An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963

  p. 126: “We have a very young”: Boston City Councilor Joseph Russo radio speech, n.d., Box 74, PPP.

  p. 126: “Congress seat for sale”: East Boston Leader, n.d., Political Scrapbook No. 1, microfilm, JFKL. Also see Jeff Wylie, a reporter for Time, to JFK, April 30, 1946, Box 74, PPP, who tried unsuccessfully to excerpt part of the Leader column “as a sample of the below-the-belt tactics that you are running into.”

  p. 126: Mastering the political challenges: See Blair, 420-25.

  p. 127: “The fascination about politics”: Plaut interview with JFK, n.d., in Martin Papers.

  p. 127: “Here’s a millionaire’s son”: Rose Kennedy, 310.

  p. 127: For JFK’s challenge in getting out and winning votes, see J. Calvin Carpenter to JFK, May 30, 1946, Box 73, PPP.

  p. 127: “With those two names”: Quoted in Parmet, Jack, 182.

  p. 127: “a new kind of Democrat”: Hamilton, 742.

  p. 127: “Compared to the Boston Irish”: O’Donnell and Powers, 59.

  pp. 127-28: Seeing Jack’s amateur status: Martin and Plaut, 131, 136-37; O’Donnell and Powers, 58-60.

  p. 128: He began going into: Martin and Plaut, 136.

  p. 128: “I would have given odds”: McCarthy, 20.

  p. 128: “I seem to be”: O’Donnell and Powers, 59.

  p. 128: “I think I know”: Ibid., 54-55.

  p. 128: “hit the barbershops”: Ibid., 63-64.

  p. 129: Ride the trolleys: Parmet, Jack, 154.

  p. 129: On the house parties, see Press Release, Bill McMorrow, May 2, 1946, Box 74, PPP; Burns, 66-67; O’Donnell and Powers, 64-65; Doris Goodwin, 716-17.

  p. 129: Paid a heavy price: See Parmet, Jack, 154.

  p. 129: “The New Generation”: Quoted in Collier and Horowitz, 181.

  p. 129: On the war record, see Martin and Plaut, 134-35; O’Donnell and Powers, 65-68; Doris Goodwin, 720; Hamilton, 755-56.

  p. 130: For JFK’s domestic agenda, see Martin and Plaut, 135-36; Parmet, Jack, 157-58.

  p. 130: “You can never be too careful”: Quoted in Evan Thomas, 48.

  p. 130: “staggering sum” and “It was the equivalent”: Quoted in Martin and Plaut, 133. Also see Paul E. Murphy to JFK, Feb. 18, 1946, Box 74, PPP, giving one instance of the money available for JFK to hire a campaign secretary.

  p. 130: “With what I’m spending”: Collier and Horowitz, 183.

  p. 130: O’Neill’s spending: O’Neill, 73-79.

  p. 131: “Kennedy for Congress” and “There’s our man”: Parmet, Jack, 160. (Also see p. 133) and Doris Goodwin, 713-14.

  p. 131: “Only way”: Martin and Plaut, 140.

  p. 131: On the tea, see Martin and Plaut, 144-45; Blair, 472-73; Doris Goodwin, 718-19.

  p. 131: For the vote, see Blair, 478-79.

  p. 132: “it was very, very quiet”: Dalton OH.

  p. 132: “In Brookline”: JFK Speech, Choate School, Sept. 27, 1946, Box 94, PPP.

  p. 132: “Why I Am a Democrat”: Oct. 23, 1946, Ibid.

  p. 132: VFW speech: “1946 National Encampment,” Sept. 2, 1946, Ibid.

  pp. 132-33: JFK Speech, “The Time Has Come,” Oct. 1946, Ibid.

  p. 133: For the vote, see Blair, 495.

