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Get Vendio Gallery - Now FREE! .copyright { color : #000000; font-size : 8pt; font-family : arial, helvetica, sans-serif; } .link { font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size:12px; underline; color:#000000; } HR { color: #000000; } .item_image{ } .description { font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #0000BF; font-weight: bold; font-size: 14pt; } .patternframe { background: url(http://imagehost.vendio.com/my/templates/Patterns/Paper/PaperMacheLightSteelBlue.jpg); border: 1px solid #15198C; padding: 20px 20px 20px 20px; } .stencilframe { background: url(http://imagehost.vendio.com/my/templates/Patterns/Paper/PaperMacheLightSteelBlue.jpg); } .stencil_bottom { background:url(http://imagehost.vendio.com/my/templates/Stencils/Corners/.samples/Photo%20Corners/bottom.gif) } .stencil_top { background:url(http://imagehost.vendio.com/my/templates/Stencils/Corners/.samples/Photo%20Corners/top.gif) } .stencil_left { background:url(http://imagehost.vendio.com/my/templates/Stencils/Corners/.samples/Photo%20Corners/left.gif) } .stencil_right { background:url(http://imagehost.vendio.com/my/templates/Stencils/Corners/.samples/Photo%20Corners/right.gif) } .main{ background: url(http://imagehost.vendio.com/my/templates/Patterns/Fabrics/demin_cloth_blue.jpg); border: 1px solid #B0E3FF; padding: 30px 30px 30px 30px; width: 100%; } .navlinks { background: #01A6FF; border: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-align : center; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; width: 100%; } .navlink { font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #000000; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12pt; } a:link.navlink, a:visited.navlink, a:active.navlink, a:hover.navlink { color:#000000; } .titledata { font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #FFFFFF; font-weight: bold; font-size: 24pt; filter: dropshadow(color=#000000, offx=2, offy=3); } .titlebox { border: #15198C solid 3px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 10px; text-align : center; } .descriptionbody { border: 1px solid #0000FF; padding: 15px 15px 15px 15px; background: #B0B0FF; width: 100%; } .standardheader { background: #0000BF; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; width: 100%; } .standardheadertd { font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #FFFFFF; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12pt; } .standardheaderlink{ color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 10; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } a:link.standardheaderlink, a:visited.standardheaderlink, a:active.standardheaderlink, a:hover.standardheaderlink { color: #FFFFFF; } .standardtext{ font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #FFFFFF; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14pt; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; width: 100%; } .custombox { border: 2px solid #5EB2BA; padding: 10px 10px 10px 10px; background: #01A6FF; width: 100%; } .customboxheader { font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #FFFFFF; font-weight: bold; font-size: 16pt; background: #3300CC; border: 1px solid #CCCCCC; padding: 10px 10px 10px 10px; } .customheader{ border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; width: 100%; } .customheadertd{ font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #3300CC; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12pt; } .customheaderlink{ color: #3300CC; font-size: 10; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } a:link.customheaderlink, a:visited.customheaderlink, a:active.customheaderlink, a:hover.customheaderlink { color: #3300CC; } .customtext { font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #000000; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12pt; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; width: 100%; } .customlink { color: #000000; text-decoration: underline; } a:link.customlink, a:visited.customlink, a:active.customlink, a:hover.customlink { color: #000000; } .customimagelink { border-color: #000000; } Payment | IMPORTANT: SIGNED HISTORIC KENNEDY/MacARTHUR 1962 VIETNAM MEETING Click to View Image Album Click to View Image Album Click to View Image Album Click to View Image Album THE PIECE OF HISTORY OFFERED IN THIS AUCTION CAME FROM THE MAN, WHO EVEN THOSE IN KENNEDY’S INNER CIRCLE, CONSIDERED THE PRESIDENT’S CLOSEST PERSONAL FRIEND, DAVE POWERS THIS SIGNED AND UNPUBLISHED COLOR PHOTOGRAPH IS OF THE HISTORIC 1962 OVAL OFFICE “VIETNAM MEETING”, (AS IT BECAME KNOWN TO HISTORY), BETWEEN DOUGLAS MacArthur AND PRESIDENT KENNEDY ACCORDING TO MR. POWERS, WHO I WAS PREVLEIDGED ENOUGH HAVE KNOWN, MacArthur SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THE PRESIDENT AND THE FEW CLOSEST TO KENNEDY, THOSE OF HIS “IRISH MAFIA” (See the photo of Mr. Powers talking with me while allowing me to sit in JFK’s rocking chair) **************************** The Kennedy/MacArthur meeting of 1962 was so important to the legacy of the Kennedy Presidency, that the photograph of it in which General Douglas MacArthur signed to the President was one of the pieces that Caroline Kennedy and the National Archives choose to take possession of in 2005 as the result of a law suit won by the United States Government and the Kennedy family to reclaim what it considered the most important pieces that