John F. Kennedy took the oath of office on January 20, 1961, as the 35th president. The youngest man elected president, he took over the reins of government from the oldest man to serve as chief executive up to that time. Kennedy understood the importance of this generational divide, and his remarks on that cold January morning stressed a new beginning and a New Frontier, a break with the ways of the past. “The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century,” he said, consigning Eisenhower (born in 1890) to the dustbin of history. After Kennedy’s swearing-in, Ike
...more