  Chapter 5: The Congressman

  pp. 134-35: For current affairs and Truman’s standing, see McCullough, 398, 520-24, 550-51.

  p. 135: “always running for the next job”: Quoted in Blair, 547.

  p. 135: “I think from the time”: Arthur Krock OH.

  p. 135: “The life of the House”: Burns, 99.

  p. 136: “industrious, important”: Donovan, 257-61.

  p. 136: “Suppose you were”: Quoted in Jay, 372.

  p. 136: “the job as a congressman”: Charles Spalding OH.

  p. 136: “Well, I guess”: Quoted in Collier and Horowitz, 209.

  p. 136: “I never felt”: JFK interview with James Burns, Mar. 22, 1959, JFKL.

  p. 136: Swinging a golf club: Parmet, Jack, 166-67.

  p. 136: “We were just worms”: Quoted in Lasky, 117; also in JFK interview with Burns, Mar. 22, 1959, where he also said, “Congressmen get built up. . . .”

  pp. 136-37: “found most of his”: Quoted in Doris Goodwin, 725-26.

  p. 137: On JFK’s genuine idealism and view of public service, see the several letters between Jack and Choate faculty from October 1946 to December 1951, especially the Alumni Note, n.d., 1951, Outline of Kennedy Letters, and The Choate Alumni Bulletin, Jan. 1947, Box 1, PP.

  p. 137: “I wasn’t equipped”: Ed Plaut interview with JFK in Ralph G. Martin Papers, Boston University.

  p. 138: “freshman row” and “about as far”: Blair, 509.

  p. 138: “had a brain”: Quoted in ibid., 512-13; also see p. 539.

  p. 138: “It was good”: Quoted in ibid., 513.

  p. 138: Jack once encouraged him: William Sutton OH.

  p. 138: “speechless indignation”: Martin and Plaut, 149-50.

  p. 138: “I can’t do it”: Grace Burke OH.

  p. 138: “Mary Davis was unbelievable”: Quoted in Blair, 510.

  pp. 138-39: “never did involve himself”: Quoted in ibid., 511.

  p. 139: “No matter how many good things”: Joseph Rosetti OH; Blair, 548-49.

  p. 139: “She was very dedicated”: Quoted in ibid., 488.

  p. 139: JPK’s commitment to pay: Ibid., 511.

  pp. 139-40: Joe also put his money and influence: See Box 5, PP. For Joe’s efforts with the media, see JPK to JFK, Oct. 1, 1946, JPK Papers, JFKL; and Parmet, Jack, 217-18.

  p. 140: “Galahad”: Clipping, The Sign, July 1950, in Box 4A, PP.

  p. 140: “nice to meet”: Quoted in Lasky, 101. Also see Burns interview with JFK, Mar. 22, 1959.

  p. 140: “I wish you would tell”: Kay Halle OH.

  pp. 140-41: “I guess Dad”: Quoted in Collier and Horowitz, 195.

  p. 141: On efforts to hide Joe’s role, see ibid., 192-94.

  p. 141: On committee assignments, see James M. Burns OH; Blair, 508-9. Also see John McCormack to JFK, Mar. 30, 1946, Box 74, PPP, and Boston Archbishop to JFK, Jan. 18, 1947, Box 5, PP.

  pp. 141-42: “His hair was tousled”: Sutton OH.

  p. 142: “An excellent political”: Joe (?) to JFK, Mar. 11, 1947, Box 5, PP.

  p. 142: “In 1946 I really knew nothing”: Quoted in John Osborne, “The Economics of the Candidates,” Fortune, Oct. 1960, 138.

  p. 142: For his reaction to the tax cut proposal, see Statements and Speeches of JFK, July 8, 1947, in Box 93, PPP.

  p. 143: “I do not see how”: CR, April 20, 1950, 81st Congress, 2nd Session.

  p. 143: “The scarlet thread”: JFK, Commencement Address, University of Notre Dame, Jan. 29, 1950, Box 95, PPP.

  p. 143: The Twenty-second Amendment: Burns, 89; Lasky, 100; William E. Leuchtenburg, In the Shadow of FDR, 75-76.

  p. 143: JFK’s support of housing legislation: Radio broadcast, Feb. 4, 1947, Box 94, PPP.

  p. 144: “The only time that”: Statements and Speeches of JFK, April 30, 1947, Box 93, PPP.

  p. 144: “an investigation of”: July 24, 1947, Box 93, PPP.

  p. 144: “moral courage:” Clem Norton to Editor, May 23, 1947, Box 74, PPP.

  p. 144: On the housing fight, see Burns, 73-76; O’Donnell and Powers, 74-75; and Blair, 537-41.

  p. 144: “terribly important”: Burns interview with JFK, Mar. 22, 1959, JFKL.

  p. 145: JFK’s view of unions: Alexander Christie OH.

  p. 145: On the hearings and JFK’s anticommunism, see Parmet, Jack, 175-82.

