Religion: The Kennedys

The great woman behind the Kennedy men: Rare and never before seen pictures shed light on Rose Kennedy as the matriarch of America's celebrated dynasty

A month before the nation marks the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, a new photo book put together by Caroline Kennedy tells the story of her remarkable family through the eyes of her indomitable grandmother.

Rose Kennedy's Family Album, which went on sale Tuesday, features a compilation of 300 images - many of them never made public before - taken between 1878 and 1946, when John F. Kennedy won the Democratic nomination during his first run for Congress.

The photo history of the Kennedy clan told from the perspective of the spirited matriarch, Rose Kennedy, covers everything from the family's first home to beach vacations, children's birthdays to first Communions.

Scroll down for video

Young scions: The Kennedy children (left to right), Kathleen, Rosemary, Eunice, Joe Jr., and young John F. Kennedy in Cohasset circa 1923-1924

First steps: Patrick Joseph Kennedy and his son , Joe, with Rosemary (left) and Kathleen at Nantasket Beach around 1921

Family album: The new photo book put together by Caroline Kennedy and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library features a selection of more than 300 images collected by Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, many never seen before

Through rare black-and-white photos and personal letters, readers can trace the history of the great American dynasty dotted with important highlights like the wedding of Joseph Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald in 1914 and the births of their nine children.

Much has been made of the Kennedy men, but many people forget that at the center of the clan stood a fierce, well-educated and politically astute woman who helped pave the way for her sons and daughters.

Caroline Kennedy, President Kennedy's daughter, wrote the forward for the book and helped cull the images and accompanying materials presented in the volume from the thousands in the archives of the Kennedy Library. The new book focuses on Rose Kennedy and her role as the lynchpin of the Kennedy brood - a mother of nine who has been described by her granddaughter, Maria Shriver as the exact opposite of the 'cuddly, fuzzy' grandmother, the Today Show reported.

As a mother, Rose Kennedy was strict but loving, teaching her children and grandchildren about the importance of faith and charity.

Sea voyage: (Left to right) Eunice, Jack, Joe Jr., Rosemary, and Kathleen relaxing in a boat off Sandy Beach in the early 1920s

Home base: Eunice, Bobby, Joe Jr., Jack holding Jean, Rosemary, and Pat (sitting) at the family compound in in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in 1933

Young entrepreneurs: Jean, Pat, Bobby, and Teddy in the backyard of the Kennedy home in Bronxville with the pet rabbits Bobby raises and sells, October 1935

Speaking of Rose Kennedy, Shriver, whose mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the Special Olympics, said that her grandmother was the glue that held the entire family together and kept the history alive.

Rose Kennedy died in 1995 at the age of 105 after surviving hers sons Joe Jr, John and Bobby, and daughter Kathleen.

At a celebration of Rose’s centennial five years prior, Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy described his mother as ‘the quiet at the center of the storm, the anchor of our family, the safe harbor to which we always came,’ according to The Boston Globe.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Family getaway: Joe Jr., mother Rose, and Jack swimming in a pool while vacationing in Palm Beach, Florida, circa 1942

All grown up: (left to right) Jack, Pat, Joe, Bobby, and Jean pose behind Rose (in kiddie pool) and Eunice in Palm Beach, circa 1944-1945

Miss Shriver also called her shrewd grandmother the family’s ‘first political strategist’ who tirelessly campaigned for her children as they pursued careers in politics.

A TRIBUTE TO A GREAT STATESMAN

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all good men toll for thee

How intricate the dust!
I would go, to know! a debt of gratitude.
Your compassion for the poor and helpless
If these from oblivion awakes you. 
Observe them suffering, awake from deep slumber
Observe them going down.The cold passion for truth
Existed in your ideas.
You are Uncle Teddy, the lion of the Senate,
To lampoon these crude sketches of Congress. You are far
From great Clan, but even farther in ideals and
Political hatreds...So long and may the Dream live on.......ASC
Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, last surviving brother in an American political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history, died at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong struggle with brain cancer. He was 77.
In nearly 50 years in the Senate, Kennedy, a liberal Democrat, served alongside 10 presidents – his brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy among them – compiling legislative achievements on health care, civil rights, education, immigration and more.
Speaking briefly to reporters at his rented vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., President Barack Obama called Kennedy one of the “most accomplished Americans” in history – and a man whose work in Congress helped give new opportunities to millions.
“Including myself,” added the nation’s first black president, who ordered government flags lowered to half-staff.
Sen. Edward Kennedy on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2002. Edward M. Kennedy, a son of one of the most storied families in American politics, a man who knew triumph and tragedy in near-equal measure and who will be remembered as one of the most effective lawmakers in the history of the Senate, died Tuesday night, Aug. 25, 2009. He was 77. (Lane Turner/The Boston Globe) #

2
Joseph P. Kennedy, seated center, the head of the United States Maritime Commission and former chairman of the SEC, with his wife Mrs Rose. Kennedy and their children at their home in Bronxville, N.Y. in 1937. Seated left to right, are Eunice, Jean, Edward, Mr. Kennedy, Patricia and Kathleen. Standing are Rosemary, Robert, John F., Mrs. Kennedy and Joseph, Jr. (New York Times Studios) #

3
In this April 11, 1938 photo, Teddy Kennedy, center, and his sister Jean attend the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, London, as their father, the new American ambassador, Joseph Kennedy, paid a call to the King. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts was the last surviving brother in a political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history. He died at his home on Cape Cod after a year-long struggle with brain cancer. (AP Photo) #

4
This March 1938 file photo shows Joseph Kennedy (2nd-L) and his wife Rose (3rd-L) with their children (L-R) Kathleen, Edward, Patricia, Jean and Robert in London, England. (AFP/Getty Images) #

5
Amb. Joseph Kennedy, then U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, with his family at the Embassy residence in London in 1938. From left: Eunice, John, Rosemary, Jean, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Edward, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., Patricia, Robert, Kathleen. (Dorothy Wilding/John F. Kennedy Library via The New York Times) #

6
A file photo shows members of the Kennedy family, from left, John F. Kennedy, Jean Kennedy, Rose Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Patricia Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy, and Edward "Ted" M. Kennedy (kneeling), pose for a photo in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, U.S., in this 1948 photo. (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston via Bloomberg) #

7
A file photo shows Harvard football players, from right, Edward "Ted" M. Kennedy, Leo Daley, and Phil Haughey in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., in 1955. (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston via Bloomberg) #

8
In this Nov. 11, 1958 file photo, Edward M. Kennedy, and Joan Bennett, kneel on the altar and receive communion from Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York at the nuptial mass at St. Joesph's Roman Catholic Church in Bronxville, N.Y. (AP Photo, File) #

9
Robert F. Kennedy, left, Counsel for the Senate Rackets Committee, confers with his brothers Edward Kennedy, center, and Sen. John F. Kennedy during a committee hearing in Washington, D.C., in 1959. (AP Photo) #

10
Sen. Edward Kennedy, center, flanked by his brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, at the White House in August, 1963. (JFK Presidential Library via The New York Times) #

11
Sen. Edward Kennedy, third from left, walks with his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and sister-in-law Jacqueline Kennedy, during the funeral procession for his slain brother, President John F. Kennedy, outside the White House in Washington, Nov. 25, 1963. (Abbie Rowe/National Park Service/JFK Library via The New York Times) #

12
In this July 9, 1964 file photo, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy smiles and waves a bandaged hand from the back of an ambulance after being transferred from Northampton, Mass. to New England Baptist Hospital, in Boston to treat injuries sustained in a private airplane crash. (AP Photo/ File) #

13
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, left, takes a stroll with his father former ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy on an open porch at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston, Dec. 8, 1964, where the senator was recuperating from the broken back he suffered in a plane crash. (AP Photo) #

14
In this March 15, 1967 file photo, Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., left, and Robert Kennedy, D-N.Y., sit together during a session of the Senate Labor Subcommittee in Washington. They were members of the subcommittee. (AP Photo, File) #

15
Sen. Robert F. Kennedy with brother, Senator Edward M. Kennedy are shown during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in South Boston, March 17, 1968. (AP Photo/J.W. Green) #

16
Crowds gather to watch the car which Sen. Edward Kennedy drove off Dike Bridge with Mary Jo Kopechne on Chappaquiddick Island in July, 1969. Questions as to why Kennedy didn't seek immediate help for his passenger who was trapped underwater and died haunted Kennedy for years after the accident. (The Boston Globe) #

17
In a July 25, 1969 file photo Sen. Edward Kennedy is escorted by troopers as he leaves court in Edgartown, Mass., after pleading guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of the accident which killed aide Mary Jo Kopechne. (AP Photo/File) #

18
In an Oct. 14, 1970, file photo Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., speaks at the dedication ceremonies of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center in Waltham, Mass. (AP Photo/JWG/FILE) #

19
Joan Kennedy naps next to her husband, Sen. Edward Kennedy, as he worked on a speech during a five-state campaign tour in 1971. (George Tames/The New York Times) #

20
Sen. Edward Kennedy with son Patrick, right, on a roller coaster in Agawam, Mass., in 1976. (Photo by Joseph Dennehy/The Boston Globe) #

21
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., left, waves to the crowd as he arrives at Faneuil Hall accompanied by his wife Joan Kennedy, left, to formally announce that he was challenging Pres. Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination, on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1979, Boston, Mass. (AP Photo/J. Walter Green) #

22
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy addressing members of the California delegation at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York in August, 1980. (D. Gorton/The New York Times) #

23
In this Aug. 15, 1980 file photo, President Jimmy Carter, left, shakes hands with Sen. Edward Kennedy on the podium at the Democratic National Convention in New York's Madison Square Garden. The two had vied for the Democratic presidential nomination. (AP Photo, File) #

24
In a June 4, 1983 file photo John F. Kennedy Jr., second from left, listens to his uncle Ted Kennedy, right, with his mother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, left, and sister Caroline Kennedy, second right, at his graduation from Brown University, Providence, R.I. (AP Photo) #

25
Sen. Edward Kennedy with son Edward Kennedy Jr. and grandson Edward III at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannisport, in July, 1998. (Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe) #

26
While passing Nobska lighthouse U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., talks with Coast Guard personnel aboard the Cutter Hammerhead as they arrive at port in Woods Hole, Mass., after returning from the burial-at-sea service for John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette Thursday, July 22, 1999. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) #

27
Senator Edward M. Kennedy worked on his remarks before a patients' bill of rights rally in 2001 outside the Capitol in Washington. (Photographs by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times) #

28
In this file picture taken on July 27, 2004 Senator Edward Kennedy arrives to speak to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) #

29
In a Sept. 27, 2004 file photo Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, delivers his speech about the effect of the war in Iraq on America's security at George Washington University in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta/file) #

30
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) asks questions during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee with General David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on Capitol Hill September 11, 2007 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) #

31
Sen. Edward Kennedy walks out of the room after taking part in a news conference about the minium wage bill that was being debated on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Jan. 24, 2007. (Doug Mills/ The New York Times) #

32
Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate education committee, with three other members of the panel: Sens. Jeff Bingaman, Democrat, left; Lamar Alexander, Republican, right; and Michael B. Enzi, the senior Republican member, during a gathering in the President's room, just off the Senate floor, on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2007. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) #

33
Sen. Edward Kennedy is kissed by his wife Victoria Reggie after he addressed the Democratic National Convention in Denver, in August, 2008. Kennedy, who was being treated for a brain tumor, stopped by the convention to the delight of delegates. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times) #

34
U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) waves to the crowd during day one of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the Pepsi Center August 25, 2008 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) #

35
Sen. Edward Kennedy with his wife Victoria Reggie as they joked around with members of the media as they waited for the arrival of President Michelle Bachelet of Chile in Hyannisport, Sept. 23, 2008. (Essdras M. Suarez/The Boston Globe) #

36
In a May 20, 2008 file photo provided by Sen. Kennedy's office, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., center, is surrounded by family members, left to right, son Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., stepson Curran Raclin, son Edward Kennedy Jr., daughter Kara Kennedy, his wife Vicki and stepdaughter Caroline Raclin in a family room at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston when Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. (AP Photo/file) #

37
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy takes in the view of the Atlantic Ocean from his front porch at Hyannisport, Mass., on May 22, 2008. (Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe) #

38
In a May 21, 2008 file photo Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and his wife, Victoria, right, sit at the helm of their sailboat "Mya" at the Hyannisport, Mass., Yacht Club. (AP Photo/The Boston Globe, Matthew J. Lee/file) #

