PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS LIKE A KID IN A CANDY STORE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On Saturday, January 21, 1961, President John F. Kennedy took the reading copy of his inaugural address into his personal secretary's office. He said...
"Mrs. Lincoln*, I read that one of the former presidents was offered $75,000."
The President was referring to a signed copy of an inaugural address. So, just in case, JFK signed his reading copy, handed it to his secretary and said...
"Here, keep this $75,000 for me."
Ralph G. Martin writes that in JFK's first days in the White House, he "was like a kid in a candy store with five dollars. He loved it: the honors, the trappings, the power, the perks and the gadgets."
The president "roamed all over, poking his head into doors...asking secretaries how they were doing." Mr. Kennedy enjoyed the White House (telephone) switchboard the most. The president could be put in contact with almost anyone "within minutes."
*Evelyn Maurine Norton Lincoln (1909-1995) was born in Nebraska. Her father, John Norton, was a U.S. Congressman. She graduated from George Washington University & studied law for 2 years.
Mrs. Lincoln went to work for JFK in 1953. The NY Times describes their relationship as "a bond forged in political heaven" as she was "efficient, savvy and devoted."
SOURCE
"A Hero For Our Time: An Intimate Story of the Kennedy Years", by Ralph G. Martin, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1983.
Evelyn Lincoln
JFK's Personal Secretary
April 28, 1961
Photo by R. L. Knudsen
JFK Library Image
