--- title: JFK: Classic Photos of an American Political Icon, 1947-1963 description: Classic LIFE magazine photos of John Kennedy, from fresh-faced congressman in 1947 to husband and father to most powerful person on earth. canonical: https://time.com/3879796/jfk-classic-photos-of-an-american-political-icon-1947-1963/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-08T16:28:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:42.785Z og:title: JFK: Classic Photos of an American Political Icon, 1947-1963 og:description: Classic LIFE magazine photos of John Kennedy, from fresh-faced congressman in 1947 to husband and father to most powerful person on earth. og:url: https://time.com/3879796/jfk-classic-photos-of-an-american-political-icon-1947-1963/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6572cd0462cd0efc/69884ad65f570f6dd1b1af18/131030-jfk-1957-rfk-senator-06.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: JFK and RFK, 1957 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: JFK: Classic Photos of an American Political Icon, 1947-1963 twitter:description: Classic LIFE magazine photos of John Kennedy, from fresh-faced congressman in 1947 to husband and father to most powerful person on earth. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6572cd0462cd0efc/69884ad65f570f6dd1b1af18/131030-jfk-1957-rfk-senator-06.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # LIFE With JFK: Classic Portraits of a Political Superstar, 1947-1963 by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove May 8, 2014 4:28 PM UTC  John and Robert Kennedy at a hearing of a Senate select committee on labor racketeering, 1957. John and Robert Kennedy at a hearing of a Senate select committee on labor racketeering, 1957.Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove May 8, 2014 4:28 PM UTC Not many public figures from the middle part of the 20th century are as closely identified with LIFE magazine as [John Fitzgerald Kennedy](http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnfkennedy). In fact, from his days as a decorated war hero in the late 1940s, through his years as a senator, into the White House and up until the very moment of his assassination, LIFE photographers spent an enormous amount of time (and film) on the ambitious Democrat from Massachusetts. That he married a woman as magnetic and stylish as the former [Jacqueline Bouvier](http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/Life-of-Jacqueline-B-Kennedy.aspx) only further guaranteed that the two young cultural and political icons would never be absent from the weekly’s pages for long. Here, LIFE.com features a series of photographs — many of which are classics, several of which never ran in LIFE — made during the decade and a half when John Kennedy was on his way to becoming, for a time, the most powerful person on earth. [\[Buy the LIFE book, _The Day Kennedy Died_\]](http://subscription-assets.timeinc.com/prod/assets/themes/magazines/SUBS/templates/velocity/site/li-kennedyhclandingpage2013/lp.html) [\[See photos from JFK and Jackie’s 1953 wedding\]](http://life.time.com/history/when-jfk-and-jackie-wed-life-photos-from-newport-september-1953/#1) [\[See photos from JFK’s funeral at Arlington\]](http://life.time.com/history/jfk-photos-from-his-funeral-at-arlington-cemetery-november-1963/#1) _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Rep. John F. Kennedy, 1947. Al Fenn—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Senatorial candidate John F. Kennedy attends a tea party given by female supporters, 1952. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sen. John Kennedy at Cape Cod with his fiancee, Jacqueline Bouvier, 1953. Hy Peskin Collection  John and Jackie Kennedy at their wedding reception, September 1953. Lisa Larsen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Senator John F. Kennedy, 1957. Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  John and Robert Kennedy at a hearing of a Senate select committee on labor racketeering, 1957. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sen. John Kennedy plays football with his nephew, Bobby Jr., at his brother Robert's Virginia home, Hickory Hill, 1957. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  John and Jackie Kennedy with their baby daughter, Caroline, in their Georgetown home, 1958. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  John Kennedy with his daughter Caroline in 1958. Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  In a picture that he later called his favorite photo of himself, Senator John F. Kennedy walks the dunes near Hyannis Port, Mass., 1959. Mark Shaw/mptvimages.com  Not published in LIFE. Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy leaps from a car while campaigning, 1960. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. John F. Kennedy gives a speech while standing on a kitchen chair in West Virginia's coal country, 1960. Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Sen. John Kennedy campaigns in West Virginia, 1960. Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles, 1960. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  John and Robert Kennedy confer in a Los Angeles hotel suite during the 1960 Democratic National Convention. Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. John F. Kennedy rides in a car with his wife Jackie upon his return home from the Democratic National Convention in 1960. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sen. John Kennedy with his young daughter Caroline at home after he was named the Democratic Party presidential nominee in 1960. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sen. John F. Kennedy on a private plane during his presidential campaign, 1960. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Young female supporters of Sen. John F. Kennedy await his arrival at a campaign appearance in Michigan, 1960. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Senator John F. Kennedy checks over a speech at a stop during his presidential campaign, 1960. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon at the time of their famous television debates, 1960. Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. John Kennedy on the campaign trail, 1960. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. President-elect John F. Kennedy, his wife Jackie and others walking to JFK's inauguration, January 1961. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Marian Anderson sings at John F. Kennedy's inauguration, 1961. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  President Harry Truman signs President John Kennedy's program at a luncheon after JFK's inauguration, 1961. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jaqueline in their box at his Inaugural Ball, January 1961. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  President John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office, 1961. Cornell Capa—Magnum  Boyd Leedom (a member of the National Labor Relations Board), President John F. Kennedy, Senator Frank W. Carlson, the Rev. Billy Graham and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1961. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  President John Kennedy tosses the first ball of the season at a baseball game, 1961. Joe Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  President John Kennedy pins NASA's Distinguished Service Medal on Alan Shepard's chest, 1961. Joe Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  President John F. Kennedy meets with former President Dwight Eisenhower at Camp David in the midst of the Bay of Pigs crisis, 1961. Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  John F. Kennedy in the White House, 1961. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  People in a department store watch as President John Kennedy announces a blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  During a visit to West Germany President John F. Kennedy looks over a section of the Berlin Wall, June 1963. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  President John Kennedy signs autographs during his landmark visit to Ireland in June 1963. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  President John Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy (standing at window) in the Oval Office, 1962. Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3879796/jfk-classic-photos-of-an-american-political-icon-1947-1963/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3879796/jfk-classic-photos-of-an-american-political-icon-1947-1963/"},"headline":"LIFE With JFK: Classic Portraits of a Political Superstar, 1947-1963","datePublished":"2014-05-08T16:28:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:42.785Z","description":"Photographs -- many of which are classics, several of which never ran in LIFE magazine -- from the decade and a half when JFK was on his way to becoming the most powerful person on earth.","url":"https://time.com/3879796/jfk-classic-photos-of-an-american-political-icon-1947-1963/","keywords":["politics","John F. 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