Eleven days before his tragic assassination, President John F. Kennedy visited Arlington National Cemetery to observe the 1963 Veterans Day services. Little did anyone know this hallowed ground would soon become his final resting place. On November 22, 1963, during a campaign trip to Dallas, the world mourned as President Kennedy was fatally shot, marking a profound moment in American history.
Alt text: President John F. Kennedy observing Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery just days before his assassination, standing in solemn remembrance.
President Kennedy is one of only two U.S. presidents interred at Arlington, alongside William Howard Taft. Following Kennedy’s death, while many anticipated his burial in his home state of Massachusetts, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy held a different vision. She desired a gravesite accessible to all Americans, a place where the public could pay their respects to the fallen leader. This vision led her to Arlington, a site chosen in consultation with President Kennedy’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy, and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, both of whom would also eventually be laid to rest at Arlington. The initial gravesite was thoughtfully positioned on a gentle slope, aligning with the axis connecting Arlington House and the Lincoln Memorial.
The state funeral for President Kennedy commenced at 3 p.m. on November 25, 1963. Dignitaries from around the globe, including President Charles de Gaulle of France, Chancellor Ludwig Erhard of West Germany, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, and Prince Philip of the United Kingdom, joined in mourning. A poignant aerial salute of fifty Navy and Air Force jets, followed by a final, wing-dipping tribute from Air Force One, honored the fallen president. Televised live, the funeral captivated millions worldwide, resulting in an unprecedented surge in requests for burials at Arlington National Cemetery.
Alt text: Funeral procession for President John F. Kennedy with a horse-drawn caisson carrying his casket through Arlington National Cemetery during the solemn state funeral.
Initially, the gravesite spanned 20 feet by 30 feet, marked by a simple white picket fence. In the year following President Kennedy’s death, the site became a national pilgrimage destination, attracting up to 3,000 visitors hourly and an estimated 50,000 on weekends. Within three years, over 16 million people had visited to pay their respects at John F. Kennedy’s grave.
The immense and continuous outpouring of public grief and visitation prompted cemetery officials and the Kennedy family to collaborate on creating a more permanent and befitting memorial. Construction began in 1965 and culminated on July 20, 1967. At the heart of the redesigned gravesite, an eternal flame, ignited by Mrs. Kennedy, flickers perpetually from a five-foot circular granite stone marking the head of the grave.
Alt text: Eternal Flame burning brightly at the John F. Kennedy gravesite, Arlington National Cemetery, symbolizing everlasting memory and his enduring legacy.
While the Kennedy family covered the direct costs associated with the grave area, the federal government allocated $1,770,000 in the 1965 Public Works appropriation to enhance the surrounding grounds and accommodate the massive influx of visitors to this solemn site.
The John F. Kennedy gravesite has become a Kennedy family plot over time. President Kennedy’s brothers, Robert F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1968 and interred at Arlington in 1971, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, buried in an adjacent plot in 2009, rest nearby. A memorial marker honors JFK’s eldest brother, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Former First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was laid to rest beside President Kennedy on May 23, 1994, completing the family circle at this poignant and historically significant location within Arlington National Cemetery. The John F. Kennedy gravesite in Arlington stands not just as a burial place, but as a lasting symbol of his presidency and a site of national remembrance.
