Image, social life and family

John F. Kennedy with wife Jacqueline and children, 1962.Kennedy and his wife "Jackie" were very young in comparison to earlier Presidents and first ladies, and were both extraordinarily popular in ways more common to pop singers and movie stars than politicians, influencing fashion trends and becoming the subjects of numerous photo spreads in popular magazines. Jacqueline bought new art and furniture, and eventually restored all the rooms in the White House. Outside the White House lawn the Kennedys established a preschool, swimming pool and tree house. Jackie did not like the children to be photographed. The resulting photos are probably the most famous of the children, and especially John Jr., after he was photographed playing underneath the President’s desk. The President was closely tied to popular culture. Things such as "Twisting at the White House" and "Camelot" (the popular Broadway play) were part of the JFK culture. Vaughn Meader's "First Family" comedy album – an album parodying the President, First Lady, their family and administration – sold about 4 million copies. On May 19, 1962, Marilyn Monroe sang for the president at a large birthday party in Madison Square Garden. Behind the glamorous facade, the Kennedys also suffered many personal tragedies. Jacqueline suffered a miscarriage in 1955 and gave birth to a stillborn daughter, Arabella Kennedy, in 1956. The death of their newborn son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, in August 1963, was a great loss. Since Kennedy's death, allegations have been made that Kennedy carried on numerous extramarital dalliances during his presidency with women such as Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe and socialite Mary Pinchot Meyer. The charisma of Kennedy and his family led to the figurative designation of "Camelot" for his administration, credited by his widow to his affection for the contemporary Broadway musical of the same name. She gave an interview to Theodore White, where she mentioned the musical Camelot, and White later said that he had "found the headline". He holds a record acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's fastest speaker in public life, with a speed of 327 words in one minute in a speech given in December 1961. In October 1951, during his third term as Massachusetts 11th district congressman, the then 34-year-old Kennedy embarked on a seven-week Asian trip to Israel, India, Vietnam and Japan with his then 25-year-old brother Robert (who had just graduated from law school four months earlier) and his then 27-year-old sister Patricia. Because of their eight-year separation in age, the two brothers had previously seen little of each other. This 25,000 mile trip was the first extended time they had spent together and resulted in their becoming best friends in addition to being brothers. Robert was campaign manager for Kennedy's successful 1952 Senate campaign and successful 1960 Presidential campaign. The two brothers worked closely together from 1957 to 1959 on the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor and Management Field (Senate Rackets Committee) when Robert was its chief counsel. During Kennedy's presidency, Robert served in his Cabinet as Attorney General and was his closest advisor. Kennedy came third (behind Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa) in a Gallup list of the most admired people of the twentieth century

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