Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life With John F. Kennedy (61 page)

277 "the steam really went": Benjamin Bradlee,
Conversations with Kennedy
(Norton, 1975), p. 226.

291 "under American domination": Schlesinger,
A Thousand Days,
p. 842.

295 "this France, England, America": Manchester,
The Death of a President,
p. 710.

306 "one sentence": Ralph Martin,
A Hero for Our Time
(Macmillan, 1983), p. 431.

307 "kicked in the head":
Life,
May 11, 1959.

332 "leading strings": Schlesinger,
A Thousand Days,
p. 50.

346 "mentally unsound": Bradlee,
Conversations with Kennedy,
p. 32.

346 "You reduced him": Recording of John F. Kennedy telephone conversation with Governor Edmund Brown, November 7, 1962, Kennedy Library.

There are many people whose support and encouragement have helped immensely during the preparation of this project. First, foremost, and always to my husband and children for their love, integrity, and interest. I would like to thank the family of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., especially Alexandra Schlesinger, for her gracious enthusiasm; and Bill van den Heuvel for the same wise counsel and joyful outlook that made him such a beloved friend to my mother. I couldn't have completed this project without the help of Lauren Lipani, who read, listened to, and checked every detail along the way.

I am grateful to Tom Putnam, the director of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, as well as to the Library's dedicated archivists, Karen Adler Abramson, Jaimie Quaglino, Maura Porter, and Jenny Beaton. The unusual and unfamiliar photos that add so much to this book result from the efforts and expertise of Laurie Austin and Maryrose Grossman. Thanks also to Sharon Kelly, Jane Silva, and Stephen Plotkin for additional research assistance. I am also grateful to Tom McNaught, the director of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation; Rachel Day, for coordinating requests and new technology in connection with this book; and to all the Foundation staff for their commitment to excellence in all they do to strengthen the legacy of my parents.

For their legal and publishing advice and expertise, I would like to thank Bob Barnett, Deneen Howell, Jim Fuller, Tom Hentoff, and Esther Newberg.

People always did their best for my mother, and this project was no exception. She would have been especially pleased that the talented team at Hyperion are all women, including Sharon Kitter, Linda Prather, Kristin Kiser, Jill Sansone, Marie Coolman, SallyAnne McCartin, and Ellen Archer. For their work on the audio restoration and production, I am grateful to Marcos Sueiro Bal, as well as Paul Fowlie and Karen Dziekonski.

I wish my mother could have had the good fortune to work with Gretchen Young, who is exactly the kind of editor she was herself; with Shubhani Sarkar, who has brought creativity and insight to this design; and with Navorn Johnson, who managed this project from beginning to end. For their ongoing wisdom and wise counsel, I would like to thank Ranny Cooper and Stephanie Cutter, and for bringing their expertise and skill to this project, Debra Reed and Amy Weiss.

Finally, I am indebted to Michael Beschloss for his illuminating Introduction and comprehensive annotations, which benefit this book tremendously. 

—CAROLINE KENNEDY

Senator John F. Kennedy

Courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

Campaigning

Courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

The Election

Courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

Inauguration

Courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

Travel Abroad

Courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

JFK quip in Paris. NBC Universal Archives

Meeting in Vienna

Courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

Family Life

Courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

“September Song”

(MAXWELL ANDERSON AND KURT WEILL)

HOUSE PUBL. CORP. (ASCAP) 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  USED BY PERMISSION

Performed by Walter Huston

courtesy of Geffen Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., the most distinguished historian of his time, was also renowned as a Public Intellectual and a political activist. Author of more than twenty-five books, he was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize. The eloquence, insight, and power that characterized his style continue to influence the generations of historians who follow him. Arthur Schlesinger was the author of major biographies of Andrew Jackson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt as well as John and Robert Kennedy, books that significantly defined the modern presidency. He served as Special Assistant to the President during the Administration of John F. Kennedy.

Caroline Kennedy is the author/editor of eight bestselling books on constitutional law, American history, politics, and poetry. A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School, Kennedy is the Vice Chair of the New York City Fund for Public Schools. She is the President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Michael Beschloss has been called “the nation’s leading Presidential historian” by
Newsweek
. He is the author of nine books, including, most recently,
The Conquerors
and
Presidential Courage
and two volumes on Lyndon Johnson’s presidential tapes. He is a graduate of Williams College and the Harvard Business School and holds five honorary degrees, as well as an Emmy award. He is a regular commentator on the
PBS NewsHour
. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two sons.

Transcription of taped conversations is almost always an art, rather than a science, and the most reliable source for exactly what Jacqueline Kennedy and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., said to each other in the spring of 1964 is the accompanying audio version, which has been digitally re-mastered, but not altered. In order to make the transcript as comprehensible for the reader as possible, and in the style of other published oral histories, we have deleted some interjections and broken phrases where they interrupted the flow of the conversation, but only where such changes would not alter the meaning.

Copyright © 2011 Caroline Kennedy, John Schlossberg, Rose Schlossberg and Tatiana Schlossberg

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information address Hyperion, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

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Cover design by Phil Rose
Front cover photograph © Mark Shaw/mptvimages.com
Book design by Shubhani Sarkar

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Original hardcover edition printed in the United States of America.

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