39
U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) (R) and his wife Vicki Kennedy arrive prior to a welcome lunch outside the Caucus Room at the Senate Russell Office Building on Capitol Hill November 17, 2008 in Washington, DC. Kennedy returned to his office after he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May and underwent brain surgery in June 2008. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) #

40
President Obama with former President Bill Clinton, Sen. Edward Kennedy and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the Oval office of the White House, in Washington, April 21, 2009. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) #

41
Sen. Edward Kennedy throws the ceremonial first pitch to his catcher, Hall of Famer Jim Rice, at Fenway Park in Boston, April 7, 2009. (Jim Davis/The Boston Globe) #

42
The flag flies at half-mast over the U.S. Capitol the morning after Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) died at his home in Massachusetts, August 26, 2009 in Washington, DC. Known as The Lion of the Senate, Kennedy, 77, served there for 46 years after he was elected to the seat once occupied by his brother, former President John F. Kennedy. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) #
Father: Joseph P. Kennedy (b. 6-Sep-1888, d. 18-Nov-1969)
Mother: Rose Kennedy (b. 22-Jul-1890, d. 22-Jan-1995)
Brother: Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (b. 25-Jul-1915, d. 12-Aug-1944 killed in action)
Brother: John F. Kennedy (US President, b. 29-May-1917, d. 22-Nov-1963 assassination)
Sister: Rosemary Kennedy (b. 13-Sep-1918, d. 7-Jan-2005)
Sister: Kathleen Kennedy (b. 20-Feb-1920, d. 13-May-1948 airplane crash)
Sister: Eunice Kennedy Shriver (b. 10-Jul-1921, d. 11-Aug-2009)
Sister: Patricia Kennedy Lawford (b. 5-May-1924, d. 17-Sep-2006)
Brother: Robert F. Kennedy (US Attorney General, b. 20-Nov-1925, d. 6-Jun-1968 assassination)
Sister: Jean Kennedy Smith (diplomat, b. 20-Feb-1928)
Wife: Virginia Joan Bennett (m. 30-Nov-1958, div. 6-Dec-1982, one daughter, two sons)
Daughter: Kara Anne Kennedy (TV news producer, b. 27-Feb-1960)
Son: Edward Kennedy, Jr. (disability rights attorney, b. 26-Sep-1961)
Son: Patrick Joseph Kennedy (US Congressman, b. 14-Jul-1967)
Mistress: Suzy Chaffee (rumored affair while Kennedy was married to Bennett)
Wife: Victoria Anne Reggie (attorney, m. 3-Jul-1992, one stepson, one stepdaughter)
Son: Grier Curran Raclin ("Curran", stepson, b. 20-Nov-1983)
Daughter: Caroline Raclin (stepdaughter, b. 26-Dec-1985)

43
Henry Sanford (L), Staff Assistant of the office of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), pauses as Staff Assistant Meagen Manning (R) answers the phone in Kennedy's office at the Russell Senate Office Building August 26, 2009 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Sen. Kennedy has passed away at the age of 77 at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts after battling a brain cancer. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) #

44
A picture of U.S. President Barack Obama and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) hangs in the reception area of the office of Kennedy at the Russell Senate Office Building August 26, 2009 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) #

45
Sen. Edward Kennedy on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2003. (Lane Turner/The Boston Globe) #

Of the many accomplishments of Ted Kennedy, few have had a more profound effect on America—America as a state, as an economy, a society, and as a nation—as the first act he ever managed to passage, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
The Kennedy family made tremendous sacrifices for our country. Joe Kennedy died in a secret mission during World War II. John and Robert, of course, were both assassinated. And just about every other member of the family had a long history of public service, either in the political sphere or with causes like Eunice's devotion to the Special Olympics. The Kennedy "clan" was also famously loving and close. Thus, it was appropriate that a cause championed by John Kennedy and eventually brought to passage by Teddy put in to immigration policy a preference for family tiesover marketable skills:

