Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House (54 page)

  68  
The Soviets might have
: L. James Binder,
Lemnitzer: A Soldier for His Time
(Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s, 1997), chaps. 1–17, especially pp. 2–12 and 281–83; Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.,
Journals, 1952–2000
(New York: Penguin Press, 2007), 126.

  71  
Admiral Arleigh Burke
: Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 200–201; Arthur Sylvester, OH, JFKL;
New York Times
, Jan. 28, 1961; Arleigh Burke, OH, JFKL; and Dallek,
Unfinished Life,
note for p. 337 on p. 762.

  72  
Kennedy’s biggest worry:
McGeorge Bundy to JFK, Jan. 30, 1961, Box 313, National Security File, JFKL; Roswell Gilpatric, OH; Memorandum, Feb. 24, 1961; JFK conference with military chiefs, Feb. 27, 1961, Box 345, National Security File; Binder,
Lemnitzer
, 315–16; “Thomas S. Power,” Wikipedia; and Warren Kozak,
The Life and Wars of Curtis LeMay
(Chicago: Regnery, 2009), which paints a sympathetic portrait. Fred Kaplan,
The Wizards of Armageddon
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983), 43–44, 256, quotes LeMay; Sorensen is quoted on p. ix of Kozak.

  74  
When Kennedy’s national security adviser:
Kai Bird,
The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy: Brothers in Arms
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), 208–10.

  75  
At the time
: Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 912.

  76  
No one on his staff:
Obituary,
New York Times
, Oct. 31, 2010.

  76  
Sorensen was born
: Sorensen,
Counselor
, chaps. 1–8, especially, pp. 93, 97, 100–102, 192–93; Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 17–19; Dallek,
Unfinished Life
, 179–80. I leave it to readers of my biography of Kennedy to see the extent to which JFK, his family, and staff misled voters in 1960 about his medical history and judge whether it would have changed the outcome of the race. Sorensen thinks fuller revelations would not have changed the result.

  80  
During his lifetime
: Sorensen,
Counselor
, 129; Schlesinger,
Journals
, 143–44.

  80  
Sorensen’s importance
:
Counselor
, 195–96, 198–99.

  81  
As Sorensen would eventually find out
: Ibid., 237–40.

  81  
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. was
: Sorensen,
Kennedy
, 296–97; Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, chaps. 1–3, especially pp. 143 and 162; Schlesinger,
Journals
, 63–93, 446–47; Edwin O. Guthman and Jeffrey Shulman, eds.,
Robert Kennedy: In His Own Words
(New York: Bantam, 1988), 419.

  83  
While Sorensen and Schlesinger
: David Halberstam,
Best and Brightest
, 3–10; Schlesinger,
Thousand Days,
129.

  85  
With Lovett out of the picture
: Robert S. McNamara,
In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam
(New York: Times Books, 1995), chaps. 1–4.

  88  
The Kennedys didn’t care
: Halberstam,
Best and Brightest
, 10; Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 166–67; Deborah Shapley,
Promise and Power: The Life and Times of Robert McNamara
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1993), xv–xvi, 11, 21, 88, 234, 270, 539–40.

  89  
Kennedy was more focused
: Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 208–10; Halberstam,
Best and Brightest
, 44–46, 56–81; Bird,
Color of Truth
, 13–14, 135, 108, 151–53, 190, 192–93.

  91  
Because Kennedy intended
: Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 150; Halberstam,
Best and Brightest
, 43; Dallek,
Flawed Giant
, 296; see the Walt W. Rostow File at JFKLibrary.org, Digital Archive, especially Rostow to JFK, Aug. 8, 1960; author interview with Rostow, July 27, 1992.

  92  
Kennedy had initially
: Halberstam,
Best and Brightest
, 43–44; Bird,
Color of Truth
, 185–86.

  93  
Bundy recruited:
Bird,
Color of Truth
, 186–89.

  93  
Adlai Stevenson had wanted:
Halberstam,
Best and Brightest
, 26–28, 316; Guthman and Shulman, eds.,
Robert Kennedy
, 6. The JFK-Stevenson relationship in 1960 is clearly documented in the 1960 Stevenson file, in POF, JFKL. Also see Abraham Ribicoff, OH; William Atwood, OH; John Sharon, OH; William McCormick Blair, OH, all at Columbia University; Reeves,
President Kennedy
, 25.

