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The Early History of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness

The Kennedy Years

by Felice Prager

The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports is an advisory committee of volunteer citizens (appointed by the President) who advise the President through the Secretary of Health and Human Services about physical activity, fitness, and sports in America. “Through its programs and partnerships with the public, private and non-profit sectors, the Council serves as a catalyst to promote health, physical activity, fitness, and enjoyment for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities through participation in physical activity and sports.”

http://www.fitness.gov/home_about.htm

Shortly before he took office, President-elect John F. Kennedy called physical fitness a defining principle of his administration. As the first media-savvy president, the president-elect published “The Soft American,” in Sports Illustrated (Dec. 26, 1960) less than a month before his inauguration. In his Sports Illustrated essay, President Kennedy outlined four points as the basis of his physical fitness program:

· A White House Committee on Health and Fitness

· Direct oversight of the initiative by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare

· An annual Youth Fitness Conference to be attended by state governors

· An unambiguous assertion that physical fitness was the business of the federal government

He concluded the article by laying the foundation for reorganizing the Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Within a month of his inauguration, President Kennedy spoke at the Conference on Physical Fitness of Youth. Under President Kennedy, the President’s Council would not only spread the word to Americans about the importance of physical fitness for youth but would also conduct youth fitness surveys, publish fitness information, and offer technical advice to schools and communities about how to improve physical fitness not only for youth but for Americans of any age.

The Council did not have the authority to impose a national physical fitness program, but state and local leaders indicated to the Council that they would welcome guidance. President Kennedy selected Charles (”Bud”) Wilkinson, athletic director and football coach at the University of Oklahoma, as the first Physical Fitness Consultant to the President.

The Council developed a physical fitness curriculum in consultation with major educational and medical organizations, and published and distributed hundreds of thousands of free publications, including “Youth Physical Fitness” (the “Blue Book”) in 1961. In 1962, Kennedy published a second article, “The Vigor We Need” in Sports Illustrated. A booklet “Adult Physical Fitness” was published in 1963.

http://www.loti.com/sixties_history/The_Kennedy_Years.htm

I remember this from elementary school. We would get presidential ribbons for doing well in different things in PE. It was really pushed and it was a big deal.

Of course, I also remember getting under my desk during the Cuban missile crisis (South Florida).