President-elect John F. Kennedy enters his snowy car after attending a private party in his honor in Washington the night before his inauguration in 1961.

(Getty Images)

At a Glance

The day before JFK's inauguration, a powerful snowstorm shut down Washington. Eight inches of snow fell, causing a massive traffic jam.A car carrying Kennedy and President Truman skidded in the snow.

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On Jan. 19, 1961, the day before John F. Kennedy was to be inaugurated as the nation's 35th president, a powerful snowstorm brought Washington to a standstill.

The system had produced only light snow until its center moved off the Virginia coast and .

Federal workers were sent home early. Eventually, "8 inches of snow fell and caused the (for its time)," according to the National Weather Service. "Hundreds of cars were marooned and thousands of cars were abandoned."

National Airport shut down after reporting zero visibility. Former President Herbert Hoover was unable to fly into the city because of the weather, so he missed the swearing-in ceremony.

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“Even President-elect Kennedy tasted the transportation firsthand,” The Washington Post . “The car in which he and former President Harry S. Truman rode from a Governors’ reception to the Kennedy’s Georgetown home skidded several times and at one point had to be rerouted because of a grade the car couldn’t negotiate.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers teamed up with more than 1,000 District of Columbia employees to . More than 1,400 cars had to be moved out of the way.

As the skies cleared the next morning, crowds began to gather despite temperatures in the 20s and single-digit wind chill.

A soldier with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's Inaugural Snow Removal Force prepares to move a car abandoned in the snowstorm.

(U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

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