March 1961 - President Kennedy walks with Vice President Johnson and members of the Dept. of Defense down the West Wing Collonade, to sign a bill restoring the rank of 5-star general to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
From left to right: President John F. Kennedy; Secretary of the Navy, John Connally, Jr.; Secretary of the Army, Elvis Jacob Stahr, Jr. (in back); Deputy Secretary of Defense, Roswell Gilpatric; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.
John Connally was an old ally of LBJ’s, having started as an aide to him in 1939 and playing a role in many of his campaigns after that. Connally served as Kennedy’s Secretary of the Navy from Jan-Dec 1961, when he left to run for Governor of Texas, a position which he won.