The Mythic Space of the New Frontier: The Façade of The White House Tour and Visual Culture of the JFK Library and Museum

Author

Marissa R. Gentile, Union College - Schenectady, NYFollow

Date of Award

6-2011

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

History

First Advisor

Andrew Feffer

Language

English

Keywords

JFK, presidential campaign, fontier, image

Abstract

The motivation for this project came from my desire to investigate the substance behind President John F. Kennedy’s careful self‐presentation during his presidential campaign and incumbency, and to demonstrate how his memory is still prevalent in today’s society. I applied Robert Slotkin’s language from Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth­Century America as a framework to my discussion on the language Kennedy conveyed to the American public, starting with his creation of the New Frontier at the 1960 Democratic National Convention. By establishing an image evocative of the American Frontier and hero‐tales, Kennedy constructed a site for which the American public could witness an ideological historical narrative play out, a public arena to which Slotkin refers as mythic space. I attempt to show how this space is extended to the Kennedy White House, and how it is preserved in the monumental John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, MA.

Recommended Citation

Gentile, Marissa R., "The Mythic Space of the New Frontier: The Façade of The White House Tour and Visual Culture of the JFK Library and Museum" (2011). Honors Theses. 981.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/981