An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963

by Robert Dallek

pp. 292-93: The King episode is recounted in Wofford, 13-26, and Thomas, 100-103.

  p. 293: Polls: Gallup, 1689-90.

  p. 293: “the situation looks”: James Farley to JFK, Oct. 20, 1960, Box 33, James Farley Papers, LC.

  p. 293: “wearing the proper”: Eric Sevareid, Boston Globe, Aug. 18, 1960.

  p. 293: “lesser of two evils”: Edward L. Bernays to John B. Martin, Sept. 15, 1960, Box 73, John B. Martin Papers.

  p. 293: “an image of calm”: Charles Kuralt, Eyewitness to History, Nov. 4, 1960, CBS TV, Freedom of Communications, Part III, JFKL.

  p. 293: “The crowds tensed him up”: Quoted in Summers, 204.

  pp. 293-94: “the change in Kennedy”: Ibid.

  p. 294: “in our politics”: Quoted in Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 76.

  p. 294: For JFK’s response to the vote count and the vote itself: Sorensen, 238-40; Parmet, JFK, 56-59; White, Making, 1960, 350-51, 385-87; and Bernard Bailyn, xxii-xxiii.

  p. 295: For analysis of the vote: See Louis Harris to Joseph Alsop, Nov. 16, 1960, “An Analysis of the 1960 Election for President,” Joseph and Stewart Alsop Papers, LC; White, Making, 1960, 350-65; Sorensen, 238-51.

  pp. 295-96: On fraud allegations: See Sen. Theodore F. Green to Attorney Gen. William P. Rogers, Nov. 12, 1960; James H. Duffy to JFK, Nov. 14, 1960, Box 110, POF. Also David Greenberg, “It’s a Myth That Nixon Acquiesced in 1960,” Los Angeles Times, Nov. 10, 2000.

  p. 296: “Why, even our friend”: William Benton OH, Columbia University.

  Chapter 9: The Torch Is Passed

  p. 299: “more perplexed”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 118.

  p. 299: “jubilant:” Sorensen, 255.

  p. 299: “hurt his self-confidence”: Henry Brandon OH.

  p. 299: “How did I”: O’Donnell and Powers, 229.

  p. 299: His hands trembled: White, Making, 1960, 348. Sheldon Stern says that films at the JFKL show other instances of JFK’s trembling hands, which could have been caused by exhaustion, medications, or nervousness. Stern to Author, April 19, 2002.

  p. 299: One reporter: Parmet, JFK, 59.

  pp. 299-300: “still seemed tired”: Sorensen, 268.

  p. 300: “Jesus Christ”: Quoted in Richard Reeves, 25.

  p. 300: “I have been through”: New York Times, Nov. 10, 1960.

  p. 300: An article based: New York Times, Jan. 11, Jan. 17, 1961.

  p. 300: Remain in the hands: For a revised view of DDE, see Greenstein.

  pp. 300-01: Appointing prominent: See Dallek, Flawed Giant, 8-9.

  p. 301: Dulles and Hoover: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 125.

  p. 301: “I haven’t the slightest”: O’Donnell and Powers, 229.

  p. 301: The NYT reported: New York Times, Nov. 15, 1960.

  p. 302: For JFK’s views of DDE, see Robert Kennedy OH; Charles Spalding OH.

  p. 302: For DDE’s view of JFK, see Earl Mazo OH, Columbia University. Also see Parmet, JFK, 72, and Ambrose, Eisenhower, 597.

  p. 302: The HST-DDE meeting: Ambrose, Eisenhower, 14-15.

  p. 302: “I was anxious”: JFK undated notes, Box 29, POF.

  p. 302: “the present national security”: Informal List of Subjects to be Discussed at Meeting of President Eisenhower and Senator Kennedy, Dec. 5, 1960; John H. Sharon to JFK, Dec. 5, 1960; Briefing Memoranda for Meeting with President Eisenhower, Dec. 6, 1960, Box 29A, POF.

  p. 302: “to avoid direct involvement” and DDE’s topics for discussion: Sharon to JFK, Dec. 5, 1960, Box 29A, POF.

  p. 303: For the Dec. 6 meeting and their views of each other, see New York Times, Dec. 7, 1960; Robert Kennedy OH; Guthman and Shulman, 54-55; John Sharon OH, Columbia University; Parmet, JFK, 73-74; Richard Reeves, 21-24.

