LIFE IN THE WHITE HOUSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01350R000200640025-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 22, 2004
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: November 5, 1965
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

November 5, 1965
Approved ForIRe14a
Lire here resumes publication of A( .77ro i ahc Days, the
story of John ' Kennedy?s presidency, by Arthur M
Schiesingcr noted historian Arid member of the Ken
ncdy inner Circle . r `f 0 d' I C i 1 0`l
.a boo Nov '.'294y Houghton Mifflin On the following
k
pKiges Schlesinger writes about, life in the White House=~
witl the Jenncdys, ? rho are shown crc in their living
i by Mark Shaw.
 Approved For Release 2004/11/01 CIA-RDP88-01.350R000200640025-7
A THOUSAND ~ DAYS, PART IV.'
by ARTHUR M.
SCHLESINGER, JR.
By the summer of 1962 John F.
Kennedy was well settled in the
Presidency. He had changed some-
what, physically, in this year and a'
half. The face was more lined and
furrowed; the features were heavi-
er, less handsome but more power-
ful. The. first 1$ months is always.
the period of presidential defini-
tion, and for Kennedy the succes-
sion of crises had tied an already
disciplined personality ever more
irrevocably to the responsibilities
able to the future. The experience
deepened him and gave emphasis
to a certain somber side of his na-
ture. At the same time, it liberated
him. He could at last be himself;.
the private face, somewhat sub-
dued and withheld during the con-
gressional years, became fully the
public face. His intelligence, gaiety
and wit, now displayed without in-
hibition, delighted the nation.
Continued
Approved For.Release 2004/11101 CIA=RQP88-0.'k350R000200640025-7
Kennedy '"radiated a contained
energy," and even at the desk,
flanked by a globe, "the atmos-
phere was one of informality."*
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By this time the methods of the brightened by a set of Catlin's Indi- the projection room in the Last
Wing. Kennedy was not a great
h
fl
d
e
t
Kennedy Presidency were coming an paintings, transecte
oor. into focus. The day began at quar- Bedrooms debouchcd from each ` movie fan and tended, unless the
ter to eight. George Thomas, his side. A yellow oval room, marvel- film was unusually gripping, to
devoted and humorous Negro vat- ously light and lovely, was used for walk out after the first 20 or 30
et, would knock at the door of the tea or drinks before dinner; it had minutes. He was interested, how-
Kennedy bedroom. As the Presi- served earlier Presidents as an of- ever, that one of his staff should
dent sat down before his breakfast fice. Another chamber at the west contribute film reviews to a maga-
b
out .,
tray, surrounded by the morning end of the corridor was Jacque- zinc, and with his curiosity a
nt cables and re- line's room by day and the sitting everything he would often have
d
urge
papers an
ports which might have come in room in the evening. Dinner guests. suggestions about critiques he
during the night, Caroline and used the President's own bath thought should be written. Before
greet their fa- room. I t was not a house for spa- beginning the assignment, I sent
John would rush in
,
ther and turn on the television to cious living. him a memorandum asking wheth-
watch animated cartoons. Then Yet it never seemed unduly er it would be any embarrassment.
to him if I became a film critic on
more presidential reading, with the crowded in these days. The atmos-
television going full blast. At 9 phere was always one of informal- my own time. The message came
hack through his secretary, Evelyn
th
il
T
e
am
it When his
, 1o clock a calisthenics pro ogram Y Yw,asawaY
came on, and Kennedy liked. to; President used to have his after- Lincoln: "The President says it is'
watch the children tumble on the! noon appointments on the second 'fine for you to write for Show as
thm with the! floor. But generally he returned to long as you treat Peter Lawford
floor in rh
b
d
y
room
e
taking the West Wing after his nap, where., with respect."
