Existing comment:
Inauguration of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, January 20, 1961:
During the third week of January 1961, preparations began for the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as Washington braced itself for a snowstorm. On Thursday, January 19, the temperature dropped, the wind picked up, and it began snowing hard. Typically for the capital, streets were unplowed, and cars were abandoned. On Pennsylvania Avenue, workmen struggled to clear the parade route, and soldiers used flame throwers to melt the ice around the inaugural stand. The snow stopped before dawn on January 20. Inauguration Day was bitterly cold and windy but sunny. In the traditional ritual of the transfer of power, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy rode together in a limousine to the Capitol. At twenty minutes after noon, the ceremonies began.
Bill Ray, 1961 |