Kennedy’s longtime secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, had kept since the death of the President. A surprising number of very valuable pieces were not reclaimed, but this one was - there had to be good reason. A Boston newspaper wrote of it in 2005. The article mentions some of the items that were recovered by the family and Government, specifically naming Kennedy’s autographed MacArthur photograph. (I’ve copied a portion of that article further down and have also provided a link to it) The Kennedy/MacArthur meeting of 1962 lasted over 2 hours, an unprecedented length of time for a meeting with the President. It would be one of the most important discussions Kennedy would ever have as Commander-in-Chief. Much of it concerned Vietnam and MacArthur’s warnings, some of which were remarkable. They made a major impact on the President. In the words of Kennedy top presidential aide, Kennedy O’Donnell, “…I could not drag them apart. The President later gave us a rundown of MacArthur’s remarks. He was extremely critical of the military advice that the President was getting from the Pentagon, blaming it on the military leadership of the previous ten years which he said had the wrong officers. ‘You were lucky to have that mistake happen in a place like Cuba, where the strategic cost was not too great,’ he said about the Bay of Pigs, and urged the President not to listen to advisors who favored a military buildup in Vietnam.” (More on JFK and Vietnam further below) Notice in this photo, rather than sitting in his rocking chair at the head of the table, as every other photograph shows Kennedy while meeting with others in that area of the Oval Office, the President of the United States is sitting in a chair pulled up right beside MacArthur in deference and respect to the man who not many years ago was the 5-STAR SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER OF THE PACIFIC while the Jack Kennedy was a Lt. JG. and PT boat skipper in the Pacific. Where Kennedy is sitting is a sincere, respectful gesture by the sitting President of the United States. I doubt other presidents would have been so respectful under any circumstances. Kennedy was such a different man in so many respects, in this photograph his “class” is beautifully captured. Not many had a bigger ego than Douglas MacArthur, but Kennedy’s impressions after the meeting were that he was pleasant, wise, helpful, sincere and a very good conversationalist. Kennedy greatly admired this man who had been awarded the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross 3 times, 5-Army Distinguished Service Medals, 7-Silver stars, 2-Purple Hearts and to many other military awards to list. To most, MacArthur probably was an arrogant and an unlikeable man with a massive ego. Kennedy found him anything but. In my opinion, whatever the General’s many faults were, we are awfully lucky we he had him during WWII. He was the right man at the right time in history. The great general, Douglas MacArthur, would pass away just over 2 years after this meeting – but he’ll never just fade away in American and military history. The President would always read up on biographical material about a special visitor before meeting him. While he was sitting with his brother Bobby and Dave Powers waiting for MacArthur to arrive that day, he was reading aloud a citation for a decoration given to the general in World War I. “Dave, how would you like this to be said about you?” the President said, and quoted from the citation: “On a field where courage was the rule, his courage was the dominant feature.” Bobby quickly spoke up and said, “I would love to have that said about me.” (I love the thought that Robert Kennedy would be very proud that "courage" will forever be a “dominant feature” when he is thought of or written about). President Kennedy was smart enough to listen to the warnings and strong advice MacArthur gave him about the current military leadership and more importantly about sending ground forces into South East Asia. Speaking of times ANY of Kennedy’s military advisors made recommendations to send ground troops to Viet Nam, General Maxwell Taylor, Kennedy’s hand-picked Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said that MacArthur's views made "a hell of an impression on the President . . . so that whenever he'd get this military advice from the Joint Chiefs or from me or anyone else, he'd say, 'Well, now, you gentlemen, you go back and convince General MacArthur, then I'll be convinced.' ". (Don’t you just love that answer – it had to abruptly end any discussion on the subject, resulting in a silence Kennedy must have relished!) Roger Hilsman, Kennedy's Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, the officer responsible for Vietnam, wrote in 1992; “I can testify that on numerous occasions President Kennedy told me that he was determined not to let Vietnam become an American war. He agreed to have Americans serve as advisers, and he also authorized American pilots training Vietnamese to fly T-28's to do the actual flying -- covertly -- in bombing missions inside South Vietnam. But he refused every suggestion to send American combat forces. Once, at that time, you reported in a small front-page box that some American major general was visiting Vietnam. The President called me at home and in decidedly purple language took me to task for letting an American