Then
an on the screen
,
.
m
one of the children by the hand,; he worked until 7:30 or 8 at night. Private relationships are always
he would walk over to the press- Jacqueline liked to guard the eve I a puzzle to Presidents. "The Presi-
'
Kennedy once remarked,
dential office in the West Wing. pings for relaxation, and the Pres- dency.
After a morning of work and a`I ident welcomed the relief from the ".is not a very good place to make
1-:-f curim ho rptiirnerl to the'. incessant business of the day. One - new friends -or sometimes to
Mansion ' for luncheon. He i of Jacqueline's charms, Robert
pre- keep old ones either. The Kennedys
ferred to lunch alone or with Jac Kennedy once said, was that "Jack I watched with fascination how
h "
'
ll never greet him wit
he
Iqueline;.very occasionally he knows s White Housitis affected their ac-
would bring guests. After luncheon 'What's new in Laos?' " From time quaintances, leading some to griev-4
of course she did as one
t
ti
,,, I I
me
o
came a nap. Impressed by Winston ante and others to sycophancy,
Churchill's eloquence in praise of crisis or another dominated the and they disdussed a book which
ll M
c-
I headlines; and he would te
afternoon rest, he had begun this might be written and called The(
George Bundy to show her the ca-
1963
B
P
id
P
h
i
ency.
y
e
res
o
sar of t
practice in the Senate. It was a gen- tiles. But her central effort was to
uine sleep, in pajamas and under the private dinners became some-,
of comfort
e him a sanctuar
'
r.
y
assur
,covers. He went off at once; and
j what less frequent. More and more
nd affection
.
a
in 45 minutes Jacqueline would the President fell back on the easy,,,
.waken him and chat as he dressed. y'''
This was her hour of the day, as reliable company of tried friends.
the morning was the children's. After the first year they seldom' The state dinners were inevitable,'
left the White House for private; abut Jacqueline made them bear
This historian, it must be said,
in {able by ending the old regimented
ueline
dinners elsewhere
Jac
,
.
q
had not realized how constricted
the livin realized
of an American stead, would arrange small din I.formality of solemn receiving lines
~' quarters l f rthtnrin;nthoM n- :t._ -J
President were. The first floor of ' b"" 411U 561n.vu (. V11YG1 Jt11.1V11 d11U
sion. They were the most agreeable. 'changing them into elegant and
the Mansion was given over toy. occasions in the world. On such, cheerful parties, beautifully min-
public rooms and reserved for'
evenings Jacqueline would'some-. gling informality and dignity. But
state occasions. The third floor; times put ' on records and there the gala occasions were the .small .
s
was rarely mentioned. The private;. might be dancing. The President.: dinner dances. Jacqueline con- i
l
k
n
d
ys too
p
ne
life of the Ke
ace on; often vanished into his bedroom to
the second floor under conditions' ceived 'them as a means of rector-
work or make telephone calls, theninga larger social gaiety to her hus-
which an average Park Avenue; reappea-ring guests band's life. When several months
'denizen would regard as claustro- goo in time to. I...
dnight of unrelenting pressure had gone
idor;
;phobic. A long dark corr ~:.. Occasionally the stn ?by, she would feel that the time
re were film
0 Continued
NOV 51965
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{ had come for another dancing par-
ty. There were not many such par-
ties-only five in the whole time in
the White' House-and they were
all blithe and enchanting evenings.
The President seemed renewed by companiment. In the evening he
them and always walked with a made- up stories for them about
springier step next day. Caroline hunting with the Orange
Sailing relaxed him most of all County hounds and winning the
-the -sun, the breeze, the water Grand National, and John in his
:and, above all, no ringing tele- PT-Boat sinking a Japanese de-
phone. He could get along happily stroyer He would tell them about
without the sun and used to insist
on taking friends out even on'dark
and chilly days. The guests would
huddle against the cold while the
President sat in the stern in a black
sweater, the wind blowing his hair,
blissfully happy with a steaming
bowl of fish chowder.
