John F. Kennedy Inauguration Reel 3 · Part 3

Description

This film contains color footage of Inauguration Day activities: Reel 1 (silent) shows President Dwight D. Eisenhower as he greeted John and Jaqueline (Jackie) Kennedy at the White House; and the President and President-Elect (together with Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator Lyndon B. Johnson) as they drove to the Capitol where crowds and the White House parade stands are visible. Kennedy, Johnson, and the others are seen as they walked to the reviewing stand and watched parade units pass. Footage also includes scenes of the Cabinet members being sworn into office, and close-ups of Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Attorney General Robert Kennedy are shown. Reel 2 (sound) shows Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, and Johnson, as they appeared on the inaugural platform. A priest said a prayer, followed by Marian Anderson singing. Reel 3 (sound) captures Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn as he administered the oath to Vice President Johnson, and Chief Justice Earl Warren as he swore in President John F. Kennedy. Subsequently, Kennedy began his Inaugural Address. (A five-minute segment of the speech is missing, due to the cameraman changing to a new reel.) Reel 4 (sound) captures the rest of the Inaugural Address. Subsequent footage shows a priest as he prayed, and the Marine Band playing as the official party left the inaugural platform. Reel 5 and subsequent reels are all silent with much of the footage duplicative. First, guests left the platform; John Kennedy is seen as he walked through the Capitol Rotunda on his way to, and from, the ceremony; and lastly, more shots of the crowd. Reel 6 shows people in buildings and along the parade route, President Kennedy's escort, servicemen with state flags, the Fife and Drum Corps, and cadets from the military and naval academies. Footage also contains glimpses of the car containing Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, Cabinet members, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In subsequent scenes, the Presidential party drives to the Capitol for the Inaugural. A man holds the Bible used by Kennedy in taking his oath, and the Marine Band and souvenir sellers are shown. This is followed by the President delivering his Address (without sound). Reel 7 shows parade units, crowds, souvenir sellers, Scouts, the Kennedys and others in cars, Robert Kennedy waving, and the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Academy units. Police "controllers" are shown as they used handy-talkies. Reel 8 contains shots of crowds, parade units, Navy and Air Force units (including a PT boat float), the police "V" that began the parade, General James M. Gavin (Grand Marshall), the Army band, and the President's escort. John and Jackie Kennedy are shown as they passed in an open car, and the Trumans are shown with General Harry Vaughan. Others shown in their cars include Mrs. Alben Barkley and Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, The Cabinet members, and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson and Eleanor Roosevelt. Reel 9 captures the presidential party as it drove to and returned from the Capitol, and the beginning of the parade. Reel 10 shows pre-parade snow removal and operations across from the White House. Reel 11 captures President and Mrs. Kennedy as they posed with their families, the Cabinet members as they shook hands and posed, Chief Justice Warren as he swore in the Cabinet, and Kennedy as he spoke. Parade units are shown, including the Massachusetts and Texas units, a man as he rode a buffalo, and crowds. Reel 12 captures service academy marchers, Army units and missiles, and other parade units. Reel 13 contains scenes of Army missiles, the Massachusetts and Texas units, Indians, the cars of Mrs. Woodrow Wilson and Eleanor Roosevelt, the Joint Chiefs and some Senators, Army and Navy Academy units, and other paraders. Reels 14 and 15 show more parading units and floats, along with armored units and Governors Nelson Rockefeller of New York and Bert T. Combs of Kentucky. The subsequent three reels have more silent footage of the above.

Collection

Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense

Series

Moving Images Relating to John F. Kennedy's Inauguration