http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1960/mrs-jfk

Jackie Kennedy certainly fit the part of the beautiful presidential candidate’s wife. In office, she became a style icon and an image of ideal beauty. So, it is only right that JFK and his campaign team would put her in a commercial all by herself to speak for her husband’s race to the presidency. The visual appeal and family theme of this commercial is a given. A happy wife like Jackie Kennedy in the 60s would have spoken to the ideal household and dream family life. One of the larger themes that came out of JFK’s campaign and presidency was his role as a family man. Clearly, the nation found that storyline appealing. I wasn’t expecting much else besides a strategic commercial to showcase those two things. And then she started talking.

The entire commercial is in Spanish. Now, as a Spanish major I could nitpick her accent (which is very American) and at first I thought she was just reading a script. But apparently Jackie Kennedy was fluent in four languages: English, Spanish, French, and Italian. She spoke Spanish slowly and enunciated well in the commercial. The message of the commercial was not actually about family, as I probably would have expected seeing Jackie at the center of the screen. However, it was another commercial about how JFK was the right candidate to stand firmly against communism. She tells her audience that JFK wants to protect all citizens in all parts of the United States from the danger of the communist party. The campaign team was trying to reach the Spanish speaking population, a marginalized group back then and still a marginalized group today.

It is interesting to me that in the 1960’s the Spanish speaking population was a recognized and important vote for our country, whereas in the recent past presidential campaigns the topic of Spanish speakers was polarizing. Donald Trump successfully convinced many Americans that all Spanish speakers in our country are criminals, undocumented, and only here to take things away from “hard-working Americans”. The topic of immigration and Spanish speakers is now so much more than Jackie Kennedy sitting in front of a camera reciting a short Spanish script. I think on one side of politics, the message that they will continue to be protected by the US government still stands. But on the other side, the Spanish-speaking population is constantly threatened with detention and deportation. This short commercial from 60 years ago compared to our political climate now is really jarring. Jackie makes it seem so simple, way too simple for the reality of 2021.