JACQUELINE KENNEDY, HISTORIC CONVERSATIONS: THE SECOND CONVERSATION III
Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) Today JFK+50 continues our report on the second conversation from "Jacqueline Kennedy, Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy", published by Hyperion.
The second conversation was recorded on Tuesday, March 3, 1964.
Jacqueline Kennedy discusses JFK's view of political rivalries.
She says:
"Jack always said, 'You must always leave the way open for conciliation. Everything changes in politics--your friends are your enemies next week..'."
In talking about French President Charles de Gaulle, Jackie tells Arthur Schlesinger:
"I...loved all that prose of his memoirs (&) he realized who Jack was (&) that's why he came to (Jack's) funeral...that was an effort. He didn't need to do that."
Schlesinger asks Mrs. Kennedy what JFK thought about his fellow contenders for the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination.
She answers:
"He liked Hubert (Humphrey) before (& after) but he didn't particularly like (Lyndon Johnson)....but (more than personalities) it was really overcoming....hurdles (Catholicism, youth, wealth) more than his opponents."
Mrs. Kennedy once again illustrates "the heart" JFK possessed:
"We were trying to raise money for the cultural center (JFK Center for the 'Performing Arts) & a Republican friend of my stepfather said: 'Why don't you get labor to do it? If you took a dollar a week out of all of labor's wages, you could...(raise) the money in no time.' (Jack) was just really sickened by that & said 'Can you think what a dollar a week out of their wages would mean to all those people?'"