  pp. 303-4: JFK’s topics: “Memorandum of Subjects for Discussion . . . Jan. 19, 1961”; “Mr. Kendall dictated,” Jan. 17, 1961, Box 29A, POF.

  pp. 304-5: For JFK’s Jan. 19 meeting with DDE, see JFK memo: “I visited E. this morning”; Robert McNamara to JFK, Jan. 24, 1961; Clark Clifford to JFK, Jan. 24, 1961, Box 29A, POF; Clark Clifford OH; Sorensen, 649; Sidey, 37-38; Parmet, JFK, 80-81; Richard Reeves, 29-33.

  p. 305: On Cuba, see Clifford and McNamara memos, Jan. 24, 1961, Box 29A, POF; and Pat Frank to Bob Kennedy, Aug. 6, 1960; Telephone Calls, Oct. 25, 1960, Pre-Admin., Political Files, RFK Papers, JFKL.

  p. 306: “capacity to dominate”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 120.

  p. 306: “If I am elected”: Quoted in Clifford, 319.

  p. 306: “except the right”: Quoted in Sorensen, 258.

  pp. 306-7: JFK and Neustadt: Richard Neustadt, “Organizing the Transition,” Sept. 15, 1960, Box 31, POF; Richard Neustadt OH, Columbia University; Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 122-23.

  p. 307: The best discussion of JFK’s transition is in Brauer, chap. 2.

  p. 307: No women were considered: Sheldon Stern to Author, April 19, 2002.

  p. 307: White House insiders: O’Donnell and Powers, 225.

  p. 307: “The President was remarkably accessible”: Sorensen, 419; also 293-96.

  p. 308: “Jack has asked me”: Wofford, 68.

  p. 308: “appointing outstanding men” and “For the last four years”: O’Donnell and Powers, 234.

  p. 308: Schlesinger related his conversation with JFK to me, and told me that he saw the president two or three times a week. For the rest on Schlesinger, see Sorensen, 296-97.

  p. 309: “If I string along”: O’Donnell and Powers, 235.

  p. 309: The economy: State of the Union Message, PPP: JFK, 1961, 19-20.

  p. 309: The balance of payments: Roy Blough, et al., to JFK, Jan. 18, 1961, Box 1073. Conversations between Paul Nitze and Douglas Dillon, Nov. 18, 30, 1960; and Erik Blumenfeld to Ted Sorensen, Nov. 22, 1960, Box 1076, PPP. “The outflow of gold . . . interested and concerned the President more than any other matter over a longer period of time” (George Smathers OH). Also see Bernstein, 21-23.

  pp. 310-11: Dillon’s background and appointment: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 133-36; Dean Acheson OH; Clifford OH; Gore, 147; Parmet, JFK, 65-66; Bernstein, 127-28; Richard Reeves, 27-28; Guthman and Shulman, 40; Time, Jan. 2, 1961.

  p. 311: On the CEA and Heller: Walter Heller OH; Walter Heller, “The Meeting with the President-elect,“ Dec. 23, 1960; and “Recollections of Early Meetings with Kennedy,” Jan. 12, 1964, Box 5, Walter W. Heller Papers, JFKL; Parmet, JFK, 76; Bernstein, 123-25; Richard Reeves, 26-27.

  p. 311: “I need you”: Heller, “Recollections.”

  p. 312: McNamara’s appointment: Shapley, chaps. 1-5, especially 82-86. McNamara, 13-17.

  p. 313: For the RFK quote: Guthman and Shulman, 35-36.

  p. 313: “The Ship of State”: Myer Feldman OH.

  p. 313: “I talked over the presidency”: Richard Reeves, 666, n. 25.

  p. 313: On AES: Abraham Ribicoff OH, William Atwood OH, John Sharon OH, all Columbia University. Charles Bartlett to JFK, n.d., but clearly after JFK’s nomination (“I am given an extremely strong impression . . . that Adlai, when he meets you next week, intends to hit you hard for a commitment on the State Dept. Job”), Box 27, POF. AES to JFK, Nov. 11, 1960, Box 33, POF.

  p. 314: “Fuck him”: Ribicoff OH.

  p. 314: “might forget”: Quoted in Richard Reeves, 25.