general visit Vietnam. "Remember Laos," he said on this and other occasions; the United States, he said, must keep a low profile in Vietnam so we can negotiate its neutralization as we had in Laos. When he paused for breath, I pointed out that I had no authority to deny a general permission to visit Vietnam -- in fact, I had not even known about the trip. "Oh," said the President and slammed down the phone without even saying goodbye. That afternoon a National Security Action Memorandum came out saying that no officer of flag or general rank could visit Vietnam without the written permission of the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs. When Kennedy took office, Laos was the hot spot, and the departing President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, warned Kennedy he might have to fight there. If so, Eisenhower said, he would support the decision. Over the next few weeks Kennedy made several hawkish public statements. But after the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba, he changed his attitude. He told several people, including Richard Nixon, that since "the American people do not want to use troops to remove a Communist regime only 90 miles away, how can I ask them to use troops to remove one 9,000 miles away?" Shortly after the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy sent W. Averell Harriman to head the Geneva negotiations on Laos. Harriman was fond of saying that he got the instructions for six months of negotiations in a five-minute telephone conversation. "All these people want me to go for a military solution in Laos," Kennedy told Harriman, "but that is impossible. What I want you to do is find a political solution." When South Vietnam asked for more aid in 1961, Kennedy sent Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor and Walt W. Rostow to Vietnam to investigate. They recommended not only an increase in aid and advisers, but also 10,000 U.S. combat troops. Kennedy approved of the aid and advisers but refused to send troops. According to Roswell Gilpatric, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, even sending advisers was done reluctantly. President Kennedy is sometimes quoted as citing the so-called domino theory that if South Vietnam fell, the rest of Southeast Asia would follow. But the quote is taken out of context. It was in answer to a question not about troops or fighting but about why Kennedy continued to send Vietnam economic and military aid. Arthur Schlesinger Jr., in his book "Robert Kennedy and His Times," documents other episodes showing President Kennedy's determination not to let Vietnam become an American war. One was when Gen. Douglas MacArthur told him it would be foolish to fight again in Asia and that the problem should be solved at the diplomatic table. Later General Taylor said that MacArthur's views made "a hell of an impression on the President . . . so that whenever he'd get this military advice from the Joint Chiefs or from me or anyone else, he'd say, 'Well, now, you gentlemen, you go back and convince General MacArthur, then I'll be convinced.' " Referring to the recommendation that Taylor and Rostow made to send troops, Taylor said: "The last thing he [Kennedy] wanted was to put in our ground forces. . . . I don't recall anyone who was strongly against [the recommendation], except one man and that was the President." In a press conference in 1962, Kennedy said that sending combat troops would be "a basic change . . . which calls for a constitutional decision, [and] of course I would go to the Congress." Later in 1962 Kennedy ordered Defense Secretary Robert McNamara to start planning for the phased withdrawal of U.S. military personnel from Vietnam, but it was not until May 1963 that the Pentagon produced a plan. Before his tragic death in an airplane crash, John McNaughton, Assistant Secretary of Defense for international affairs, said he understood President Kennedy wanted to close out Vietnam by 1965, "whether it was in good shape or bad." The historical record, in sum, is clear: President Kennedy was determined not to let Vietnam become an American war -- that is, he was determined not to send U.S. combat troops (as opposed to advisers) to fight in Vietnam nor to bomb North Vietnam. This does not prove he would have withdrawn completely, including the 16,500 advisers. However, the record is clear that he had laid the groundwork for doing so. Shortly before his death, he took the first step by ordering the first 1,000 advisers home. THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES BY ONE WHO WAS THERE AND WOULD KNOW. MacARTHUR’S COUNSEL PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE COURSE THE PRESIDENT SET. Below; A PORTION OF THE ARTICLE IN THE BOSTON NEWSPAPER ABOUT WHAT WAS RECOVER IN 2005 INCLUDING JFK’S SIGNED MaARTHUR PHOTOGRAPH “Newly Discovered Kennedy artifacts revealed A Treasure Trove of JFK Memorabilia Unearthed BOSTON – Jul 13, 2005 / “…Many of the items, along with artifacts and documents recovered from an earlier legal settlement with the estate of a collector of Kennedy memorabilia, were displayed today at a press conference at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston…” “…Other recovered artifacts displayed today include 29 Esterbrook pens used by JFK to sign bills into law and a two-ounce bottle of Sheaffer blue-black ink, two gilden eagle wooden bookends, a