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Scene one, take 1. 24 79. Senator Smathers. How do you do? Ladies and gentlemen, I have had many guests on these programs over the years, but I can frankly say that I have never experience more pleasure. Nor have I ever been more proud to have a guest on the program than I am today to have this particular guest a very lovely lady and a dear friend, the former personal secretary of the late President John F.

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Kennedy. And I speak of Miss Evelyn Lincoln. Thank you, Senator Evelyn. We're delighted to have you here and tell us now everyone has begun to get very much interested in this book that you're writing. Would you tell us what the name of it is and whether you've completed it or not?

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Yes, I have. It's called my 12 years with John F. Kennedy and publication date was August the 30th. Now what? The Saturday Evening Post, is it not? Is serializing it now? They had to articles. Yes, they did. Now, as an office, Do you like for people to read it in the poster?

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Do you want them to wait and buy the book well of course. You know, and, uh, very interested in either one of them. I'm really pleased because that makes me think that they liked what I wrote. Well, Evan, let me just say this. I've read a number of these cereals which have been written by some of the friends of former friends of John F.

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Kennedy. And I must say that yours, to me, is more accurately depicts him as I knew him than any that I have read. And of course you were with him. I think longer. When did you first start working for John F. Kennedy? I went to work with him in January 3rd, 1953 when he was elected to the United States.

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The Senate after he had defeated Henry Cabot Lodge. Now, would you tell that for my information? When did you first meet me? If you can remember that, I I know when I first saw you, but do you remember when we first met? Well, I'm sure I must have met you before, but the one thing that stands out in my mind was at the wedding September 12th, 1953 when you were one of the ushers at the wedding.

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I well remember when you and I were working for the then Senator Kennedy around on the same floor, and I used to go into that office and it seemed like to me, rather chaotic, except for the good calm advice that you were handing out. And as a matter of fact, the then Senator Kennedy used to say to me, Whenever you need to get hold of me, I want anything really called Evelyn.

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Well, you remember those days? Yes, I do as a well. Naturally, you had. You could walk right in any time in his office. He was always delighted to see you. Ah, tell us a little bit about your impressions of John F. Kennedy as a man, as an individual who had a lot of decisions, difficult decisions to make.

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What did you feel about him? Was he a strong man? Or was he? How do you feel about oh? He was tremendously strong. And the thing that I liked about him was that he was interested in the individual, and he sincerely, honestly wanted to help everyone.

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Not just one class or one group are It was the individual and the way he went about it. He wanted to do a perfect job. In other words. And that's why he was such a difficult task. Master was because he wanted to do the thing right.

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And he wanted people around him that could give him the same kind of attention that he gave to the problem. Evelyn, when did On what occasions did you see him? When it appeared to you that he was most seriously concerned. What was the first big case after he became president?

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Well, of course, the Cuban crisis was a tremendous, uh, problem to him. And then another one that I think hurt him the most was doing a little Patrick struggle to live. I think that one thing shook him more than anything else. Did you ever get the impression from him at any time that he was That he was indecisive about what he should do in the Bay of Pigs?

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Uh, occasion? No, he never was indecisive. Uh, if something. I mean, if there was a problem, uh, and that problem was finished. He went on to the next problem. He took each problem as they came, and he did his very best with each one of them.

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He was never indecisive. Evelyn, I know you were the closest friend and confident he had in many, many of these very difficult periods. Did you make notes at that time? Of the things that he would say? What? He asked you to write down some of the thinking that he had.

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How did it happen? That, for example, in your book, you've got certain little instances that you remember. How did you remember these so well? Well, I kept a little diary and also little notes. And then many times, he would come back from a meeting or seeing someone, and he would dictate maybe a paragraph and he'd say, Put that way in the files.

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And, you know, one time he came across one of my diaries and he read it. He said, Mrs Lincoln, And are you going to write a book about me? I said, No, Mr. President, just saving those for you. You want to write your memoirs? Do you recall when you made the trip with the president, who I'm sure you do to Vienna, was it not to meet crucial?

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That's right. Would you tell us about that? And what your impressions were of that trip. Well, I had the good fortune of shaking hands, and Mr Khrushchev and I will say everything that they said about him standing just like a rock. He did. And the president was a little disturbed when he left when we left Vienna and went over to London to Meat was when he did when he was going to meet with McMillan and then coming home on the plane or I was a little ironical.

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He asked me to come in and clean off his desk and on the floor was a little slow, a slip of paper. I always kept all these little slips of paper. When I got back to my seat, I looked at it, and on this little paper it said, I see a storm coming.

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I know there is a God and it If he has a place for me, I believe that I am ready. But you know that he used so many times since so many speeches, but just that instance, it seemed a little strange. Now you were the one to whom he dictated practically all of his personal ideas and particularly ideas for speeches were you not?

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Yes, he used to dictate a draft of what he would like to have in the speech, and then he'd go over it and then he'd give somebody else to. Did he have many speechwriters? Help him in his later years? Or did he do most of you speechwriting himself?

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Well, he did have quite a few speechwriters. And he would ask. Several men, too, make drafts of speeches. But the ideas that went into the speeches were his right. Evelyn. I used to be privileged to see from time to time some of the president's a little notes.

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I never could read them, I think, on a couple of kids and went to you and said, Evan, what does this say? How did you ever learn how to read that? I'll tell you, it wasn't easy. It's really was. I'll tell you a funny little incident.

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During the time that little Patrick was struggling to live, he called me to his room and he said, Do you have some paper and do you have a check? And I suggest so he took it and he went in the room and he came back and he said, would you see, the Secret Service hand delivers this letter, and so I didn't look who was it was addressed to.

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And and about two weeks later, the bank called me and they said, uh, there's a check here. I don't believe the president has signed. And I said, To whom is it made out? And they said, Oh, to the O'Leary fund. And then I happened to think maybe that was the check that he wrote, because there had been a young policeman up there in Boston who had been killed and they were raising money for the family.

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And there was a bank saying he'd written up this check and they couldn't make any signature. Evelyn just got a few minutes. Now, let me ask you this. Do you think the president had ever had any premonition of something? The nature that happened to him would happen to him?

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No, he had no fear of anything. In fact, when I told him that my husband was worried about him going to Texas, he said, If they're going to get me, they'll get me in church, get you in church. Now let me ask you one other question and then We'll have to stop, I regret to say.

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What about his physical condition? Did it improve and did his Uh huh. Estimation of the presidency. Did he get more confident as he went along? Yes, he did. In the last six months, he was in the best health he'd ever been, and he was confident he knew what he was going to do.

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Well, thank you very much evident, Lincoln. And we certainly wish the very best success for your wonderful book. I know it'll be accurate and warm and human as it's bound to be. Thank you for being with us in a pleasure to be with you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for looking.

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And I hope you're looking again at the same time next week.