK Is up for Auction

The president had a real way with the ladies—and with an em dash

Lee Harvey Oswald, center, handing out fliers. According to a conspiracy theory floated by the National Enquirer, the unidentified man on the left wearing a black tie is the father of Senator Ted Cruz.

Trending Today

A Brief History of Lee Harvey Oswald’s Connection to Cuba

For over 50 years, conspiracy theorists have linked JFK’s assassin to Fidel Castro’s Cuba

Campaign collections include boxes of Macaroni and Cheese for both parties.

What Ten Artifacts from the Smithsonian Collections Can Tell Us About the Crazy History of American Politics

A massive collection of campaign materials dating from 1789 reveals that little has changed in how America shows its affection for their candidate

Lee Harvey Oswald stands in his backyard with Marxist newspapers and a rifle. This photo has been looked on with suspicion ever since Oswald called it a fake after John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963.

New Research

3D Model Showed Controversial Photo of John F. Kennedy’s Assassin Is Not a Fake

Doubts surrounded the incriminating photo since Kennedy was assassinated in 1963

The Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company premiers its newest work, "We choose to go to the moon," at the Kennedy Center on September 19 and 20, 2015.

A Dancer and a Scientist Deliver a New Take on the Moon Walk

When modern dance collides with science and space history, the result can be a great leap forward

Jackie Kennedy Onassis, New York Harbor in 1976

Cool Finds

For the Kennedys’ Virginia Home, Jackie Had Ideas About Every Detail, Down to the Guest Room Ashtrays

She drew inspiration from French magazines and colors from Colonial America

The Oswald family—with Marguerite Oswald second from right—sit next to Lee Harvey Oswald's casket.

When Lee Harvey Oswald Shot the President, His Mother Tried to Take Center Stage

Marguerite Oswald had a series of bizarre reactions to her son’s transgression, forever making her a famous mother to history

The JFK Christmas Card That Was Never Sent

A rare White House card from 1963 evokes one of the nation’s darkest holiday seasons

One frame of the Zapruder film has long been considered too graphic for public view.

What Does the Zapruder Film Really Tell Us?

Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris deconstructs the most famous 26 seconds in film history

Richard Paul Pavlick (at right) attempted to assassinate Kennedy outside the President-elect's church in Palm Beach, Florida, in December 1960. Shown here is Kennedy and his family outside that church in April 1963.

The Kennedy Assassin Who Failed

Richard Paul Pavlick’s plan wasn’t very complicated, but it took an eagle-eyed postal worker to prevent a tragedy

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