Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-C168-14-63
President John F. Kennedy (center) greets astronaut Major L. Gordon Cooper and his family on the walkway outside the Oval Office upon their arrival at the White House for Major Cooper’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) presentation ceremony. Standing behind Major Cooper are his wife, Trudy, and his daughters, Camala and Janita. Hattie Cooper, mother of Major Cooper, stands next to President Kennedy (back to camera). Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson stands in front of open door of presidential limousine (Lincoln-Mercury Continental convertible); Naval Aide to the President, Captain Tazewell Shepard, and Military Aide to the President, General Chester V. Clifton, stand at right in foreground (backs to camera). Jewell D. Truscott and James J. Truscott, Major Cooper’s aunt and uncle, walk in front of Captain Shepard and General Clifton. Also pictured: White House Secret Service agents, Sam Kinney and Roy Kellerman; United Press International (UPI) photographer, James K. W. Atherton. South Lawn driveway, White House, Washington, D.C.