First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy holds John F. Kennedy, Jr. (playing with his mother’s necklace) in the North Portico of the White House, Washington, D.C., following Major L. Gordon Cooper’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) presentation ceremony.

(Source: jfklibrary.org)

50 Years Ago Today - Mercury 7 Astronauts Visit the White House

(From L-R): Major L. Gordon Cooper, Lieutenant Colonel Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Major Donald K. “Deke” Slayton, Lieutenant Commander Walter Schirra, Lieutenant Commander M. Scott Carpenter, Commander Alan B. Shepard, and their wives visit the White House

President Kennedy was the first president to make arts and pop culture a priority in the White House. In honor of that tradition, we are teaming up with Boston’s first ever multi-day, multistage rock festival -Boston Calling- to giveaway three sets of VIP weekend passes. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 10am to enter for your chance to win tickets to this sold out event!  

Pictured: JFK and Mrs. Kennedy greet composer Igor Stravinksy and his wife Vera de Bosset Stravinsky as they arrive for a dinner party at the White House (Abbie Rowe/JFK Library)

Being that today is the opening of “Gatsby” we thought it fitting to share this snippet of a letter from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Ernest Hemingay. Hemingway sent Fitzgerald the typescript of “A Farewell to Arms”, and Fitzgerald wrote back about ten pages of commentary and edits, ending his critique with a compliment about the book overall, saying “A beautiful book it is.” After reading the ten pages of criticism of his book, Hemingway added his own colorful language (pictured) on the bottom. But, we know from later drafts that he did consider some of the advice! (From the Hemingway Collection at the JFK Library)

In honor of Mother’s Day, here’s an entertaining letter from JFK to his mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy.

In 1962, Rose Kennedy wrote to Soviet Premier Khrushchev asking for an autographed photo. Learning that his mother had reached out to the Soviet Premier, JFK wrote her this letter asking her to please check with him before she took it upon herself to correspond with heads of state as requests like hers are “subject to interpretations.” The timing is interesting, considering JFK wrote back to Rose almost immediately after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In response to this letter, Rose Kennedy wrote back, saying: “I understand very well your letter, although I had not thought of it before. …When I ask for Castro’s autograph, I will let you know in advance!”

From the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Papers/JFK Library

We love this post! Here’s the record from our archives: http://archive2.jfklibrary.org/JFKCAMP1960/0982/JFKCAMP1960-0982-011/JFKCAMP1960-0982-011-p0003.jpg

slatevault:

In which Kurt Vonnegut modestly offers his talents to the JFK campaign. Our favorite line? “On occasion, I write pretty well.” http://slate.me/11QNcwA