On January 19, 1961, the president-elect and wife Jacqueline joined other dignitaries, including Kennedy’s sister Patricia Lawford, standing behind him, at a pre-inaugural gala. That day a storm dumped eight inches of snow on the capital, but overnight thousands of city workers operating 700 plows and trucks, along with soldiers on foot deputized to shovel, cleared main arteries so that the inauguration and related events could go on as scheduled. (Getty Images)