The 1962 U.S. stock-market sell-off linked to fears over President Kennedy’s policies was called the Kennedy Slide.
The decline ran from December 1961 into June 1962 and became one of the sharpest U.S. market reversals since the 1929 crash. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 26.5% from its peak to its June low.
Investors were unsettled by concerns about economic growth, inflation, corporate profits, and the Kennedy administration’s confrontation with business. A major flashpoint was the administration’s opposition to proposed steel-price increases in April 1962, which intensified uncertainty about government-business relations.
The Kennedy Slide was not a single-day collapse like Black Monday in 1987. It was a prolonged correction, and the market later recovered. The episode is also called the Flash Crash of 1962 in some historical accounts, but Kennedy Slide is its most recognized name.