The current system of legal immigration dates to 1965. It marked a radical break with previous policy and has led to profound demographic changes in America. But that's not how the law was seen when it was passed -- at the height of the civil rights movement, at a time when ideals of freedom, democracy and equality had seized the nation. Against this backdrop, the manner in which the United States decided which foreigners could and could not enter the country had become an increasing embarrassment.
An Argument Based on Egalitarianism
"The law was just unbelievable in its clarity of racism," says Stephen Klineberg, a sociologist at Rice University. "It declared that Northern Europeans are a superior subspecies of the white race. The Nordics were superior to the Alpines, who in turn were superior to the Mediterraneans, and all of them were superior to the Jews and the Asians."
By the 1960s, Greeks, Poles, Portuguese and Italians were complaining that immigration quotas discriminated against them in favor of Western Europeans. The Democratic Party took up their cause, led by President John F. Kennedy. In a June 1963 speech to the American Committee on Italian Migration, Kennedy called the system of quotas in place back then " nearly intolerable."

My home—the Detroit area—has been transformed in recent decades by massive immigration from Lebanon and Iraq, Yemen and Albania. I moved a few years ago to DC, which has become a major destination for immigrants from Ethiopia and Eritrea and West Africa. I'm now working in the quintessential Scandinavian state, but whose largest cities now have thriving communities of Vietnamese and Cambodians and Hmong and Somalis. In major cities like New York or Los Angeles, or in small towns that become destinations for immigrants from halfway around the world, the people we live next to, buy things from, worship with, befriend, marry and with whom we create our own families, are people who were let in to America because of Senator Ted Kennedy's first major legislation.
That the bill prioritized family ties, and was passed by an Irish Catholic, is apt. Catholics were the most despised religious group in early America. After the enslaved Africans and the persecuted native Americans, no other major group was so marginalized as the Irish. But today, Irish Catholics are no longer discriminated against, are no longer outside the mainstream of American society. The discrimination was fading, but still existed in 1960, when John Kennedy became our first (and still only) Catholic president. But thanks in part to the accomplishments and sacrifices of the Kennedy family, by the time I was growing up in the 1970's, being discriminated against because you were Irish Catholic—a real experience for my grandparents—was for me something that existed only in history and family lore.
To Uncle Teddy with all my appreciation, and the reason why I am here…..ASC

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all good men toll for thee How intricate the dust!
I would go, to know! a debt of gratitude.
Your compassion for the poor and helpless
If these from oblivion awakes you. 
Observe them suffering, awake from deep slumber
Observe them going down.The cold passion for truth
Existed in your ideas.
You are Uncle Teddy, the lion of the Senate,
To lampoon these crude sketches of Congress. You are far
From great Clan, but even farther in ideals and
Political hatreds...So long and may the Dream live on.......ASC

Newly released footage shows John F. Kennedy and his family relaxing at the family's retreat, known as Camelot by the Sea, exactly 50 years ago this weekend. Over the weekend of July 27 to 29 in 1963, the First Family entertained guests including Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, British ambassador to the U.S. David Ormsby-Gore and Secretary of State Dean Rusk, at their Hyannis Port compound in Massachusetts. The 15-minute silent film, released by the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, shows the President enjoying a round of golf and posing for official pictures with his guests at the Squaw Island seafront property.

Downtime: The President enjoys a round of golf as he entertains guests at his coastal retreat

Welcome: The British ambassador to the U.S. and Secretary of State were among the weekend guests

Formal: After an official photo shoot, the President and his guests began a more relaxed weekend. His son, John F. Kennedy Jr makes a brief appearance towards the end of the film, as he excitedly watches a helicopter land. The Kennedy compound was an important retreat for the whole family, who first started vacationing there in the 1920s. Summer fun at 'Camelot by the Sea' with President Kennedy and his...

It was where the President first heard that he had won the election, and where the family gathered to mourn after his assassination only a few short months after this footage was taken. He had previously said: 'I always come back to the Cape and walk on the beach when I have a tough decision to make. The Cape is the one place I can think, and be alone,' USA Today reported.

Plain sailing: The President can be seen laughing and chatting with guests on board his boat

Cooling off: The First Lady joins her guests as they dive into the sea off Nantucket for a swim

Dive in: John F. Kennedy swims in the sea over the last weekend of July in 1963

On board: The First Family and their friends enjoy the boat trip off the coast near the Kennedy Compound

Family man: The President hands his daughter a towel as the boat heads back to the house. In the newly released film, the group is also seen heading off for a sail around the Nantucket coast on board the Honey Fitz, where First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, in a large-brimmed sun hat, and a young Caroline Kennedy are seen playing and chatting. It certainly appears to be a relaxed affair, with the President and his guests chatting and reading the newspapers before diving into the sea to cool off. Kennedy is seen as an attentive father, swimming and playing with his daughter, before they all return to the coastal home looking tired and happy.

