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As the first child born to a sitting president in nearly 80 years, John F. Kennedy Jnr enjoyed a national spotlight throughout his life. He was in utero during his dad’s campaign, and grew up in the White House. The photo of John Jr. peering out from the panel which he called ‘the secret door’ under the desk (‘my house’ to John Jnr) as his father reviews the papers was an instant icon — both for its timing and composition.
The photo was taken by Alan Stanley Tretick, a former Look magazine photographer who took many intimate pictures of President Kennedy and his children. Ms. Kennedy was against her children being photographed and used for political purposes, and the above photo was taken when Jacqueline Kennedy was out of the country. JFK invited Tretick over in October 1963 — by this time, JFK had recently lost a child to premature birth and needed all the family affection.
An advance copy of Look magazine with the photos travelled with the Kennedys to Dallas and hit the newsstands several days after the assassination. The image immediately comes to summarize the myth and memory of Camelot: that of a youthful President running the country with a young family playing at his side in the White House. It would take another Democratic president some forty years to portray a similar image in these photos (here, here).
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The desk in the photo was the Resolute Desk, was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes and was built from pieces of a salvaged Arctic discovery vessel. With a few exceptions, it has been used in the Oval Office by every president. After the Kennedy assassination, President Johnson allowed the desk to go on a traveling exhibition with the Kennedy Presidential Library and later to be displayed in the Smithsonian. (Johnson found he was too large for the desk, and commissioned a replacement; under Reagan, the desk was adjusted so that the President could sit at the desk without banging his knees). The secret door through which JFK Jr was coming out dated to an earlier adjustment. President Franklin Roosevelt requested that the kneehole be fitted with a panel carved with the presidential seal to conceal his leg braces. (He often placed a waste basket in front of his desks). FDR did not live to see it installed, but Truman liked the eagle motif and had it installed.
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These 2 images are the intellectual property of Aaron Stanley Tretick and require a written license agreement for use. Please remove these images immediately.
STFU dumb ass!
“Intellectual Property?” What a joke. Just because he took some photos doesn’t mean he forever “owns” JFK, JFK Jr., the Resolute Desk or the Oval Office.
barnstormer – I do not mean to be rude, but you need to learn about copyright. You are absolutely right, Aaron Tretick does not own JFK, JFK Jr, etc and when I take a picture of the sky, I don’t own that, either. What i do own, as well as Aaron Tretick, is the image we took however. Unless an unlimited, called ‘work for hire’ release has been drafted, the originators, or the party those rights of the image are released to hold the copyrights. These protections are the basis of free enterprise.
It appears, due to graininess etc., that this is a photo of the photo from the magazine. Since the magazine is public property, copyright is not infringed. On the other hand, this is such an iconic image, it belongs to history. The basis of free enterprise is in no way impeded.
I really love this picture
Me too
CAMELOT AT IT’S HIGHEST POINT
Such a nice pics i love it.
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I like how the picture shows the indomitable idiosyncrasy of the predecessor of the rector.
I don’t get this picture
[…] John F. Kennedy, including now famous photographs like George Tames “The Loneliest Job” or Alan Stanley Tretick’s “John F. Kennedy Jr. under the Resolute Desk.” Access may have been easier, independent photographers may have taken the shots, but the […]
[…] 1963, Look magazine published a series of photos of President John F. Kennedy working in the Oval Office as 2-year-old “John-John” played under […]
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[…] a classic photograph from American history that drives this point home for me. It’s picture taken in 1963 of […]
[…] a classic photograph from American history that drives this point home for me. It’s picture taken in 1963 of […]
[…] an iconic photo of the thirty-fifth president of the United States that I absolutely love. You’ve probably seen […]
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I HAVE THIS LOOK MAGAZINE WITH JFK AND SON JOHN IN MY OLD TRUNK THAT I PUT AWAY IN 1963. I LOVE IT.
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