/internal/media/dispatcher/55503/fullHandwritten letter from Jacqueline Kennedy to John Steinbeck, 03/08/196403/08/19649 1/4 × 6 1/4 in. (23.5 × 15.9 cm)PaperThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection2019.104.00020Handwritten letter from Jacqueline Kennedy to John Steinbeck dated March 8, 1964. The letter is three pages, front and back. The body of the letter is written in black 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 reiterates her request for John Steinbeck to write a book about her husband. She describes in detail how she wants Kennedy’s legacy to take shape and how he should be memorialized. The letter reads:
(Page 1)
March 8, 1964
Dear Mr. Steinbeck
I do thank you for your letter – Even if
you never write your book about Jack – I will have
your letter – which says – when our belief gets
weak, the hero that we need comes – and you
spoke of Jack with Budha, Jove, Jesus
Apollo, Baldur and Arthur. That is where I
know he belongs – and with all the bitterness and
vengeance and strength left in me – that is how
I am going to make sure other people see him
before I die –
I never bridled at your using the word
“myth” – I just bridled when Max (my beloved
(Page 2)
Max) asked when Jack’s dedication started
- In 1955? He said – I know when it did –
so much earlier in a pain wracked childhood with a
bully for an older brother –
Anyway – we met – we talked – we left
each other – Tom Quinzberg’s book can wait –
I cant worry about that now. If he wants to do such
a book he should start to work on it in a most
thorough and beautiful way – and come to me in a
year or so when he has something – He knows that
I care and will always be receptive –
As for your book – please don’t ask me to
come and reminisce. That is so painful and I
cannot do it without a reason – If you ever decide –
or are on the verge of deciding to write your book,
(Page 3)
and hearing me talk about Jack would help – then
you must get in touch with me – I will do all I can
for you, and it won’t be pleasant for me –
I wish to leave you alone – I know the pain
of writing – I do not wish to urge you to do
anything. Sometimes I think in this bitter way
- what can books be – now that we don’t have Jack
anymore? It was HE that mattered – he was
so alive –
If you do write your book – just one thing
I would like to say to you – the two people you will
find who loved Hack the most and knew him the
(Page 4)
best are Bobby and me – You should decide
to write or not write your book soon – because
we cannot stay in the state that we are in now and
survive – we will have to build up walls of
protection for ourselves – and stop thinking about Jack
every minute of the day and night – or we wont
be able to do the dreary little tasks left to us –
bringing up our children etc – always with a sad
face –
But now I (I cannot speak for Bobby – whom
I love so much and who suffers so quietly) can speak
of Jack – it is my only pleasure – a way still to be
connected to him –
Maybe I will still be able to in 5 or 10 years –
but it wont be like now –
So the whole point of this endless incoherent
(Page 5)
letter is to tell you that I hope you decide
something soon – If you don’t – it doesn’t really
matter I suppose, as you can write about
John Kennedy without my deepest thoughts –
he belongs to everyone now – and if you decide
never to write – I will understand that –
But I hope you will decide to do something
soon – though I have the terrible feeling I
may not even like what you write – you will see him
through different eyes –
But I feel one thing so strongly – we must all
make the most awful effort – no matter what it
(Page 6)
costs us – for John Kennedy – because he
made that effort all his life for us – in a little
way it is me tonight writing you this letter – just
sitting at my desk with mail piled over my head –
and all I want to do is go to sleep – because that is
the most longed for time of day – when you are
unconscious – but you put it off 2 hours and answer
letters for and about Jack –
So if you loved Jack you must do that
too – and make people know that we are back
to the Stone Age now – but if they will just
believe in all that Jack believed in – they will
see some little ray of light before they die –
With my apologies – your querulous correspondent
now passes into silence – I promise – 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]Documents6613915.875031750123.495046990166793Letter0E-10Handwritten letter from Jacqueline Kennedy to John Steinbeck dated March 8, 1964. The letter is three pages, front and back. The body of the letter is written in black 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 reiterates her request for John Steinbeck to write a book about her husband. She describes the pain of reminiscing about her late husband and that "It was HE that mattered - he was so alive." She encourages Steinbeck to decide soon about whether or not he will write a book about President Kennedy because she and the rest of the Kennedy family will need to move on with their lives and "stop thinking about Jack every minute of the day and night." She states that she can speak of him now only because it is how she remains connected to him. 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, particularly through publications. In a touching and very personal conclusion she pleads with Steinbeck to make the effort on behalf of her husband: "But I feel one thing so strongly - we must all make the most awful effort - no matter what it costs us - for John Kennedy - because he made that effort all his life for us - in a little way it is me tonight writing you this letter - just sitting at my desk with mail piled over my head - and all I want to do is go to sleep - because that is the most longed for time of day - when you are unconscious - but you put it off 2 hours and answer letters for and about Jack. So if you loved Jack you must do that too - and make people know that we are back to the Stone Age now - but if they will just believe in all that Jack believed in - they will see some little ray of light before they die."LettersMemoirsMemoriesLetterheadAuthorKennedy, John F.Kennedy, JacquelineSteinbeck, JohnWashington, D.C.While 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