The 1962 U.S. stock-market decline associated with President John F. Kennedy’s steel-price dispute was called the Kennedy Slide of 1962.
The episode began after major steel companies announced price increases in April 1962, despite an earlier understanding with the administration that prices would remain stable. Kennedy publicly criticized the increases, and the confrontation unsettled business leaders and investors. The market was already weak after a long advance and concerns about economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 5.7 percent on May 28, 1962, and declined again the following day. The two-day drop became one of the sharpest percentage falls in the index’s history up to that time. The market later recovered as economic conditions improved.
The Kennedy Slide is not generally classified as a prolonged depression or a global financial crisis. It is remembered because a political dispute over steel prices coincided with a sudden stock-market sell-off, illustrating how policy conflict can affect investor confidence.