  p. 314: AES appointment to UN: William McCormick Blair Jr. OH, Columbia University; JFK-AES Press Conference, Dec. 8, 1960, Box 1060, PPP; Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 138-39.

  p. 314: “‘a shit list’”: Sharon OH.

  p. 314: On Bowles and Bundy, see Brauer, 86.

  p. 314: On Bruce, see Guthman and Shulman, 5.

  p. 314: “thought he had some brains”: Ibid., 36-37. Also see Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 139-40; Parmet, JFK, 67-68.

  p. 315: On JFK’s appointment of Rusk: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 119-20, 140-41; Parmet, JFK, 67-69; Brauer, 88-90; Cohen. Dean Rusk, “The President,” Foreign Affairs, April 1960.

  p. 315: “hard-working, tough guy”: RFK to O’D
onnell, Jan. 4, 1961, Box 1066, PPP.

  p. 316: On RFK: Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy, 228-32.

  p. 316: “I have now watched you”: Ribicoff OH.

  p. 316: “he did not know”: Acheson OH.

  p. 316: “be a great mistake”: Ibid.

  pp. 316-17: “That would be impossible”: Quoted in Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy, 228-29.

  p. 317: “would not appoint”: “Fletcher Knebel is reporting that you told him that if you were elected President, you would not appoint any relative to the White House staff.” Notes, n.d., 1960, Box 7, Evelyn Lincoln Papers, JFKL.

  p. 317: “It would be the ‘Kennedy brothers’”: Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy, 230. Acheson OH; Clifford, 335-36.

  p. 317: Others reinforced: Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy, 229; Rayburn to JFK, Dec. 15, 1960, Box 32, POF; New York Times, Nov. 24, 1960.

  p. 317: “just wanted to give”: Quoted in Evan Thomas, 110-11.

  pp. 317-18: “truly a strange assignment”: Clifford, 336-37.

  p. 318: “This will kill”: Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy, 231-33. Evan Thomas, 109-10. John Seigenthaler OH.

  p. 318: “I made up my mind”: RFK to Drew Pearson, Dec. 15, 1960, Box 23, RFK Attorney General’s Papers, JFKL. RFK said, “My father always told me never write it down” (RFK to John McCone, May 2, 1962, Personal Correspondence, RFK Attorney General’s Papers). But in this instance, RFK did.

  p. 319: “tried to persuade”: Lincoln Diary, Dec. 15, 1960, Box 2, Lincoln Papers, JFKL. JFK and RFK also brought Philip Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post, into the discussion about the appointment. “Bobby came to my office for an hour and a half of good talk. I think we began to see some new light after much frank discussion. If you want to call me for a report, it might help you give him a little guidance.” Philip L. Graham to JFK, Dec. 13, 1960, Box 30, POF.

  p. 319: “‘We did it.’”: Helen Thomas, 22-23.

  p. 319: Criticism: Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy, 233-36.

  p. 319: “Dick Russell”: Baker, 120-21.

  p. 319: “Kennedy wanted”: Sorensen, 284.

  pp. 319-20: On the Hodges, Goldberg, Udall, and Ribicoff appointments, see Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 130-31, 141-42. Also Ribicoff OH.

  p. 320: “We are going down”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 143.

  p. 320: “opening prayers”: Ibid.,136.

  p. 320: “could make or break”: Sorensen, 285.

  p. 320: He fell asleep: Ibid., 287.

  p. 321: Cabinet selections and press conferences: Dec. 7, 8, 13, 15, 16, 20, 27, 31, 1960, and Jan. 1, 1961, Box 1060, PPP.

  p. 321: Task force reports: See Boxes 1071-1074 and 1076-1077, PPP.

  p. 321: “There is no evidence”: Bartlett, “News Focus,” Nov. 27, 1960, Box 30, POF.

  p. 321: “Reporters are not”: Quoted in Evan Thomas, 114-15.

  p. 322: “a plethora of specifics”: Louis Harris to JFK, Jan. 14, 1961, Box 30, POF.

  p. 322: “Didn’t you get the word?” New York Times, Jan. 21, 1961.

  p. 322: On JFK’s pills: Lincoln Diary, Jan. 2, 4, 11, 16, 20, 1961, Lincoln Papers.

  p. 322: “My God”: Lincoln Diary, Jan. 20, 1961, Lincoln Papers.