  95  
Although Kennedy:
See Stevenson’s report in his 1960 file, POF; also see, John Sharon, OH.

  95  
Kennedy’s thoughts:
On Fulbright’s early years, see Randall B. Woods,
Fulbright: A Biography
(Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1995); on his relations with JFK, see Fulbright’s January–August 1961 file in POF, JFKL; also Fulbright’s oral history in JFKL. On Fulbright’s appointment as secretary, see Schlesinger,
Thousand Days,
139–40; Guthman and Shulman, eds.,
Robert Kennedy
, 36–37; and Halberstam,
Best and Brightest
, 29–30.

  97  
With Fulbright eliminated
: Guthman and Shulman, eds.,
Robert Kennedy
, 5, 37–38.

  97  
It was not as if
: On Rusk’s career up to 1960, see Warren I. Cohen,
Dean Rusk
(Totowa, NJ: Cooper Square, 1980), chaps. 1–5.

  98  
When Kennedy offered Rusk
: Schlesinger,
Thousand Days,
140–41; Halberstam,
Best and Brightest
, 32–37; Schlesinger,
Robert Kennedy,
223; Brauer,
Presidential Transitions
, 88–89; Schlesinger,
Journals
, 98; Dean Rusk,
As I Saw It
(New York: Norton, 1990), 201–204.

100  
Rusk’s caution
: Rusk,
As I Saw It,
197–98.

101  
Yet Rusk was never
: Halberstam,
Best and Brightest
, 32–33, 63, 196–97.

101  
Once he made Rusk secretary
: Ibid., 11–24; Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas,
The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986), 583; Howard B. Schaffer,
Chester Bowles: New Dealer in the Cold War
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993), chap. 10, especially pp. 169–70.

103  
Kennedy’s appointment of George Ball
: George W. Ball,
The Past Has Another Pattern: Memoirs
(New York: Norton, 1982), 157–62; James A. Bill,
George Ball: Behind the Scenes in U.S. Foreign Policy
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997), 56–60.

104  
With his national security
: JFK’s Inaugural Address is available at http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8032; Galbraith,
Letters to Kennedy
, 11.

106  
Anyone listening
: George Gallup,
The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935–1971
(New York: Random House, 1972), 1676, 1691; Galbraith,
Letters to Kennedy
, 7.

106  
Yet, however much
: William E. Leuchtenburg,
A Troubled Feast: American Society Since 1945
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1973), 111, 113; Alan Ehrenhalt, “Are We as Happy as We Think?”
New York Times
, May 7, 2000; on poverty in the United States, see Michael Harrington,
The Other America
(New York: Macmillan, 1962); also see Scott Stossel,
Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver
(Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 2004), chap. 25, especially pp. 336–38.

107  
Kennedy understood
: Dallek,
Unfinished Life
, 291–93.

109  
Powers was the first
: Pierre Salinger,
With Kennedy
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966), 71–72, 90; O’Donnell and Powers,
Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye
, vii–ix, 52–55; Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy,
Times to Remember
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974), 310; Dallek,
Unfinished Life
, 127, 307, 476, note about JFK’s womanizing on p. 779.

110  
Kenneth O’Donnell was
: Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 93; Salinger,
With Kennedy
, 64–65; O’Donnell and Powers,
Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye
, 81ff, but especially 81, 252–57. RFK’s committee was the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field.

111  
Kennedy’s objective
: Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 678–86, especially 685.

112  
Larry O’Brien:
Lawrence F. O’Brien,
No Final Victories: A Life in Politics—from John F. Kennedy to Watergate
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974), chaps. 1–6, especially pp. 100–101; Guthman and Shulman, eds.,
Robert Kennedy
, 48–49; Dallek,
Flawed Giant
, 8–11.

114  
Pierre Salinger’s selection:
Salinger,
With Kennedy
, chaps. 1–3 and pp. 49–59. Schlesinger,
Thousand Days,
716–17; Sorensen,
Counselor
, 341.

