The Opening Act of Camelot: Almost Certainly the First Appointment John F. Kennedy Signed as President, Upon His Arrival at the Oval Office

The earliest Presidential autograph of JFK ever to reach the market; He appoints longtime Kennedy friend and confidant, Kenneth O’Donnell, to Special Assistant

 

On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy ushered in a new era in the United States (and indeed the world) with his historic, visionary, and inspirational Inaugural Address. Spellbinding to hear, it seemed to leave behind existing attitudes and limitations, while acting as a clarion call to young and old alike to realize their personal potential while helping build a better nation and world. Some of the quotations from his address have become legendary, such as: “Let every nation know…that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty…The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it – and the glow from that fire can truly light the world…And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

That moment inaugurated a period known to history as Camelot, the brief Kennedy years that infused energy, optimism and excitement throughout the nation and world. Washington was bristling with it, which led to such programs as the Peace Corps, and such major Kennedy policies and achievements as the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The Sixties, which followed from that moment, would have been impossible without it. It was a watershed moment, one that began in earnest after the inaugural festivities when JFK took his seat in the Oval Office.

Kenneth “Kenny” O’Donnell’s relationship with the Kennedy family began at Harvard where he was Robert F. Kennedy’s teammate on the football team and then roommate. When Robert married Ethel Skakel on June 17, 1950, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenwich, Conn., O’Donnell was one of the groomsmen and received a sliver pitcher as his gift. It was there that he met Robert’s brother John for the first time; it was a meeting that would have major consequences for the Kennedys, O’Donnell and the country. When John ran for the U.S. Senate in 1952, Robert brought him into John’s campaign organization There he played an important role in Kennedy’s upset election over Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge. O’Donnell was John’s unpaid political observer in Massachusetts until 1957, when he came to Washington as Assistant Counsel of the Senate Labor Rackets Committee, having been hired by Robert Kennedy, chief counsel of the committee. In 1958, O’Donnell came in-house as a member of Senator Kennedy’s staff, and in 1960, he was a key organizer of Kennedy’s presidential campaign and director of his campaign schedule.

O’Donnell was named Special Assistant to the President on January 21, 1961, the day JFK entered the Oval Office for the first time. He was officially the President’s appointments secretary, but unofficially and actively his political troubleshooter and policy advisor. Kennedy consulted with O’Donnell regularly, including during the Bay of Pigs affair and Cuban Missile Crisis.

He was an early critic of the Vietnam War, counseling Kennedy to bring an end to America’s involvement in Vietnam. He arranged JFK’s trip to Dallas in November 1963, and was in a car just behind the President’s when Kennedy was assassinated. It was an enormous blow to O’Donnell, who long blamed himself for the death of the President.

In 1968, O’Donnell served as campaign manager for Sen. Robert Kennedy, when Kennedy challenged President Johnson for renomination. He was with Kennedy when the latter was assassinated on June 5, 1968. O’Donnell’s daughter later wrote that “Bobby” was her father’s best friend, and that after the assassination his presence hung over their house “like a ghost”.  O’Donnell was present at the assassination of both Kennedy brothers.  He rode in the Dallas motorcade behind John and Jackie.  He is famously portrayed by Kevin Costner in the movie, 13 Days.

January 21, 1961. The Kennedys had attended Inaugural balls and celebrations through January 20 and all night, and not returned to the White House until after 3:00 a.m. on the 21st. As the “President’s daily schedules and appointments” at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library disclose, the new President arrived in the Oval Office for the first time at 8:52. Though barely having four hours sleep, Kennedy appeared at ease and comfortable on assuming the responsibilities of leadership of the nation and the free world. His first act in that office was to meet with O’Donnell, which he did from 9:00-9:25. This was the first moment of Camelot, and the first appointment of Kennedy to be put into effect. They would have discussed the upcoming events of the day, and JFK likely signed and gave O’Donnell his appointment as Special Assistant to the President at that time. This would have made signing that appointment his first official act as President. Kennedy was then briefed by Andrew Goodpastor, Defense Liaison Officer to President Eisenhower, and after Goodpastor left, Kennedy met with Andrew Hatcher, his Assistant Press Secretary, likely concerning press arrangements for the afternoon Cabinet event. From 10:00-10:55, JFK hosted former President Harry Truman, who had written a widely circulated letter to assist his campaign.

From 11:00-11:15 the President met with O’Donnell and White House Executive Clerk William Hopkins. The Executive Clerk is responsible for delivering messages from the President to Congress and collecting all documents signed by the President that form his official public actions. Almost surely (and consistent with reporting done by the New York Times), Kennedy handed Hopkins the signed list of Cabinet nominations that had been prepared for his signature the day before, and instructed him to deliver the list to the Senate for confirmation. The Senate held a rare Saturday session and confirmed all the nominees.

After that Kennedy met with Mayor Richard Daley and family, followed by sessions with speechwriter Ted Sorenson and his physician, Janet Travell. From 11:45-12:20 he was again with O’Donnell, and serially with John Bailey, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and other aides Larry O’Brien and Ralph Dungan. Then from 12:55-1:45 the President went to speak at Democratic National Committee headquarters. Upon return, the schedule shows that Kennedy took some time off, likely to take a nap, as that was a daily habit for him in the White House.

At 4:00 Kennedy went to the East Room for the Swearing-In Ceremony for Cabinet Members, and then met with them and their families. This was his final public act of the day. At some point after that ceremony, he would have signed the Cabinet appointments, Dean Rusk’s being first, as he, as Secretary of State, would countersign the President’s on the other appointments. The other Cabinet members’ documents would have followed, with both Kennedy’s and Rusk’s signatures. Thus both Kennedy’s and Rusk’s signatures appear on Robert McNamara’s appointment as Secretary of Defense.

Document signed, Washington, January 21, 1961, JFK’s first day in the Oval Office, naming O’Donnell Special Assistant to the President of the United States of America. Dean Rusk’s signature as Secretary of State is absent. This very document hung in O’Donnell’s office in the White House. It was recently obtained by us directly from the O’Donnell family, and has never before been offered for sale.

The lack of Dean Rusk’s signature tells us a great deal about the timing of the O’Donnell appointment. It is dated January 21, the same date as the Cabinet appointments, but the absence of Rusk’s signature means that its signing predates the 4:00 Swearing-In Ceremony for Cabinet Members (and all of their signed appointment documents). Since Rusk was not yet officially Secretary of State, no one could yet sign in that space. Do any other Kennedy appointments predate that ceremony, or is O’Donnell’s the only one, and thus the very first one signed by JFK? No other appointment previous to the ceremony (without Rusk’s signature) has reached the market, and O’Donnell was the first man to see Kennedy in the Oval Office, and the only man to see him throughout the day.  Kennedy’s schedule, O’Donnell’s role, the timing of the swearing-in ceremonies, and the lack of better candidates indicates that this is apparently Kennedy’s first signed appointment.

Since O’Donnell was the first man to consult with Kennedy in the Oval Office on presidential matters, his appointment as Kennedy’s advisor was the first action of the President to be made operative.

There is another tantalizing possibility (perhaps probability) as well. The O’Donnell appointment may have been signed before the Cabinet nomination sheet handed to Hopkins at 11:00, which would make this document the first official document of John F. Kennedy as President.