The weekends and holidays, de-
spite his battered black alligator
briefcase stuffed with papers, gave
him time for the children. He also
saw them as much as possible dur-
ing the week, and his delight in
them was unconcealed. He loved
children and told Jacqueline be-, termined that the children should'
fore their marriage that he wanted t lead as normal lives as possible.
at least five; she had four in seven This was not an easy goal, but she
years. He liked young children in did her best,- arranging the White
cessor was growing up. temporaries and taking them off in which nothing had ever taken
baby coming along when its prede- could fraternize with their con- I almost as if this were a house
tion. She trudged through the his-
toric rooms, long since emptied of
the authentic past, now filled with .
I, world came to know, wonderfully expeditions to shops or parks. On 1. establish the President's residence e
"Who is your friend?" She replied un and down. One seemed particu- ! Her hope was to recover as,
to their morning nursery school. trick-or-treaters, she found a col- tion of the White House became
spirited and original, and they cast Halloween evening in 1962, the
their spell throughout the White front doorbell rang at my house in
House. One oftei encountered i Georgetown. When my 14-year-old
them in the corridors going over daughter opened the door to the
with dignity, "He's not my friend, larly eager to have her basket filled ! many as possible of the old and
he's my brother." They invaded. ! with goodies. After a moment a beautiful objects which past Pres-
dies from
und
t
k
k
t Wi
th
W
i
oo
can
e bac
gro
ng,
! 1116
es
n
I. masked 111V L11Gl
a box kept for them on Evelyn called out that it was time to go to the President's house both a distil-
Lincoln's desk, and liked to hide the next house. Christina suddenly lation of American history and an
under the Cabinet table. recognized the voice. It' was, of expression of American excellence.'
Often, at the end of the day, the course; Jackie, and the excited lit _`1Everything in the White House i
must have a' reason . for being
President would leave his desk, tie girl was Caroline out with her 1-
throw open the French windows' .cousins. They had. just rung Joe., i there," she said. "It would be sac-,
leading into the Rose Garden, walk I Alsop's bell; Deanl. Acheson,was [ rilege merely to `redecorate' it--a
NOV 5 1965
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hands. At this signal every child
and dog in the vicinity would rush
across the green lawn into his arms.
He would encourage John to dance,
clapping his hands again as the ac-
Such adventures varied their''
lives. John aid Caroline were not,'l
if their mother .could' help it, thee
little prince and princess, any more
than she and the President were.
royalty. She disapproved of the
term "First Lady," which had come'
into semiofficial usage. When she
heard the servants referring to her,
by the title, she told them her
name was "Mrs. Kennedy." She
constantly reminded the children
Bobo the Lobo, a giant, and about i that the White House was their
Maybelle, a little girl who hid in'l temporary residence, not their per-
the woods, and about the White ~. manent home. When Alice Long-
Shark and the Black Shark. The I, worth or Franklin Roosevelt Jr.
White Shark lived off people's 'came to dinner, she would explain
socks, and one day, when the Presi- that they had once lived in the
dent and Caroline were sailing with I. White House too, as Caroline and
Franklin Roosevelt Jr. off New- !:John were living there now.
port, Kennedy-pretended to seethe
White Shark and said, "Franklin, T
give him your socks; he's hungry." he White House was temporary cl
Franklin promptly threw his socks for the Kennedys but permanent
into the water, which made a great for the nation. Mrs. Eisenhower
impression on Caroline. And her I had taken her successor on a trip
father taught Caroline poetry: 'I around the Mansion in late 1960. Where the bee sucks, there suck I. ... It was too soon after John's birth,
For her part, Jacqueline was de-.I' and Jacqueline was desperately
LLLI.LbaI LVL {4J >..v.., >.. vvu..~, .??
nation's and transform it into a
be thoroughly proud. The restora-
 Approved For Release 2004/11/01 ?CIA-RDP88-01350R000200640025-7
word I hate. It must be restored- lin was reminded of a remark made
and that has nothing to do with John Kennedy had wanted about Lenin: that he could exhaust
F.