116  
Kennedy’s limited focus
: Schlesinger,
Thousand Days,
133–36; Schlesinger,
Journals
, 93–96; Guthman and Shulman, eds.,
Robert Kennedy
, 39–40;
New York Times
obituary of Dillon, Jan. 12, 2003; Halberstam,
Best and Brightest
, 435–36.

118  
For both substantive:
Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 137; Walter Heller, OH; Heller, “Meeting with the President-elect,” Dec. 23, 1960; “Recollections of early Meetings with Kennedy,” Jan. 12, 1964, Box 5, Walter Heller Papers, JFKL
.

119  
Before Kennedy selected:
Wofford,
Of Kennedys and Kings
, 71–72; Brauer,
Presidential Transitions
, 78–79.

119  
A last consideration for Kennedy:
“Wofford, Harris,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Jan. 29, 2006; Wofford,
Of Kennedys and Kings
, 35ff., especially 36, 40, 58, 63–64, 67, 130–34.

122  
Despite Kennedy’s directive:
Ibid., note on 133; Guthman and Shulman, eds.,
Robert Kennedy
, 57, 77–79.

122  
Kennedy’s choice:
Burke Marshall obituary,
New York Times
, June 3, 2003; Schlesinger,
Robert Kennedy
, 288–89.

123  
Executive action:
Dallek,
Flawed Giant
, 10–11.

123  
The president-elect also asked:
Dallek,
Lone Star Rising
, 529–32.

124  
The person most notably:
Jacqueline Kennedy,
Historic Conversations
, 319, 347–48, 201–203. The tour can be accessed on YouTube.

Chapter 4: “Never Rely on the Experts”

127  
Freezing weather:
President’s Appointments, January 21, 1961; Charles Bartlett, OH, JFKL.

127  
He believed that the combined:
Public Papers of the Presidents: John F. Kennedy, 1961
(Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962), 5, 10, 15–16, 18.

128  
Kennedy’s inspiration
: “Report to the President on the Peace Corps,” February 1961; “Conversation between the President and Eleanor Roosevelt Discussing the Peace Corps,” March 1, 1961, POF, JFKL. Also see Stossel,
Sarge
, 169–72, 198–208; Theodore Sorensen,
Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History
, 329–33; Peace Corps Online.

130  
The Alliance for Progress
: Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 193, 223–26; JFK’s Inaugural Address;
Robert Kennedy in His Own Words
, 49.

130  
Goodwin was a brilliant:
Schlesinger,
Thousand Days,
192–94.

131  
When Kennedy announced
: Stephen G. Rabe, “John F. Kennedy and Latin America,”
Diplomatic History
(Summer 1999); Thomas Mann, OH, JFKL; Schlesinger to JFK, Feb. 6, 1961, POF; Schlesinger,
Thousand Days,
205.

131  
The need for wise counsel
:
Foreign Relations of the United States: Cuba, 1961–1962
(Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997), p. 5, n. 3; pp. 25, 44. (
Foreign Relations of the United States
hereafter abbreviated
FRUS
.)

132  
Because
promises of a new day
: Ibid., 46–57.

133  
The great question then for Kennedy
: Ibid., 61–69, 89–90, 92–93. “Be landed gradually” is on 90. Howard Jones,
The Bay of Pigs
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2008); Bird,
Color of Truth
, 198; Dallek,
Unfinished Life
, 359–61; Robert Dallek, “The Untold Story of the Bay of Pigs,”
Newsweek
, Aug. 22 and 29, 2011, 26, 28; Gordon M. Goldstein,
Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam
(New York: Times Books/Henry Holt, 2008), 38–40; O’Donnell and Powers,
Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye
, 274.

137  
Part of Schlesinger’s problem
: Bird,
Color of Truth
, 198–99.

137  
During February and March
:
FRUS: Cuba, 1961–62
, 107–108, 118–20, 143–45, 156–60, 177;
Robert Kennedy in His Own Words
, 246–47; Schlesinger,
Thousand Days
, 251.