Washingtonian | Badge of honor: national fitness programs from the President’s Council to Let’s Move

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Six months before 1963’s historic March on Washington, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy went on his own march—a 50-mile one. Donning a pair of leather oxford loafers and dress pants, the President’s younger brother set off from Great Falls at 5 am, traipsing through snow and slush along the C&O Canal all the way to Harpers Ferry. His four aides and his dog having dropped out along the way from exhaustion, RFK finished the walk in 17 hours and 50 minutes. His goal? To prove that the Kennedy administration was physically fit—and to challenge the country’s citizens to be the same. Continue.