It’s the days before Camelot, as you’ve never seen them before.

LIFE magazine has released a trove of rare, behind-the-scenes images from John F. Kennedy’s epic 1960 presidential campaign.

LIFE'S Kennedy chroniclers Paul Schutzer, Alfred Eisenstaedt and George Silk were there for nearly every moment of the then 43-year-old Kennedy’s run to become the United States’ second-youngest President, and first Catholic one.