John F. Kennedy’s Harvard sweater sells at auction for more than $85,000

BOSTON — John F. Kennedy’s Harvard University sweater, given away to a television cameraman who mentioned that he was chilly while interviewing Jacqueline Kennedy, has sold at auction for more than $85,000.

The crimson wool cardigan, featuring a large black block-letter “H” and eight white mother-of-pearl buttons, was one of several mementos from U.S. presidents sold during a President’s Day auction that ended Thursday, according to Boston-based RR Auction.

A signed photograph of Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad, one of only three known photos of the pair, sold for more than $135,000.

A lottery ticket signed by George Washington went for almost $26,000 and a touching handwritten letter from Ronald Reagan to his estranged daughter sold for almost $24,000.

Documents and personal papers signed by John Quincy Adams, James Monroe, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan, Ulysses S. Grant, James Garfield and other presidents were also auctioned.

JFK’s Harvard sweater, with his surname sewn into the collar, was acquired by Herman Lang, a CBS cameraman who filmed an interview with Jacqueline Kennedy in 1964, the year after the 35th president’s assassination in Dallas.

It is believed that because the interview was outdoors, Lang mentioned that he was cold and was offered the sweater, according to RR Auction. When he offered to return it, he was told to keep it as a reminder of the late president.