  p. 145: “in their irresponsibility”: Statements and Speeches of JFK, April 16, 1947, Box 93, PPP.

  p. 145: JFK’s call for a balanced law: Martin and Plaut, 151-52.

  pp. 145-46: On Taft-Hartley, see Burns, 76-78; Collier and Horowitz, 197; and Blair, 541-46.

  p. 146: JFK’s voting record: C.I.O. Key Issues: Kennedy-Lodge, n.d., Box 100, PPP.

  p. 146: “Now you don’t mean”: Q
uoted in Burns, 85-86.

  p. 146: “acting as a trustee”: Archbishop John Wright to JFK, Jan. 18, 1947, Box 5, PP.

  p. 146: A Gallup poll: Gallup, 841.

  p. 147: JFK’s support of federal aid: “John F. Kennedy Record,” n.d., Box 98, PPP. Also see Radio Broadcast, Feb. 4, 1947, Box 94; “Federal Aid to Education,” n.d., Box 98, PPP; and Parmet, Jack, 201-6.

  p. 147: “a white knight”: Editorial, Boston Pilot, March 18, 1950.

  pp. 147-48: On the Curley controversy, see Burns, 91-93; Martin and Plaut, 152-54; Blair, 550-52; Doris Goodwin, 726-29. Also see the oral histories at JFKL of James M. Burns, Garrett Byrne, Mark Dalton, Charles Murphy, and Daniel F. O’Brien.

  p. 149: “not to dominate”: JFK, speech at UNC, Mar. 27, 1947, in CR, April 1, 1947, 80th Congress, 1st Session.

  p. 149: On JPK’s opposition to Truman Doctrine, see Blair, 532-35; Parmet, Jack, 207-8.

  p. 150: “a mixture of gaiety”: Mrs. Christopher Bridge OH.

  p. 150: On Jack’s lifestyle, see Burns, 71-73; Collier and Horowitz, 189; Doris Goodwin, 722.

  p. 150: “he would come by”: Quoted in Goodwin, 521.

  p. 150: “Kennedy never sits”: Quoted in Burns, 98.

  p. 151: “How’s the Congressman”: AP release, Nov. 8, 1949, Box 95, PPP.

  p. 151: “Jack liked girls”: Quoted in Blair, 523, 526. Also see George Smathers OH.

  p. 151: “Palm Beach’s”: New York World-Telegram, Jan. 20, 1947.

  p. 151: “playboy”: William O. Douglas OH.

  p. 151: “the girls just went”: Quoted in Parmet, Jack, 167-68.

  p. 151: “He was not a cozy” and “nice—considerate”: Quoted in Collier and Horowitz, 212-13.

  pp. 151-52: “A lovely-looking”: Quoted in Blair, 516-17.

  p. 152: “he was a very naughty”: Interview with Priscilla Johnson McMillan.

  p. 152: “less a self-assertion”: Collier and Horowitz, 212.

  p. 152: “I was one of the few”: Quoted in ibid., 214.

  p. 152: “The whole thing”: Ibid.

  p. 152: “a liking for women”: Doris Goodwin, 725.

  p. 153: “That young American friend”: Quoted in Blair, 561.

  p. 153: Extreme unction and “It’s okay”: Collier and Horowitz, 202-3.

  p. 153: “His continual, almost heroic”: Wills, 33.

  p. 153: “mad, bad”: Quoted in Collier and Horowitz, 214.

  pp. 153-54: For the letters, see Box 4A, PP. On Fitzwilliam, see Collier and Horowitz, 200-205; and Doris Goodwin, 732-39, who relies on Lynne McTaggart, Kathleen Kennedy: Her Life and Times (New York, 1983), 129, 206-9, 219, 228, 230, 232-37.

  p. 154: News of Kathleen’s death and “How can there possibly be”: Doris Goodwin, 739, 743.

  p. 154: “The thing about Kathleen”: Quoted in Burns, 54.

  p. 154: “but there was no use”: Joseph Alsop OH.

  p. 154: “The point is” and “he always heard”: Quoted in Collier and Horowitz, 207-9.

  p. 155: “he was in terrible pain”: Quoted in Doris Goodwin, 742-44.

  p. 155: On plans for 1948, see Burns, 99-100; Blair, 546-49; Parmet, Jack, 197-98; and Burns interview with JFK, Mar. 22, 1959.

