The road was renamed for President John F. Kennedy in 1964 by the unanimous vote of Tampa City Council after his visit to Tampa on November 18, 1963 and his assassination in Dallas on November 22. His motorcade made use of the roadway during his Tampa visit. It was chosen for such a renaming because Kennedy had used about five miles (8 km) of Grand Central Avenue for his motorcade leading through the center of the business district. According to Kennedy Library records, Kennedy's public exposure in Tampa was only the second-longest during his entire presidency, after that of his visit earlier that year to Berlin, Germany.