Daddy's little girl: Caroline Kennedy perches on the arm of her father's chair as he chats to guests

Girl talk: Caroline chats to her mother as they sail around Nantucket

Family fun: Not to be left out, John F. Kennedy Jr makes a brief appearance at the end of the footage. Hyannis Port, Squaw Island July 27–29, 1963

To watch the full 15 minute film click here

The presidency of JFK, 50 years ago

Fifty years ago this month, John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States. He held the office for just over 1,000 days before his assassination, but they were significant days, and the man and his family became iconic around the world, especially capturing the imagination of Americans at home. This year, a four-year, $10 million effort to digitize the JFK Library and Museum’s archives is nearing completion, and LIFE Magazine has just released a series unpublished photos of the president. Collected here are a sampling of these photos, most from the JFK Library, some from LIFE and other press agencies, looking back 50 years ago.

President John F. Kennedy addresses the nation from the Oval Office during the Berlin Crisis on July 25th, 1961. (Cecil Stoughton, White House/ John F. Kennedy Library)

While part of every candidate's retinue, security was simply not the pressing, public concern in 1960 that it would suddenly and necessarily become within a few short years. Here, seemingly alone in a crowd in Logan County, West Virginia, JFK speechifies from a kitchen chair as, mere feet away, a young boy absently plays with a jarringly realistic-looking toy gun.

On a drive through Illinois during the 1960 campaign, photographer Paul Schutzer turns his camera on his colleagues in the press.

Vice President Lyndon Johnson, President John F. Kennedy and Special Assistant to the President Dave Powers during Opening Day of the 1961 baseball season at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum) #

Watching the lift-off of the first American in space on May 5th, 1961. From left to right, Vice President Johnson, Arthur Schlesinger, Adm. Arliegh Burke, President Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy.

President Kennedy sailing aboard the U. S. Coast Guard yacht "Manitou" on August 26th, 1962 in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. (Robert Knudsen, White House/John F. Kennedy Library) #

President Kennedy's address to the people of Berlin, Germany on June 26th, 1963. (Robert Knudsen, White House/John F. Kennedy Library) #

In Miami, Florida, after President Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy address the 2506 Cuban Invasion Brigade at the Orange Bowl Stadium, Mrs. Kennedy informally speaks with some of the members on December 29th, 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

President Kennedy with his children, Caroline and John Jr. in the Oval Office of the White House on October 10th, 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

President Kennedy's arrival in Hyannisport, Massachusetts on May 11th, 1963. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

A large group of photographers, including White House Photographers Cecil Stoughton and Abbie Rowe, crowd around the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to document President Kennedy's signature in the Treaty Room on October 7th, 1963. (Robert Knudsen, White House / John F. Kennedy Library)#

President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy confer outside the West Wing of the White House on October 3rd, 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

President John F. Kennedy peers into space capsule at the presentation ceremony of NASA Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) to Astronaut and Colonel John Glenn, Jr. at Hangar 'S' at Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 23rd, 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

Florida Senator George Smathers and President John F. Kennedy at NASA's Cape Canaveral, Pad B, Complex 37, where they were briefed on the Saturn rocket by Dr. Werner Von Braun (not pictured) on November 16th, 1963. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

President John F. Kennedy signs the Equal Pay Act on June 10th, 1963. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

Mrs. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr., late 1962 in the White House Nursery. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

President Kennedy speaks at Rice University Stadium in Houston, Texas on September 12th, 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library)#

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and her sister Princess Lee Radziwill ride an elephant while on tour in India in March of 1962. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

President John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office of the White on July 11th, 1963. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

Fateful day JFK was assassinated as seen by bystanders

When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, the event and its aftermath were broadcast to a stunned nation through photography and television.

Reporters used dramatic on-the-spot news photographs by professional photojournalists as well as snapshots by unsuspecting witnesses to explain the events: the shooting of the President, the hunt for the assassin, the swearing in of the new President, the widow's grief, the funeral, the shooting of Oswald.

Viewers interpreted these photographs in various ways: to comprehend the shocking news, to negotiate their grief, to attempt to solve the crime.

The combination of personal photographs assuming public significance and subjective interpretations of news images disrupted conventional views of photography as fact or evidence.

A new exhibition at the International Center of Photography in New York, JFK November 22, 1963: A Bystander's View of History, examines the imaginative reception of these iconic photographs.

Fateful day: Unidentified Photographer, Governor John Connally, Nellie Connally, President John F. Kennedy, and Jacqueline Kennedy in presidential limousine, Dallas, November 22, 1963

Shown to a stunned nation: Unidentified Photographer, [John F. Kennedy], ca. 1963. International Center of Photography, Museum Purchase, 2013

In the blink of an eye: Picture by Mary Moorman, [Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Dallas], November 22, 1963. International Center of Photography, Museum Purchase, 2013

Snapshot: Unidentified Photographer, [John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, John Connally, and Nellie Connally in presidential limousine, Dallas], November 22, 1963. International Center of Photography, Museum Purchase, 2005.

On the stump: Cornell Capa, [John F. Kennedy reaching into a crowd of supporters, North Hollywood, California], 1960. International Center of Photography

Caught: Unidentified Photographer, [Lee Harvey Oswald, Dallas], November 22 or 23, 1963. International Center of Photography, Museum Purchase, 2013 This image must not be cropped, bled, overprinted with text, or altered in any manner. Whether received electronically or in print, it may not be copied or stored other than is needed for one-time reproduction in conjunction with exhibition press. If used electronically, an image must be reproduced at a resolution of no larger than 700 pixels on the long side. The conditions for publication listed above are required for the use of enclosed/attached reproduction materials. Failure to fully document these images may constitute an infringement of copyright. Please send ICP a tear sheet, copy of your publication, or a PDF when any of the images and/or an article/review/listing appears. Thank you.

I solemnly do swear: JFK Television image of Lyndon B. Johnson's swearing in ceremony aboard Air Force One. Unidentified Photographer, November 22, 1963. International Center of Photography, Museum Purchase, 2013

Grief of a nation: JFK Television image of Jacqueline Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy during John F. Kennedy's funeral proceedings. Unidentified Photographer, November 24, 1963. International Center of Photography, Museum Purchase, 2013

President Kennedy appears in a motorcade in Cork, Ireland on June 28th, 1963. (Robert Knudsen, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

November 22nd, 1963 - President Kennedy reaches out to the crowd gathered at the Hotel Texas Parking Lot Rally in Fort Worth, Texas. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library)#

Moments after he was shot, the limousine carrying mortally wounded President John F. Kennedy races toward the hospital in Dallas, Texas on November 22nd, 1963. Secret service agent Clinton Hill rides on the back of the car, Mrs. John Connally, wife of the Texas governor, bends over her wounded husband, and Mrs. Kennedy leans over the president. (AP Photo/Justin Newman) #

President Kennedy's casket is loaded onto Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas, Texas on November 22nd, 1963. Onlookers include Lawrence "Larry" O'Brien, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Dave Powers. (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

On November 22nd, 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson takes the oath of office on Air Force One following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. From left to right: Mac Kilduff (holding dictating machine), Judge Sarah T. Hughes, Jack Valenti, Congressman Albert Thomas, Marie Fehmer (behind Thomas), First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Evelyn Lincoln (eyeglasses only visible above LBJ's shoulder), Congressman Homer Thornberry (in shadow, partially obscured by LBJ), Roy Kellerman (partially obscured by Thornberry), Lem Johns (partially obscured by Mrs. Kennedy), former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Pamela Tunure (behind Brooks), Congressman Jack Brooks, Bill Moyers (mostly obscured by Brooks) Date 22 November 1963(1963-11-22) (Cecil Stoughton, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

The body of President John F. Kennedy lies in state in a casket in the East Room, at the White House as the Honor Guard stands guard on November 23rd, 1963. (Robert Knudsen, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

Family members and others march in the Funeral Procession of President John F. Kennedy in Washington D.C. on November 25th, 1963. Image includes: Robert F. Kennedy, Mrs. John F. Kennedy, Edward M. Kennedy, R. Sargent Shriver, Stephen E. Smith. (Robert Knudsen, White House / John F. Kennedy Library) #