photo of Kennedy and General Douglas MacArthur inscribed by MacArthur…” ALSO STATED IN THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE IS THAT AN EXTREMELY RARE FIRST PRINTING OF 23-YEAR OLD JOHN F. KENNEDY’S 1940 BOOK “WHY ENGLAND SLEPT” WAS AMONG THE ITEMS CHOOSEN TO BE TAKEN BACK BY THE KENNEDY LIBRARY / NATIONAL ARCHIVES. (It’s referred to as a first edition by the news writer) CONCERNING THAT BOOK, THE ARTICLE CONTINUES: “…Among the other items obtained was a hardbound, first-edition copy of Kennedy's first book, "Why England Slept," an elaboration of his senior thesis at Harvard on Great Britain's failure to prepare for war against Hitler in the 1930s…” A PHOTO OF THE RARE KENNEDY FIRST PRINTING RECOVERED IS SHOWN BEING HELD IN THE GLOVED HANDS OF A CURATOR, THE CAPTION READS: ”A rare first-edition copy of John F. Kennedy's first book, "Why England Slept," is shown at today's press conference at the John F. Kennedy Library. Kennedy wrote the book in 1940, based on his senior thesis at Harvard about England's failure to prepare for the threat posed by fascism in the 1930s. (Photo by Jack Coleman)” The link to read the entire article is http://www.capecodtoday.com/news195.htm you may have to hold down the control button “CTRL” while clicking on the link in order to make the article come up or you can copy and paste it. **ONE OF THOSE FEW, RARE FIRST PRINTING, WITH THE ORIGINAL DUST JACKET, IS NOW BEING OFFERED IN ANOTHER McCORMICK AUCTION** ******************* There were many remarkable things that the Kennedys and Government had no claim upon, a lot of fine pieces of history would have been lost forever had Mrs. Lincoln not saved them. There were also things she kept she shouldn’t have, taken while cataloging and preparing the president’s papers and personal items for the future JFK Library. She was devoted and loved “her President” and just couldn’t let go after Dallas. MANY pieces of much higher “money value” were not taken by the Government & Kennedy family. If the amount of money a particular item would sell for was the criteria used in choosing what to take back and what to leave, the choices would have been different. Some pieces reclaimed were chosen in the name of “national security”, some were personal items of the President’s that the Kennedy family wanted returned and some were chosen because they were historically significant during key moments in John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s life and presidency. They wanted the KENNEDY/MacARTHUR piece, passing up more “valuable pieces” because for a museum, presidential library, and family members the value of an item isn’t measured in money. To a museum or family member the value/importance of something is in what it represents historically and personally. This was chosen and thought so important historically because the two-hour meeting with MacArthur was a time of learning thus a significant moment in Kennedy’s presidency. The President’s future decisions on issues which concerned the counsel of his top military advisors bear that out. No better proof of that came less than two months later in mid October of 1962 when offensive missiles were discovered in Cuba. MacArthur took this young president, who fought for him in the South Pacific, “under his wing” and schooled him on the current military situation and its leaders. That’s why the president completely disregarded his schedule and stayed with MacArthur for over 2 hours, an unheard of amount of time for a presidential visit. The counsel and friendship from a man of MacArthur’s statue and the inside knowledge he offered that day was incredibly valuable to the 45 year old Commander-in Chief. Here sat one of the most brilliant military leaders the country had ever produced, who had spent most of his life in the top echelon of the US military, who knew how the military truly felt and worked around it's dealings with the elected civilian officials of the government, Kennedy knew he would never have an opportunity like this again. The president found himself befriended by a man who had shown nothing but distain for the civilian leadership of this country, especially presidents, yet here he was helping, teaching and in many ways confirming what JFK felt, that he couldn’t trust the military and other entities in the government. THIS IS REMARKABLE AND NOT GENERALLY KNOWN MacArthur told President Kennedy: There were people bent on destroying him, including “various tentacles in the intelligence community.” According to his very close presidential advisor, Ted Sorensen, MacArthur told the President, The chickens are coming home to roost, and you are in the chicken house – unbelievable statements to make to the president, but ones that turned out to be very true. General MacArthur’s days were dwindling down, he would die two years later, and he never expected to out-live the man who had pulled up the chair next to him. He was passing on “inside information” and “secrets” that someone like MacArthur would know. He was confiding in a president he liked and who he thought would be leading the nation through 6 more years of intense struggles during the height of the Cold-War. As the general had told him, he was lucky he had only listened to the “experts” during the Bay of Pigs disaster. With a man like Douglas MacArthur telling him he was right to distrust the military gave Kennedy the confidence