1960 Election

Jacqueline Kennedy


Creator: Guild, Bascom and Bonfigli
Title: Mrs. JFK
Date: 1960
Format: Video
Institution:
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

Link:  www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1960/mrs-jfk 
Description: This is a commercial ad aimed at Latino audiences, where Jacqueline Kennedy is speaking Spanish in support of her husband. The background is plain and Kennedy herself is wearing plain clothes, Mrs. Kennedy’s beauty and grace is the central visual element of this video. Certainly American audiences, much less Hispanic audiences, have never seen a potential First Lady as beautiful and cultured as Mrs. Kennedy before, who would later become a fashion icon. This type of advertising is typical of the Kennedy campaign, who used the physical charm and appearance of the “Camelot” family to appeal to voters. Mark White says, "The use of glamour for self-promotion was second nature to Kennedy in part because of his and his family’s ties to Hollywood". Her beauty was used to attract the Latino audience, which was a significant portion of voters, and generate interest in the man who she married. Her own fluency in Spanish also impressed them, but it was not the purpose of the video. Mrs. Kennedy was the visual center of this ad, and this political micro-targeting helped Kennedy win enough votes to clinch the election and made politicians aware of the significance of the Latino vote.

This page has paths:

  1. Sills Family Edwin Chau
  2. Visual Culture of the 1960 Election Edwin Chau

This page references: