Why was the kennedy administration nicknamed camelot

The idea of "Camelot" called to mind an ideal sort of place, almost like a fairy tale existence.  The original "Camelot," of course, was the court of the fabled King Arthur of England and his Knights of the Round Table.

Jackie Kennedy, the wife and then widow of President John F. Kennedy, is the one who originated the reference to the Kennedy time in the White House as "Camelot."  She made that reference in an interview for LIFE magazine after her husband's assassination.  She was trying to call to mind the high, idealistic principles of King Arthur of Camelot, comparing that to what her husband JFK had wanted to accomplish as president.