  p. 322: “excellent” health: New York Times, Jan. 21, 1961.

  p. 323: “the picture of health”: Ibid.

  p. 323: “He looked like”: Lincoln Diary, Jan. 20, 1961, Box 4, Lincoln Papers.

  p. 323: “grace under pressure”: Mary McGrory, Washington Evening Star, Jan. 20, 1961.

  p. 323: On Frost and JFK: Stewart Udall OH.

  p. 324: The Inaugural speech: Sorensen, 269-73. Ted Sorensen told me that JFK wanted the speech to defuse rather than intensify the Cold War: Interview, Feb. 25, 2002. As one sample of the advice to JFK, see Louis Harris to JFK, Jan. 14, 1961, Box 30, POF.

  p. 324: On the length, see New York Times, Jan. 21, 1961.

  p. 324: “going over and over”: Lincoln Diary, Jan. 20, 1961, Box 4, Lincoln Papers.

  pp. 325-26: Inaugural Address: PPP: JFK, 1961, 1-3.

  p. 326: “fine, very fine” and the other quotes are in the New York Times, Jan. 21, 1961.

  p. 326: “You have truly”: Emmet J. Hughes to JFK, Jan. 23, 1961, Box 30, POF.

  p. 326: Krock told Kennedy: Arthur Krock OH.

  p. 327: “impressed [n]or stirred”: The Reporter, Feb. 2, 1961, 10.

  p. 327: “disturbed”: Evelyn Lincoln to JFK, n.d., 1961 (“Doug Cater called. Wanted me to bring this editorial to your attention, since you were disturbed over Ascoli’s editorial on your inauguration speech”). Box 7, Evelyn Lincoln Papers.

  p. 327: As good as Jefferson’s: Parmet, JFK, 82.

  p. 327: Burns told Jack: Burns told me this.

  p. 327: JFK on Jefferson: PPP: JFK, 1962, 347.

  p. 327: Public response to the Inaugural and to JFK: Gallup, 1707-8.

  Chapter 10: The Schooling of a President

  p. 328: “Well, because”: PPP: JFK, 1961, 15-16.

  p. 329: The House: White, Making, 1960, 361-62.

  p. 329: On the Rules Committee: Bernstein, 227-28.

  p. 329: “letting their judgments”: PPP: JFK, 1961, 11.

  p. 329: “Bullshit, buddy”: Richard Bolling OH, Columbia University.

  p. 330: Executive Order: PPP: JFK, 1961,10.

  p. 330: Expending political capital: JFK to Sen. A. Willis Robertson, Feb. 7, 1961, POF.

  p. 330: On Weaver: Robert C. Weaver OH; Parmet, JFK, 77-78.

  pp. 330-31: On the CEEO and LBJ, see Dallek, Flawed Giant, 11-12.

  p. 331: On the Coast Guard and the Cabinet: Bernstein, 52-58.

  p. 331: First black ambassador to a white nation: Sheldon Stern to Author, April 19, 2002.

  p. 331: “It may be proper”: JFK to Mike Feldman, Feb. 16, 1961, Box 63, POF.

  pp. 331-32: Civil Rights Commission: Wofford, 130-33; Bernstein, 50-51; Richard Reeves, 59-63.

  p. 332: “Look, Father”: Quoted in Richard Reeves, 60.

  p. 333: “We take office”: PPP: JFK, 1961, 19-20.

  p. 333: “With the seven percent”: Robert Nathan OH.

  p. 333: On interest rates and Martin: Bernstein, 131-32.

  pp. 333-34: Feb. 2 message: PPP: JFK, 1961, 41-53.

  p. 334: “second-stage”: Walter Heller to JFK, Mar. 17, 1961, Box 73, POF.

  p. 334: “The Secretary of Treasury”: Gridiron speech, Mar. 11, 1961, Box 61, Theodore Sorensen Papers, JFKL.

  p. 334: But liberal economists: Paul Samuelson to JFK and CEA, Mar. 21, 1961, ibid.

  p. 334: “Kennedy never thought”: Leon Keyserling OH, Columbia University.

  p. 334: “The financial program”: CEA, Memo: “The Administration’s Financial Program Thus Far,” April 6, 1961; Heller to JFK, May 27, 1961, Box 73, POF.

  pp. 334-35: Administration proposals being enacted: Parmet, JFK, 97.

  p. 335: The polls: Louis Harris to JFK, “A Word About This Report,” Mar. 22, 1961, Box 105, POF; Gallup, 1708, 1715-16.

  p. 335: “new, young”: Newsweek, Mar. 13, 1961.

  p. 335: The polls: Parmet, JFK, 98; Gallup, 1707, 1712.

  p. 335: “I don’t think”: Joe Alsop to JFK, n.d., Box 27, POF.

  p. 335: “the simple fact”: Memorandum, n.d., 1961, Box 27, POF.

  p. 335: Press conferences: Sorensen, 361-65.

  p. 335: Dismissing fears: News Conference, Jan. 25, 1961, PPP: JFK, 1961, 10.

  p. 335: “a superb show”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 717.

  p. 336: “The 6 O’Clock”: Sorensen, 362. Also see National Observer clipping, n.d., “Kennedy’s Press Conferences: A Refined Tool in Skillful Hands,” Box 28, POF.

  p. 336: “we couldn’t survive”: Sorensen, 364.

  p. 336: Public approval: Gallup, 1765-66.

  p. 336: U.S. patrol plane: Ambrose, Eisenhower, 584-86.

  p. 336: “step by step” and “cooperate with all”: FRUS: Kennedy-Khrushchev Exchanges, 2-3.

  pp. 336-37: Press Conferences, Jan. 25, and Fe
b. 8, 1961: PPP: JFK, 1961, 8-9, 70.

  pp. 336-37: “he would set himself in right”: Evelyn Lincoln to JFK, Feb. 25, 1961 (“Senator Gore called”), Box 125, POF.

  p. 337: DDE speech, Jan. 17, 1961: Public Papers of the Presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960, 1038.

  p. 337: On Burke: Arthur Sylvester OH; PPP: JFK, 1961, 32, 73, 94; New York Times, Jan. 28, 1961. A Burke interview with Greek journalist Elias P. Demetracopoulos, in which the admiral freely expressed his views, got him into trouble with the White House. The interview also brought Demetracopoulos under CIA scrutiny: Demetracopoulos, “Muzzling Admiral Burke,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Jan. 2000, and “Admirals Strike a Blow for the Press,” Proceedings, May 2001; Demetracopoulos conversation with Author.

  pp. 337-38: The missile gap: JFK to McGeorge Bundy, Feb. 8, 1961, Box 62, POF. U.S. News & World Report, Feb. 27, 1961, 43. Excerpts from Hearings of Defense Dept., April 6, 1961, Box 51, Sorensen Papers. Edward R. Murrow to McGeorge Bundy, Mar. 8, 1961, Box 290, NSF. Beschloss, Crisis Years, 65-66; Shapley, 97-99. Gallup, 1662, 1704, 1705, 1721.

  pp. 338-39: Origins of the Peace Corps: Wilbur Cohen OH, Columbia University; PPP: JFK, 1961, 134-36; Sorensen, 208; Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 165, 605-7.

  p. 339: Public response: Gallup, 1704, 1791.

  pp. 339-40: On Shriver: Sargent Shriver OH, LBJL; Anthony Lewis, “Shriver Moves into the Front Rank,” New York Times Magazine, Mar. 15, 1964; A. H. Raskin, “Generalissimo of the War on Poverty,” ibid., Nov. 22, 1964; Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 606-7.

  p. 340: “wars of national liberation”: Beschloss, Crisis Years, 60-61.

  p. 340: “made clear”: FRUS: National Security Policy, 240.

  p. 340: “Latin America required”: FRUS: American Republics, 880. Also see Stephen G. Rabe, “John F. Kennedy and Latin America,” Diplomatic History (Summer 1999), 545.

  p. 340: More documents: Stephanie Fawcett, Senior Foreign Policy Archivist, JFKL, remarks at Cold War Documentation Conference, National Archives, II, College Park, Md., Sept. 25, 1998.

  p. 340: “that, with all its pretensions”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 201.

  p. 341: “Never in the long history”: PPP: JFK, 1961, 170-75.

  p. 341: JFK’s Spanish: Richard Goodwin, 156-59.

  p. 342: On the Latin reaction, see Thomas Mann OH; Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 205; and Schlesinger to JFK, Feb. 6, 1961, Box 65, POF.