  p. 155: For the speaking schedules, see Burns, 100; and Martin and Plaut, 156.

  p. 156: “we usually ended up”: O’Donnell and Powers, 77-79.

  p. 156: For the X rays: See films of Dec. 14, 1944 and Nov. 6, 1950, in Dr. Janet Travell’s medical records, JFKL.

  p. 156: “he would lean”: O’Donnell and Powers, 77-79.

  p. 156: “When we’ve got”: Ibid.

  p. 156: “You young boys”: Smathers OH.

  pp. 156-57: On the speculation and the Progressive party support, see Blair, 555; and Parmet, Jack, 197-98.

  p. 157: For the Roper poll, see “A Report on Political Sentiment in Massachusetts,” June 1948, Box 81, PPP.

  p. 157: For the election results: “Congressman John F. Kennedy’s Election Count,” 1948, Box 5, PP.

  pp. 157-58: On Curley and Honey Fitz and for the quote, “It made him realize”: Doris Goodwin, 745-49.

  p. 158: For JFK’s continuing focus on domestic issues, see the various documents on these matters in Boxes 81, 82, 83, 93, 95, 98, 99, and 100, PPP, especially the collection of JFK’s House speeches in Box 93, and his speech to the Massachusetts state CIO, Dec. 7, 1951, Box 102, PPP.

  p. 158: “Foreign policy today”: JFK, Radio Speech, Nov. 14, 1951, Box 102, PPP.

  p. 158: “perpetual, unending war”: Address of JFK, n.d., 1948, Box 95, PPP.

  pp. 158-59: On the communist fears, see Acheson, 250-52; McCullough, 521-22, 550-53, 742; Gallup, 788, 881.

  p. 159: “the onslaught”: JFK, “Aid to Italy,” Nov. 20, 1947, CR, 80th Congress, 1st Session.

  p. 159: “the opportunity”: JFK Record, Box 98, PPP.

  p. 159: “the betrayal”: JFK, “Displaced Persons,” June 11, 1948, CR, 80th Congress, 2nd Session; also, “Kennedy Raps Roosevelt Attitude Toward Russia,” Salem Evening News, May 8, 1948.

  p. 160: “The failure of our foreign policy”: JFK, “Our Foreign Policy in Connection with China,” Jan. 29, 1949; “China-Statement of JFK,” Feb. 21, 1949, CR, 81st Congress, 1st Session.

  p. 160: Anticommunism: Gallup, 808-809.

  p. 160: On Smathers and Pepper, see Lasky, 102-3.

  p. 161: “the lack of”: Press Release, Oct. 7, 1949, Box 96, PPP; press release on JFK letter to HST, Oct. 10, 1949, and see letter to editors, Nov. 17, 1949, Box 7, PP.

  p. 161: Kennedy worried: NYT, June 5, Sept. 1, 1950.

  p. 161: “inexcusable delay”: JFK, Remarks, July 13, 1950, CR, 81st Congress, 2nd Session.

  p. 161: “sold like hot cakes”: Names in the News, Aug. 26, 1950, Box 6, PP.

  p. 161: “the inadequate state”: JFK, Speech, n.d, Box 7, PP.

  p. 161: Alsops’ column: CR, Feb. 13, 1950, 81st Congress, 2nd Session.

  p. 161: JFK on U.S. forces: JFK, Remarks, Aug. 25, 1950, CR, 81st Congress, 2nd Session.

  pp. 161-62: For HST ratings, see Gallup, 800, 821, 834, 860, 903, 939, 953.

  p. 162: For JFK’s views at the Harvard seminar and dinner, see John P. Mallan, “Massachusetts: Liberal and Corrupt,” New Republic, Oct. 13, 1952.

  pp. 162-63: For JFK’s ties to McCarthy and denial, see Parmet, Jack, 172-74, 211-14.

  p. 162: “How dare you”: Robert Amory Jr. OH.

  p. 163: For fears about the cold war and favorable public opinion toward McCarthy’s anticommunism, see Gallup, 897, 911-12, 924, 933-34.

  p. 163: “a ballyhoo artist”: Quoted in McCullough, 768.

  p. 163: For JFK’s views at the end of 1951 on communists in government, see “Meet the Press,” Dec. 3, 1951, Box 105, PPP.

