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President John F. Kennedy and his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, watching the inaugural parade from their viewing stand in f...
06/04/2026

President John F. Kennedy and his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, watching the inaugural parade from their viewing stand in front of the White House, 20 January 1961. 🇺🇸

📸 Bettmann

109 years ago, the 35th President of the United States was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. John Fitzgerald Kennedy — p...
06/04/2026

109 years ago, the 35th President of the United States was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. John Fitzgerald Kennedy — politician, war hero, cultural icon — crossed the nineteenth century with an elegance that wasn’t just in style. Next to him, Jacqueline Bouvier: the world’s most photographed couple, a coincidence that redefined the very idea of First Couple. He's the charisma, she's the aesthetic. Together, something history has never stopped looking at. Happy birthday Mr. President.

In 1987, when John began his second year of law school, he vacated his East Side apartment and switched back to the West...
06/04/2026

In 1987, when John began his second year of law school, he vacated his East Side apartment and switched back to the West Side, briefly subletting a two-bedroom apartment on 89th Street and West End Avenue. He took his breakfasts at the Jackson Hole on 85th Street and Columbus Avenue.

Alexandra Eno, a waitress at the restaurant, recalled John as “exceedingly polite, never demanding. He sometimes came in with his girlfriend. I’d given birth to a daughter the year before, and he always asked about her—not in a conventional way, but because he truly seemed to care. I once brought her in, and he sat there playing little games with her. He loved children. He used to come in wearing sweats and then depart for NYU either by bike or subway. One day he told me he’d been the victim of a pickpocket on the train, and as a result preferred biking it to the Village. In warmer weather, he’d eat at one of the outdoor tables, oblivious to the stares. For the most part, people left him alone. New Yorkers generally don’t make a fuss about celebrities. One morning a homeless guy sat down at his table and began to hassle him. I asked him to leave John alone. “That’s okay,’ John said. ‘He’s not bothering me.’ He bought the guy breakfast and chatted with him for a while. When they were done, he took out his wallet, handed the guy a ten-dollar bill, and wished him well. I was amazed.” - American Legacy.

📸: John bicycling in Central Park. July 5, 1995. Photo by Lawrence Schwartzwald.

Besides having to deal with the public criticism, Carolyn also felt the pressure of being the caretaker in John’s big li...
06/04/2026

Besides having to deal with the public criticism, Carolyn also felt the pressure of being the caretaker in John’s big life. Something grave was always happening—such as the battle with cancer that John’s cousin and best friend Anthony Radziwill seemed to be on the verge of losing. Anthony was like the brother John never had. Each the best man at the other’s wedding, Anthony and John spent almost every summer weekend together on Martha’s Vineyard.

No matter the problem, Carolyn played the cheerleader, propping John up. She was the one at the hospital with Anthony while John worked late into the night at the magazine, and she would have to pick up the pieces if Anthony died. “John, we’re going to get through this,” I heard her say many times. “It’s going to be okay.” - Rosemarie Terenzio.

📸: John, Carolyn and Anthony Radziwill at the JFK memorial service in NYC, November 26, 1996.

THE KENNEDY WHO KEPT IT CASUAL“I am 18 years old working as a waiter in an Upper East Side restaurant called Busby’s. It...
06/04/2026

THE KENNEDY WHO KEPT IT CASUAL

“I am 18 years old working as a waiter in an Upper East Side restaurant called Busby’s. It was June and early - maybe 6:30 and I see John and a beautiful blonde walk in the restaurant with an older couple. I remember exactly what he was wearing - off-white slacks a flowy black dress shirt with a brown braided belt and sandals. He had the longest torso I had ever seen and exuded cool.

I remembered he had just passed the Bar Exam. I found out he was in my station. I went over and asked them if they needed any drinks from the bar. After getting the drinks and appetizer orders I looked at him and said,
“Congratulations on passing the bar exam Mr. Kennedy.” He looked down in a sheepish way chuckled and said, “Yeah, thanks man, it only took me three times.”

I knew that as well but thought better of mentioning it.
They had a long dinner and asked for the check. On his way out John put his hand on my shoulder and said, “I like being called Mr. Kennedy every once in a while, but you can call me John next time.” He left me a remarkably good tip and left.” - David S., California.

📸: John photographed in Milan, 1997.

I was shooting Billy Graham. It was 1996, and he was an icon of American popular culture, religious history, and politic...
06/04/2026

I was shooting Billy Graham. It was 1996, and he was an icon of American popular culture, religious history, and political history. John was gonna do the interview, and he and Carolyn [were there] and they said to me, “Would you mind taking a photograph of the three of us? Because we just got married.” Years later, having seen the paparazzi pictures of her coming out of their flat that same day—in that same outfit, my wife tells me it’s Prada—it amazes me.” - Jake Chessum (Vogue.com).

📸: Billy Graham, John F. Kennedy Jr., and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Photo: Courtesy of Jake Chessum. Taken on October 6, 1996.

Herb Ritts went to Hyannis Port one summer and took the most beautiful pictures of the two of them, kind of rolling arou...
06/04/2026

Herb Ritts went to Hyannis Port one summer and took the most beautiful pictures of the two of them, kind of rolling around in the grass-the most beautiful pictures he’s ever taken of anybody. They’re super-personal. They’re all black-and-white, and they’re really casual. When I saw them, I just about passed out. They were just so gorgeous. They’d never seen the light of day, and they never will, because John didn’t want that. But I wish people could see them because they’re just so beautiful.” - David Janke.

Sasha Chermayeff, who had seen those photos, shared that, “they had this really passionate beginning, which Herb Ritts photographed incredibly. I mean when they were madly, madly, madly in love. He took these incredibly super sexy pictures of John and Carolyn where they were like on fire. She even said to me,
‘We were like on fire during this session,’ and you could tell.

John traveled to Cuba in October 1997, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, to meet President Fidel...
06/04/2026

John traveled to Cuba in October 1997, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, to meet President Fidel Castro for George Magazine. John spent months laying the groundwork for the trip.The trip, however, turned out to be a huge disappointment. He waited for days. The suspense built. He’d get a message “He will see you for dinner tonight, and we will contact you”- then hours would pass, nothing. Finally a phone call at eight: “El Presidente cannot meet you this evening. Perhaps tomorrow.”Click. The next day John would call to inquire. “You will be contacted later today.”Click.

John went out for a sightseeing tour with the photographer Herb Ritts, who had accompanied him, but when they came back to the hotel, there was no message. This went on for days. At last, John called Carolyn to tell her he was coming home the next morning without the interview.

“You get on that f*cking phone to whomever you need to, whether it’s a U.S. diplomat or Castro’s guys, and you tell them that you are not going to sit around taking this sh*t,” Carolyn told him.”You came to see him, you are a Kennedy, you are a journalist with staff here, and if his office promised an interview, goddamnit it, you’re not leaving until you get one.” Far from being put off by her attitude, John was amused by it and jacked. He called up Castro’s advance man and gave it to him verbatim. Click. Then he got a call minutes later. “El Presidente would like for you and your guests to come to the residence for dinner this evening.”- Billy Noonan.

📸: John photographed by Herb Ritts, on the hills overlooking the city of Santa Clara, Cuba. October 1997.

When John was finished with whatever he was working on at the office, he would come in and stand behind his wife, gently...
06/04/2026

When John was finished with whatever he was working on at the office, he would come in and stand behind his wife, gently stroking her hair or more firmly massaging her back. Teasing him, she would pretend not to notice and carry on talking to me, until he would throw up his hands in mock frustration and stalk out. Then Carolyn would smile and ease out of her chair and amble into her husband’s office, sometimes shutting the door behind her.”- Richard Bradley (American Son).

📸: John and Carolyn at the the Ralph Lauren opening party held at Mirabelle Restaurant in London, May 1999.

He was a regular guy,” said Jason Sachs, a TriBeCa picture framer who first encountered John at the Square Diner on Leon...
06/04/2026

He was a regular guy,” said Jason Sachs, a TriBeCa picture framer who first encountered John at the Square Diner on Leonard Street. “The first time we met he was eating breakfast and reading the New York Post. We began talking about the New York Yankees. He was an easy conversationalist. We remained friendly. It didn’t matter who you were—he was always cordial. He’d stop you on the street and ask how you were doing. I had a dog, a mixed breed, and he loved to play with it. This was before he acquired Friday, his own little dog. John was always up and around You’d see him on his bike, a big steel chain wrapped around his jacket. He was very neighborly. He used to hang out at Socrates, a nearby Greek coffee shop, and he’d practice his Greek with the owner of the place. I guess he knew a smattering of the language from his days with Aristotle Onassis. I once bumped into him in a local hardware store. He’d bought a sponge mop and a broom, and he’d taken out his credit card to pay. The store clerk looked at the card and then looked at JFK Jr. ‘Aren’t you the son of President Kennedy?‘ he inquired. John hesitated a moment, then smiled. ‘Guilty as charged,’ he retorted.”

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