Marilyn Monroe Sings to JFK: A Night in Madison Square Garden
Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy at a Democratic fundraiser at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962, wearing a flesh-colored, rhinestone-encrusted Jean Louis dress so tight she had to be sewn into it. The performance lasted less than a minute. Kennedy quipped to the crowd, "I can now retire from politics after having had Happy Birthday sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way." Monroe and Kennedy's relationship remains one of the most speculated-about connections in American political history, though concrete evidence is scarce. Monroe died of a barbiturate overdose on August 4, 1962, at age 36. Kennedy was assassinated sixteen months later. The dress sold at auction in 2016 for $4.81 million.
May 19, 1962
64 years ago
Key Figures & Places
New York City
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Madison Square Garden
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John F. Kennedy
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Marilyn Monroe
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Happy Birthday, Mr. President
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Happy Birthday
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Madison Square Garden
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Happy Birthday
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John F. Kennedy
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Madison Square Garden (1925)
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Marilyn Monroe
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Happy Birthday, Mr. President
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Happy Birthday to You
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President
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Madison Square Garden
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New York
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