What was the name of the 1962 U.S. stock-market downturn associated with President Kennedy?

The 1962 U.S. stock-market downturn was called the Kennedy Slide of 1962.

The decline took place during the first half of 1962, when investors became concerned about slowing economic growth, high valuations, and corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell sharply from its late-1961 level and reached a low in June.

The nickname connected the episode with President John F. Kennedy’s administration, although the president did not cause a single-event crash in the way the label can suggest. The downturn reflected broader market and economic concerns, including uncertainty over interest rates and profits.

The Kennedy Slide is sometimes mixed up with the 1962 steel crisis. Kennedy’s confrontation with steel companies occurred in April that year and intensified political and business uncertainty, but the market decline had wider causes. The episode ended before the much larger market turmoil associated with the oil shocks of the 1970s.