  p. 163: For publicity about JFK’s trip, see The Yankee Network News Releases, Jan. 7, 26, 30, 1951, and UPI, Feb. 6, 1951, Box 8, PP.

  pp. 163-64: JFK’s trip was recorded in a 149-page handwritten diary that became available to researchers in January 2000: Travel Journal, Jan.-Feb. 1951, JFKL. JFK, Radio Talk, Feb. 6, 1951; JFK Statement before Senate committees, Feb. 22, 1951, Box 95, PPP.

  p. 164: Differences with his father: JFK Statement before Senate committees, Feb. 22, 1951, Box 95, PPP. Also JFK Travel Journal, Jan.-Feb. 1951, and JFK to JPK, Mar. 13, 1951, Box 6, PP.

  p. 165: “nationalistic passions”: JFK, Speech, April 21, 1951, Box 95, PPP; and document beginning, “Admits Briggs plan,” n.d., in Asian Trip Folder, Box 11, PP.

  p. 165: “I was anxious”: JFK, Radio Broadcast, Nov. 14, 1951, Box 102, PPP.

  p. 166: On Robert Kennedy, see Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy, 60-93; Collier and Horowitz, 217-22; Steel, 45.

  p. 167: “It is tragic to report”: JFK, Radio Broadcast, Nov. 14, 1951, Box 102, PPP.

  p. 167: On the French regime: JFK, 182-page Travel Journal, Oct.-Nov. 1951, JFKL. Also see the document that begins “Admits Briggs plan,” in Asian Trip Folder, Box 11, PP.

  pp. 167-68
: FDR Jr.: RFK Diary in Folder “Trips 1951, Mid & Far East,” Box 24, Robert F. Kennedy Papers, JFKL.

  p. 168: Dinner with Nehru: Ibid., and Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy, 91.

  p. 168: French officials: Collier and Horowitz, 221; Lasky, 127.

  p. 168: “Perhaps our next effort”: Schlesinger, 93.

  p. 168: “public service type”: JFK to Patricia Kennedy, Sept. 12, 1951, Box 6, PP.

  p. 168: “handing out sewer contracts”: Quoted in Collier and Horowitz, 222.

  p. 168: Limits of a governor’s powers: Burns, 101.

  pp. 168-69: Boston patronage, “to be on the take,” “no standing”: Interview with JFK, in Martin Papers.

  p. 169: JPK’s eagerness for a Senate race: Eunice Shriver quoting her father in Edward Kennedy, 237.

  p. 169: JPK’s confidence about winning: Joseph De Guglielmo OH.

  p. 169: Chances 50-50: Anthony Galluccio OH.

  p. 169: “the campaign against Lodge”: Frank Morrissey, quoted in Edward Kennedy, 127.

  p. 169: “if he was going to get anywhere”: Spalding OH. Douglas OH.

  p. 169: Meet the Press, Dec. 3, 1951, Box 105, PPP.

  p. 169: Dever stood in the way: Dalton OH.

  p. 169: “If you want to run”: Byrne OH.

  p. 170: “By the time”: Douglas OH.

  p. 170: Jack prepared a statement: Tommy O’Hearn, quoted in Collier and Horowitz, 631.

  p. 170: “We got the race”: O’Brien, 26.

  p. 170: “had thought and questioned”: Eunice Shriver, quoted in Edward Kennedy, 219.

  p. 170: “was the distinct boss”: Quoted in Martin and Plaut, 161.

  p. 170: “The Ambassador worked”: Quoted in ibid., 176. For good examples of Joe’s efforts, see Leland Bickford to JPK, n.d., Box 6, PP, and Edward J. Dunn to JPK, Sept. 30, 1952, with Dunn to JFK, Sept. 30, 1952, attached, Box 103, PPP.

  p. 170: Lodge had sent word: O’Donnell and Powers, 90.

  p. 170: “All along, I always knew”: Quoted in Doris Goodwin, 757-58. A student of the 1952 campaign found no evidence to refute Lodge’s assertion: Thomas J. Whalen, “Evening the Score: John F. Kennedy, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., and the 1952 Massachusetts Senate Race,” Ph.D. dissertation, History Department, Boston College, 1998, pp. 183-84; published by Northeastern University Press in 2001.

  p. 170: Jack enlisted Gardner Jackson: Martin and Plaut, 174-75, and Parmet, Jack, 244-45, 250-51.