PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY - PHOTOGRAPH MOUNT SIGNED CIRCA 1961 CO-SIGNED BY: ADMIRAL ARLEIGH A. BURKE, GENERAL GEORGE H. DECKER, GENERAL LYMAN L. LEMNITZER, GENERAL THOMAS D. WHITE, GENERAL DAVID M. SHOUP - HFSID 277534

JFK and the JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, JANUARY 1961
This is the rarest signed photo of Kennedy that we've ever seen! The newly inaugurated President poses in the Oval Office with his top military advisers: Lyman Lemnitzer, David Shoup, Thomas White, Arleigh Burke and George Decker. Kennedy and all 5 military chiefs have signed this very rare 20x16, color photographic display!
Very Rare Photograph Mount signed: "John F. Kennedy", "David M. Shoup", "Thomas D. White", "L. L Lemnitzer", "Arleigh Burke" and "George H. Decker". Color, 20x16 overall, image 13¼x10½ (two surfaces, with the signatures on the lower mat). Photo: Cecil W. Stoughton. Printed US government caption on verso dates this photograph on January 25, 1961. This is the  rarest signed photo of Kennedy that we've ever seen! JOHN F. KENNEDY, inaugurated 5 days earlier, himself a naval veteran of combat in the South Pacific in World War II, poses with the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The Joint Chiefs of Staff, constituted in 1947 to advise the President and the Secretary of State, consists of a chairman and the highest ranking officers of the military branches. Army General LYMAN LEMNITZER (1899-1988) helped plan the North Africa and Sicily invasions as a key aide to General Eisenhower during World War II. He was Army Chief of Staff from 1957 and JCS Chairman 1960-1962. An advocate of a direct US invasion of Castro's Cuba, he was not reappointed JCS Chairman when his term expired, but he moved to another vitally important post: Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. Marine Commandant DAVID M. SHOUP (1904-1983) earned the Congressional Medal of Honor and a second Purple Heart while commanding the 2nd Marine Division's invasion of Tarawa during World War II, distinguishing himself again in the assaults on Saipan and Tinian. He was Commandant of the Marine Corps 1960-1963, retiring thereafter. In retirement he strongly criticized the Vietnam War and supported Vietnam Veterans Against the War. THOMAS D. WHITE (1902-1965) was an Army Air Corps leader in the Pacific during World War II, rising to command of the Seventh Air Force in 1944. He served as Air Force Chief of Staff from 1957 until his retirement, June 30, 1961. ARLEIGH BURKE (1901-1996) commanded destroyer squadrons during World War II and a cruiser division in the Korean War. He was part of the team negotiating the Korean armistice. Burke was Chief of Naval Operations from 1955 until his mid-1961 retirement. GEORGE H. DECKER (1902-1980) served in the Pacific during World War II, participating in the assaults on New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Philippines and rising to Chief of Staff of the 6th Army. In the 1950s he held important posts with NATO and commanded the Eighth Army in Korea (1957-1959). He was Army Chief of Staff from 1960 until his retirement in 1962. President Kennedy was so impressed with CECIL STOUGHTON's photos of the inauguration that he appointed him official White House photographer. This photograph was part of the collection of General Lemnitzer. The color image has faded, but the signatures, especially President Kennedy's are bold and clear. Heavy mounting residue on verso from previous framing. Ink stamps and pencil notes on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.