in his own judgment and instincts, which is exactly what he would need when the “Cuban Missile Crisis” would soon threaten the world with nuclear war. It was this confidence and strength that Kennedy used to stand his ground during the crisis when the first thing every single man on the Joint Chiefs wanted to do was bomb Cuba as soon as possible. What about MacArthur’s warnings and advice to Kennedy on Vietnam? As you’ve read, this meeting was a turning point in the thinking of the president's about the depth of US involvement, or at the least bolstered his thoughts. He listened to MacArthur’s advice and used it to keep the other military leaders at bay while they continued and continued to insist on sending ground troops into Viet Nam. The Curtis LeMay’s may have thought Kennedy was just a little weakling, but when Kennedy could throw in their faces that a man like MacArthur agreed that getting deeply involved in Viet Nam by sending in ground troops was a huge mistake, it carried the weight Kennedy needed. Douglas MacArthur's visit with President Kennedy that day would have changed history. I, for one, am convinced things would have been much different in South East Asia had President Kennedy not been assassinated. Others may disagree and that’s fine. What I believe, with all of my heart and mind, is that more than just one man was shot dead in Dealey Plaza, November 22, 1963, the fate of each of the more than 58,000 Americans who were sent to die in Viet Nam, was sealed by that one dastardly act resulting in the death President John F. Kennedy. All of this is why the Kennedy Library/National Archives and Caroline Kennedy felt so strongly about recovering the President’s signed photograph of his meeting with General MacArthur on August 16, 1963 Here is the signed and dated color photograph of that historical meeting Douglas MacArthur gave the President’s closest personal friend and first curator of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, David Powers. Framed, using all museum conservation materials and UV protective glass, to an over-all size of 16”x 18” / the image with little to no color fading 8.5”x 6” - with bold signature & date on matt in black fountain pen. There will be other pieces acquired directly from Dave Powers offered in other McCormick Auctions this week *** CLICK ON VIEW SELLER S OTHER ITEMS ON THIS PAGE TO SEE A LISTING OF ALL AUCTIONS OFFERED. ALSO CLICK ON THE ME ICON, SHOWN ON EACH OF MY AUCTION PAGES, RIGHT NEXT TO MY SELLER NAME AND THE POWER SELLER ICON, TO SEE SOME INTERESTING INFORMATION ABOUT OUR HISTORICAL COLLECTION AND LOANS MADE TO PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES SUCH AS THE JOHN F KENNEDY LIBRARY & MUSEUM. SEE MY "ME" PAGE FOR PHOTOS AND INTERESTING INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS. Payment Back to Top I accept the following forms of payment: PayPal IMPORTANT: AUTHENTICITY Back to Top IMPORTANT - As far as the authenticity of autographed items sold here; if you know of my reputation, it is one as a very honest collector & seller. I have studied Kennedy family signatures and writing for over 30 years. This is one area you are going to get into the most trouble when trying to find something authentic in Internet auctions. You can keep up with latest autograph collecting news which is specifically to help collectors by going to my eBay ME page and clicking on my bottom Favorite Link . TO SEE LARGER PHOTOS Back to Top CLICK on each photo set it will enlarge them and give you a much better view of the actual item(s) you will be bidding on. Please ask questions if the description and photos don t tell you what you need to know. OTHER AUCTIONS OFFERED BY US: Back to Top Please click above on, ----"VIEW SELLER'S OTHER ITEMS"---- This will take you to my current auctions where you can view the other fine POLITICAL & HISTORICAL items I list on eBay all the time. SHIPPING COST Back to Top Shipping cost is ALWAYS priority shipping cost only, almost always $4.75 - there is NEVER a packing or handling fee of any kind. Insurance is always optional except for overseas shipping in which insurance is required. I cannot be held responsible for international shipping in which the country does not offer insurance or the buyer refused to purchase it. Every winning lot shipped is securely packed; however, the seller assumes no responsibility for items if insurance is waived. PLEASE NOTE: WE SHIP TWICE A WEEK. IF SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS ARE NEEDED PLEASE LET US KNOW. SELLER BID CANCELATIONS Back to Top PAYMENT MUST BE RECIEVED WITHIN 7 DAYS, unless other arrangements are agreed upon ahead of time. ANY BIDDER WITH NON-PAYING FEEDBACK MAY BE CANCELED & BLOCKED DEPENDING ON HOW RECENT AND OVERALL RECORD. I reserve the right to cancel the bids of those with negative feedback and bidders who have a history of retracting bids, thank you. FREE scheduling, supersized images and templates. Get Vendio Sales Manager.Make your listings stand out withFREE Vendio custom templates! FREE scheduling, supersized images and templates. Get Vendio Sales Manager. Over 100,000,000 served. Get FREE counters from Vendio today! Your browser does not support JavaScript. To view this page, enable JavaScript if it is disabled or upgrade your browser. Win more auctions at the last minute FREE. Learn how.
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