An Emmy award-winning presentation

February 14, 1962

50 years ago today, Jacqueline Kennedy took American television viewers on a tour of the White House.  Shown that evening as a one-hour special on NBC, the tour was an open house for the American public, hosted by the First Lady and moderated by Charles Collingwood of NBC News. 

Elegant in its simplicity, and informative in its historic presentation, the TV tour received very favorable reviews in the media.  In fact, NBC turned the TV presentation into a short documentary which was shown, and very well received, in over 100 countries.  Ultimately the film achieved a special Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Trustees Award in 1962. 

In viewing Jackie's TV tour after a half century, two thoughts come to mind. 

First, how would the media critically review the First Lady’s White House tour today?  If Michelle Obama were to provide us with an equally elegant walk-through of the White House, would Fox News and the Rightwing Noise Machine be equally as respectful of the presentation?  Or, would Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, et al, use the occasion to send out dog-whistle signals to their conservative base? 

Granted, the media were generally much kinder to our political leaders in 1962.   Even though many (perhaps most) people in the media were aware of JFK’s infidelities back then, for example, they collectively chose to keep those stories out the public’s view – primarily out of respect for the Executive Office of the President. 

Not so today.  "Airing of our government leaders' dirty laundry" is now considered to be the raison d'être of our mainstream media.   

Second, it is interesting to note how the TV viewing audience has changed over the past 50 years.  

The 1962 TV viewers represented a cross section of people living at the end of the “Age of Innocence” for the American Middle Class.  The top three television shows that year were all wholesome American Westerns (Wagon Train, Bonanza and Gunsmoke).  The top selling song that year was a laid-back solo clarinet performance by Acker Bilk:  

Life was good. 

Not a single American combat soldier had set foot in a foreign war zone for almost a decade.  The American unemployment rate hovered around 5% after dropping below 3% in the 50s.  Average working class incomes had been rising steadily since the end of WWII (compared to a stagnant growth rate now for the last 30 years), and the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay had remained at a respectable 30-35 to 1 range during the entire period (compared to a ratio of 343 to 1 today).  Also, workers had considerable collective bargaining power, with 35% of their people represented by unions (compared to less than 12% today). 

Much of the expanded employment during that period was due to America’s focus on infrastructure during the 50s.  Today we take for granted the extensive freeway system that allows us to move around easily throughout this country.  This ease-of-transportation is largely due to the massive Interstate Highway System that was built during the Eisenhower Administration.  Road and bridge building jobs, along with the subsequent jobs created by the local travel, lodging and recreation businesses, increased considerably as a result of the interstate roads built in the 50s. 

Today, infrastructure is a political non-issue.  Our highways and bridges are in dire need of repair, not to mention the need to repair airport runways and rail service throughout this country.  But, Congressional gridlock has made it impossible for any major infrastructure projects to move forward. 

Watching the graceful demeanor and listening to the gentle voice of Jackie Kennedy in the tour video is truly haunting, knowing that the following year her husband would be gunned down on the streets of Dallas while sitting next to her in an open-top limo.  That would be followed a few years later by her brother-in-law meeting the same fate in the kitchen of an LA hotel. 

We entered the war in Vietnam which took 58 thousand American lives, and it seems that we’ve been at war ever since – not just against foreign foes, but also among the class and cultural elements in our own society. 

Yes, 1962 was truly the end of an era in American history.