Best of Camelot: John and Jackie's Life in Pictures

In remembrance of the upcoming 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, look back at his most poignant family moments
By Nancy Mattia
Updated November 14, 2013 03:55 PM

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LOVE IN BLOOM

Lisa Larsen/Time & Life Pictures/Getty

When handsome Massachusetts senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy married beautiful Jacqueline Bouvier in September 1953, it was the start of society's adoration of the photogenic couple. Two thousand people stood outside St. Mary's Church in Newport, R.I., to cheer on the nuptials. Afterward, the newlyweds celebrated at a lavish outdoor reception with 600 guests on the Bouviers' nearby Hammersmith Farm.

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BABY MAKES THREE

Ed Clark/Time Life Pictures/Getty

In March 1958, a doting Jack cuddles 5-month-old daughter Caroline as her mom Jackie looked on. Caroline's birth ended years of heartbreak for the couple, who suffered a miscarriage and stillbirth with prior pregnancies.

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BROADWAY BOUND

Frank Hurley/NY Daily News Archive/Getty

Joined by his eight-months pregnant wife, the Democratic presidential candidate gave a wave while riding in a ticker-tape parade up Broadway during an October 1960 campaign stop in New York City.

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HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD

Bettmann/Corbis; GAB Archive/Redferns/Getty

Celebrities also had Kennedy fever. Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis, a member of the National Committee of Arts, Letters, and Sciences for Kennedy, got an autograph from the dashing Democrat at an October 1960 press conference (left), while singer Frank Sinatra shared a laugh with his politician pal at Las Vegas's Sands Hotel that February.

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IT'S ALL RELATIVE

George Silk/Time & Life Pictures/Getty

Two days before he was elected the 35th President of the United States in November 1960, the 43-year-old candidate shared the stage with (from left) mom Rose, Jackie and sister Eunice Shriver at an armory in Hyannis, Mass., near the Kennedy family's summer compound.

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DAPPER DUO

Henry Burroughs/AP

The newly minted president, in white tie and tails, and first lady, in an ivory silk cape and long white gloves, went all-out glamorous for the January 1961 inaugural ball at the National Guard Armory in Washington, D.C. Mrs. Kennedy's chic fashion sense quickly garnered her another title: style icon.

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KID STUFF

del Vecchio/The Washington Post/Getty; Avedon/White House Photos/Getty

Scrambled eggs for two? In January 1961, Kennedy started his day by having breakfast with his pajama-clad daughter, Caroline, 3, in the family's private residence at the White House; the next month, the big sister gave a loving kiss to 11-week-old John Kennedy, Jr., the first child born to a sitting U.S. President in nearly 80 years.

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LONDON CALLING

Popperfoto/Getty

Jackie Kennedy lived up to her haute couture reputation by wearing a stunning ice-blue silk shantung gown (modeled after a Givenchy design) by American label Chez Ninon to a June 1961 Buckingham Palace banquet given by Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip to honor JFK.

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MEETING MARILYN

Cecil Stoughton/Time Life Pictures/Getty

Though rumors swirled about Jack and brother Robert Kennedy's involvement with voluptuous Marilyn Monroe, all was aboveboard when the movie star partied with the Kennedys in May 1962 following a Democratic fundraiser at New York City's Madison Square Garden. That night, the actress famously – and breathlessly – sang "Happy Birthday" to the president. Monroe died from a drug overdose three months later.

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QUIET NIGHT AT HOME

John F. Kennedy Library/UPI/Landov

Looking like an average American couple enjoying a warm summer eve with their kids in August 1962, John and Jackie relaxed on a porch at the Kennedys' Hyannis Port, Mass., home – dubbed the "Summer White House" – with John, Jr., 21 months, and Caroline, 4½.

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GOOD VIEW

Kennedy Library Archives/Newsmakers/Getty

Jackie, a standout in white, joined her sailing-enthusiast husband and friends aboard a yacht in September 1962 to watch the America's Cup race off the coast of Newport, R.I.

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DRESS-UP DAY

Apic/Getty

During a spring vacation in Palm Beach, Fla., the staunch Roman Catholic first family wore their Sunday best to attend Mass on Easter, April 14, 1963. Jackie's linen Oleg Cassini frock is now on display at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

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HIDE AND SEEK

Liaison Agency/Getty

In one of the most iconic photographs of the Kennedy era, the loving dad took care of Presidential business in the Oval Office on Oct. 15, 1963, while John-John, almost 3, peered out from a cozy spot inside the historic Resolute desk.

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AMONG SUPPORTERS

Art Rickerby/Time Life Pictures/Getty

After landing at Dallas's Love Field airport on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963, the President, campaigning for re-election, and first lady shook hands with enthusiastic well-wishers. They then climbed into an open limousine for the fateful ride through the city's Dealey Plaza.

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TINY TRIBUTE

Keystone/Getty

Following President Kennedy's assassination, his widow – flanked by brothers-in-law (from left) Ted Kennedy, Peter Lawford and Robert Kennedy, and daughter Caroline – watched her husband's funeral procession on Nov. 25, 1963, in Washington, D.C. As the casket passed young John, who turned 3 that day, he sweetly saluted.

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By Nancy Mattia