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Arriving in Washington, Kennedy kept on the move. He watched Ike's farewell speech on TV, struggled into his formal clothes and hurried over to Sister Jean's house for a dinner dance. Then, after dropping in at a party tossed by West Coast Financier Bert Lytton, Kennedy took off again, in a chartered DC-6, for New York and a peaceful night away from the social demands of the capital. He got his final fittings for his inauguration outfit (cutaway, grey waistcoat, striped pants, topper), ordered a few business suits at $225 apiece, got a checkup from his dentist ("No cavities'') and hopped on the plane for Washington again.
Friend in a Hurry. On the morning before Inauguration Day, the light had just begun to creep down Georgetown's N Street when a motorcycle messenger clattered to a stop beneath Jack Kennedy's shuttered window. Awakened by the noise, the President-to-be rose, looked out, grimaced and went back to bed. A little later, the motorcyclist returned, and Kennedy called down to the Secret Service man on guard and asked for quiet. The guard shooed the driver away; but soon newsmen began to gather, and Kennedy abandoned his bed, snapped on his light and got dressed.
Alone in the back seat of his cream-colored Lincoln, he rode to the White House for his last preinaugural meeting with Dwight Eisenhower. The two talked privately for about 45 minutes, during which Ike demonstrated the procedure for evacuating the White House in case of emergency. Ike lifted the phone, spoke a few words; five minutes later, an Army helicopter was hovering over the White House lawn. Suitably impressed, Kennedy strolled over to the Cabinet Room with Ike to meet with incoming Secretaries Dillon, McNamara and Rusk and their outgoing opposite numbers. Laughed Ike: "I've shown my friend here how to get out in a hurry."
With President Eisenhower presiding, the group reviewed the problems of state that would soon become the responsibility of the Kennedy Administration. Each Eisenhower Cabinet member explained programs and policies existing in his particular field, and after each presentation Kennedy asked sharp, probing questions. At the end of the session Jack Kennedy thanked Ike for his help and cooperation. Replied President Eisenhower: "You are welcome—more than welcome. This is a question of the Government of the United States. It is not a partisan question."
Missing Musicians. As Kennedy left the White House, the snow began to fall. It did not slow him down—then or later. Jackie Kennedy, arriving on the Caroline, had taken over virtually the whole house on N Street for her hairdressers and other attendants; Kennedy, fleeing from this female world, decided to make his temporary headquarters at the nearby home of a friend, Artist William Walton, an erstwhile journalist. In the afternoon, he drove to a Governors' reception at the Sheraton-Park, paid his respects all around, picked up Harry Truman and drove back home again. By now the traffic was tied in knots, and Kennedy canceled out on two receptions.