John F. Kennedy

In 1960, a new drug called thalidomide arrived for review at the FDA. Assuming the popular European drug would be a routine application, supervisors assigned its approval to their newest hire, Dr. Frances Kelsey. The drug's manufacturers claimed total safety and zero side effects, but Dr. Kelsey stood firm, demanding clinical data to prove their claims. And, in doing so, saved the United States from a public health catastrophe.

When President John F. Kennedy addressed the nation on October 22, 1962, informing American citizens of Soviet missile sites in Cuba, he didn’t know that the months-long scare he referred to would be over just six days later. Four days after JFK’s speech, two men sat down to lunch at the Occidental Restaurant located two blocks from the White House. One ordered a pork chop and the other crab cakes. Despite how it may seem, this was no ordinary lunch. In fact, it is considered to have played a major role in ending the Cuban Missile Crisis.

At 7 p.m. on November 29 , 1962, 5,000 Washingtonians dressed in black ties and furs arrived at the D.C. National Guard Armory for a $100-a-plate dinner, and fundraising show titled An American Pageant of the Arts. President and Mrs. Kennedy started the event by addressing the crowd about the importance of the arts in fostering American culture and a healthy democracy. Afterward, the master of ceremonies, Leonard Bernstein, took over and the 2 hour and 43-minute show, featuring some of the greatest performers in music, literature, and comedy, began. The variety show kicked off a $30 million fundraising initiative to raise money for the construction of a National Cultural Center on the bank of the Potomac.

John F. Kennedy quietly championed a tense Cold War thriller about a military coup, using his influence to push Hollywood into making Seven Days in May—only to be assassinated before the film's chilling warning reached audiences.

On Oct. 5, 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson and visiting Philippines President Diosdado Macapagal rode a 25-minute noontime parade through downtown Washington. It was an unremarkable presidential event except for one unsettling detail: the car in which they rode was the same customized black 1961 Lincoln in which President John F. Kennedy had been killed less than a year earlier.

When we think of President John F. Kennedy, we picture him living in the White House with Jackie, Caroline and John Jr.  But for most of the time he spent in Washington — the years from 1946 through 1960 — he was a resident of the city’s Georgetown neighborhood.