decoration. That is a question of: , people by listening to them. In
to become President, he loved be- this way Kennedy ventilated Prob-
scholarship." Her husband sent
Clark Clifford to help with her ing President, and at times he lems in great detail without reveal-
The President watched the trans- "" ' f -+:,! ment had leaked something to the
Lr :~ .. ..:
plans. Jacqueline, with his assist- could hardly remember that he ing his own position and without
ance, set up the White House His- had. ever been anything else lie -naki-- his visitors conscious that
torical Association. She procured never complained about the "ter
he was holding back.
legislation designating the White' rible loneliness of the office or its His manners were distinguished,
House as a museum and enabling "awesome burdens." lie regarded and the more timid or lowly the
his life, I think, as threatened
it to receive gifts, and she pushed more by confinement than by soI-.;people, the greater his considera-
through the publication of the first . tion- His moments of irritation
guidebook. occasionally, at the end of
White House It was a were occasional but short. They
formidable executive effort, but the day~l e would say,. almost wist-.? came generally because he felt that
she carried it out with a perfection- fully, What are you doing to- he had been tricked or because a;
ist's attention to detail, steely de-! night?" and then enjoy a moment crisis caught him without warning
of gossip about old' friends in
President viewed the program with and he would stride across the and, while Kenneth O'Donnell
ary 1962, when Jacqueline took :jabbing the air to underscore a e was infinitely accessible to
the whole nation on a television point. Sometimes the. constraint YY his special assistants. One could
p
.
greater than in 1960. In Febru- impatient pencil lines on a pad,,;
~
the total was nearly two-thirds, table, tapping his teeth, slashing ?
White House steadily rose: in 19621 denly be in action, drumming the I ities but not people.
ber of people going through the' meetings. His fingers would sud- ! devoid of hatred. He detested qual-;;
He congratulated her as the num '..."'. """ stayed mad briefly. He was a man
pleased him, and he kidded those m t ~e roc ing c ~a-r m ron o t e and in Mpolitics had
on the staff who had said gloom-. fireplace, he radiated a contained ; not and in been in vain, Massachusetts sac and, when politics
pressed,
ily that it would never do to sell energy, electric in its intensity. Oc- his vocabulary was vivid. But,
a Guidebook in the White House. I casionally it would break out, es-. I though he got mad quickly, he
wit 1 action. eate at -s es or ;moment; his years in the Navy;
The success of the guidebook,', 1 k' 1 f t f h
.formation with mounting pride. "`J N`~a,u~ uua, yr ao
S d h' d k press. The air would rock for a
was visible. His eyes brightened !by his predecessor's golf cleats, for the President's time and ener
when he talked of her or when she !'!throw oven the doors to the lawn gy, Evelyn Lincoln presided over-
great satisfaction. , room, pausing wryly to look at guarded one, entrance to the presi-
Her husband's delight in her.:; the indentations left on the floor dential office with a wise concern
ing what her husband really thinks. the talent for concentration. When 1 One put one's head in the door,
night at dinner at the White House, to be more like Ike every day!" !,was e
g ajar-a signal to the
matte candor. Whenever a wife cane, inverted it and started mak- in the last hour of the afternoon, .
says anything in this town," he' ing golf swings; then, looking upi the door between Mrs. Lincoln's
her occasional bursts of undiplo- ?, rose from his desk, picked up his, so before luncheon and then again
fice. He was even entertained by -!Wade. One day, while talking, he and warmth. For the half hour or
0
Imagine how I felt last night when he put on his always surprising', was beckoned in: then the report
reservations, came to adore her for"'Whoever he's with," someone; he was likely to assume that the
.L_ ----- c'L.. L...1 ,7......,].,A --- i i/,-_f_ __.:.L .L,..,.. ,...