/internal/media/dispatcher/55497/fullHandwritten letter from Jacqueline Kennedy to John Steinbeck, 02/15/196402/15/19649 1/4 × 6 1/4 in. (23.5 × 15.9 cm)PaperThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection2019.104.00010Handwritten letter from Jacqueline Kennedy to John Steinbeck dated February 15, 1964. The letter is two pages, front and back. The body of the letter is written in blue ink on letterhead that reads "Mrs. John F. Kennedy" in black printed text. There is a black border around the edge of the front of ecah page. In the letter Jacqueline Kennedy asks John Steinbeck to write a book about her husband and describes in some detail how she wants Kennedy’s legacy to take shape and what she does not like about others’ attempts to memorialize him. The letter reads as follows:
(Page 1)
Sunday Feb 15, 1964
Dear Mr. Steinbeck
I looked through all the pictures – and they
are just what I suspected – nothing –
All Jacque Lowes best photographs were in his first book.
He has padded this out with a lot of pictures of
dreary meetings and some family pictures that were
discarded before and which I intend to see he
never publishes.
I think it is awful of Jacque Lowe to try and
make a few extra pennies off the President in this
way. If it was Vikings idea – I am surprised.
It is something the family will give no sanction to
and I don’t think you should be associated with it
in any way.
I know what I think you should do now – a
book on your own – as we were all beginning to
think at the end of our meeting together.
(Page 2)
What you said about the Arthurian cycle,
all the way you pictured what you would do, is
what I wish so much to be written about Jack –
Who but you could do it? I want him to pass
into legend – That is the way I always saw
him.
You might tell Tom Quinzberg how I feel
about a book of photographs – It should be done
a long while from now – when Mark Shaw and everyone’s
photographs are available. It should be the finest thing
of its kind – The most brilliant layout people should work
on it – I picture something like David Duncan’s book
on Picasso – a large book. If I approved of it I
would give my own photographs to it – I was always
taking pictures of my husband and children and some of
them are touching – Maybe Viking will do that book.
Maybe someone else – that depends on Tom’s imagination –
But the photograph book should be the definitive one – there is
(Page 3)
no hurry for it – and only to a book of which I
approve will I give sanction – and a host of pictures from
sources that no one but me even knows about nw.
But a book like that could really be done in a
hundred years – by a brilliant editor-
But a hundred years from now you won’t be here –
nor will anyone who was struck by his death and
forever wounded by it –
You were at Jack’s Inauguration – You know the place
that you have in the letters of this country –
If you decide to do the kind of thing you
spoke of – then Bobby and I would help you
in every way – although we are not much help
to anyone right now.
I hope you do decide – You can write
(Page 4)
to me (send it to Max or I wont get it for weeks)
or we can meet – or you can tell Max what you
have decided if that is easier.
Twelve days before Jack died, we had the
Black Watch at the White House – He spoke of
how the history of Scotland captured him at an
early age – “because I suppose, all of us in a sense are
drawn to lost causes” – I saw the film of that
the other day. All I can think of is – Is Jack’s
life going to be a lost cause? – He did care so
about lost causes – I can tell you of all his heroes –
but he did not want his life to be that.
Unfortunately – you met me at the worst time in my
life. I know I must be like Jack and keep fighting – but
there seems no reason to anymore –
But I will try to be out of this slump by the time I
see you again – if you decide that is to happen – Thank You.
Sincerely
Jacqueline Kennedy
Condition Note: Letter is in excellent condition with no bleeding of smudging in the ink visible. [Stephanie Allen-Givens, 10/28/2020]Documents6613815.875031750123.495046990166792Letter0E-10Handwritten letter from Jacqueline Kennedy to John Steinbeck dated February 15, 1964. The letter is two pages, front and back. The body of the letter is written in blue ink on letterhead that reads "Mrs. John F. Kennedy" in black printed text. There is a black border around the edge of the front of each page. In the letter Jacqueline Kennedy asks John Steinbeck to write a book about her husband and describes in some detail how she wants Kennedy’s legacy to take shape and what she does not like about others’ attempts to memorialize him. She mentions that she wants her husband "to pass into legend" and is very emphatic about the fact that she was to be in control of approving any publication related to her husband. Jacqueline Kennedy was accustomed to carefully crafting and controlling the public image of her family, and ultimately, she recognized the importance of trying to control the story of President Kennedy's death and legacy. She concludes the letter by stating that she hopes Steinbeck chooses to take on the project of creating a book and that she does not want her husband's life to be a "lost cause."LettersMemoirsMemoriesLetterheadAuthorKennedy, John F.Kennedy, JacquelineSteinbeck, JohnWashington, D.C.In the letter, Jacqueline Kennedy mentions s statement by Steinbeck about the "Arthurian cycle." One week after the assassination, in an exclusive Life magazine interview with Teddy White, Jackie famously crafted the Camelot myth, linking her husband's brief presidency with the heroic legend of King Arthur. - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits ManagerWhile Nobel prize-winning author John Steinbeck appreciated President Kennedy's patronage and support of the arts and even attended the President's Inauguration in 1961, he never ended up writing the book Jacqueline Kennedy begged him to write before his death in 1968. - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits ManagerSteinbeck scholar Dr. William Ray described John Steinbeck as a "staunch New Deal Deal Democrat with small town Republican roots and a record of wartime advice to his hero Franklin Roosevelt..." Steinbeck supported two-time Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson over John F. Kennedy in 1960. However, once Kennedy secured the Democratic nomination, Steinbeck actively supported him and attended Kennedy's 1961 inauguration, after being personally invited by the Kennedys. Steinbeck met with President Kennedy on several occasions and was selected by the president to receive the Medal of Freedom, though Kennedy did not live to present the honor himself. (It was presented by President Johnson in September 1964.) On November 22, 1963, Steinbeck and his wife Elaine were in Warsaw on a U.S. cultural mission. Deeply impacted by the assassination, the Steinbecks attended a memorial service at a cathedral in Vienna. Upon his return to the United States, Steinbeck wrote a condolence letter to Mrs. Kennedy. According to Steinbeck biographer Jackson Benson, Mrs. Kennedy thought that Steinbeck was "the writer most suitable" to write President Kennedy's definitive biography. Ultimately, Steinbeck declined because the book idea he had in mind was not an "orthodox biography." Benson writes that Steinbeck never completed his own autobiography for much the same reason. Steinbeck died at the age of 66 on December 20, 1968. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator