David F. Powers Oral History Interview – RFK#1, 04/03/69 Administrative Information Creator: David F. Powers Interviewer: Larry J. Hackman Date of Interview: April 3, 1969 Place of Interview: Waltham, Massachusetts Length: 22 pages Biographical Note Kennedy friend and associate; Special Assistant to the President (1961-1963). In this interview, Powers discusses Robert F. Kennedy’s involvement in John F. Kennedy’s (JFK) campaigns for senate and president and the aftermath of JFK’s assassination, among other issues. Access Open Usage Restrictions According to the deed of gift signed June 22, 1989, copyright of these materials has been assigned to the United States Government. Users of these materials are advised to determine the copyright status of any document from which they wish to publish. Copyright The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excesses of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form. Direct your questions concerning copyright to the reference staff. Transcript of Oral History Interview These electronic documents were created from transcripts available in the research room of the John F. Kennedy Library. The transcripts were scanned using optical character recognition and the resulting text files were proofread against the original transcripts. Some formatting changes were made. Page numbers are noted where they would have occurred at the bottoms of the pages of the original transcripts. If researchers have any concerns about accuracy, they are encouraged to visit the Library and consult the transcripts and the interview recordings. Suggested Citation David F. Powers, recorded interview by Larry J. Hackman, April 3, 1969, (page number), Robert F. Kennedy Oral History Program of the John F. Kennedy Library. NATIONAL ARCHIVES ANO RECORDS ADMINlSTHA'l'ION JOHN f , KENNEDY LIBRARY Legal Agreement Pertaining co t he Oral History Interview of David f . Powers In accordance with the provisions of Chapter 21 of Title 44, United States Code, and subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth, r, David f . Powers of Arlington, Massachusetts, do hereby give, donate and convey to che Uniced States of America all my rights, title, and interest in ~he transcript and tape recording of a personal interview conducted on April 3 , 1969 at Waltham , Massachusetts, and prepared for deposit in the John F. Kennedy Library. This assignment is subject to the following terms and conditions: (1) The transcript shall bo available to researchers a£ter review by regular employees ot the National Archives and Records Administration. During such review, portions of th~ transcript containing information potencially embarrassing to living persons shall be segregated and restricted from public access until such time as the Director determines that, because of the passage of time or other circumstances, the reason for the restrictior1 no longer exis~s . (2) The tape recording shall be available to those researchers who have access to the transcript; however, access to the tape recording shall be for background use only, and researchers may not cite, paraphrase, or quote therefrom. (3) l hereby assign co the United States Government all copyri ght I may have in the interview transcript and tape . (4) Copies of the transcript and tape recording may be provided by the Library to researchers upon request . (5) Copies of the transcript and tape recording may be deposited in or loaned to i nsc1cutions other than the John F. Kennedy Library. 'Donor~ ~1?~ ~ /tf) /ff$f Pat<' c ?>.-~~(,:_ Archivist of the United States . ~ . Date NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY Addendum to the Legal Agreement Pertaining to the Oral History Interview of Dave Powers Interviewed by: Larry J. Hackman I, David J. Powers hereby remove the restrictions on the use of the tape that states "The tape recording shall be available to those researchers who have access to the transcript; however, access to the tape recording shall be for background use only, and researchers may not cite, paraphrase or quote therefrom" of the personal interview conducted with David F. Powers on April 3, 1969 currently at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. _)')~f! . ~ Donor t9- ~~~~ Dated Director for Presidential Libraries David F. Powers – RFK#1 Table of Contents Page Topic 1 First meeting and early friendship with Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) 3 John F. Kennedy’s (JFK) political endeavors 4, 12, 15 RFK’s demeanor 6, 16 How RFK came to be JFK’s campaign manager and the transition into the role of Attorney General 10 Relationship between RFK and JFK 12 Aftermath of JFK’s death 19 How the 1956 campaign affected RFK and JFK Oral History Interview with DAVID F. POWERS April 3, 1969 Waltham, Massachusetts By Larry J. Hackman For the Robert F. Kennedy Oral History Program of the Kennedy Library . • HACKMAN: Mr. Powers, why don't you just start off by telling me when you first met Robert Kennedy and what you can remember about him in those early days. POWERS: In the early days? Thank you, Larry, I will. The first time I met him was in the spring of 1946. His brother, that I always called Jack until he was elected President and then it' became Mr. President, was running for a vacant seat in Congress in my district, the Eleventh District, and I was scheduled to introduce Jack to a workers' meeting at the Knights of Columbus hall in Charlestown. And when the car drove up, there was this young, handsome fellow in a sailor suit. And, as it turned out, Jack hurriedly introduced me to Bobby, and then I introduced the candidate and Bobby to this group. We did not have any words that time. A week later, I went went back to the Hotel Bellevue. This would be now later April or early May of 1946. And the big thing we worked in the '46 campaign, Larry, was house parties. And we hit as many as six or seven on the same evening, and I had scheduled him for seven that night in Charlestown. And so while he was changing his clothes and getting ready to go, Bobby was in the side room--it was a two room apartment­ -and he said, "Dave, how do you think Jack will do in Charlestown?'' _And I said, "You know, Bobby, iri Charlestown they admire a guy with courage." And it was amazing then, as I think back, Bobby said, "Jack has more courage than anyone I ever met." And then later, Bobby displayed the same kind of courage. I think that they both .•.. I think - that courage was the virtue that Bobby and Jack most admired in a person, and not 11ecessarily the type of courage that we think of: an astronaut in space or a marine in a foxhole or 2 an athlete in a sports arena; but they admired people that had the - courage to stand up and be counted. And I know that Bobby deeply believed that one man could make a difference and he felt that every man should try. So when he talked about courage and why I said that our town admired people wih courage. • Charlestown, it was a three-decker neighborhood, you know, the tenements, and it's right on the waterf ront--we have the navy yard there and all the piers--and the men work off the waterfront. They work hard, drink hard, and fight hard, but, you know, they're God-fearing men. And I think that in 1946 that the courage that Jack Kennedy had displayed when his boat was cut in half by a Jap destroyer sold them on him more than any other one thing. That 1946 was a great, great year for the veteran. Well, the next time I heard from him it turned out that he had gone into Cambridge. He volunteered for the place where Jack Kennedy was least known, or at least it was the place where our number one opponent was the strongest. The candidate from Cambridge was Michael Neville, and he had been mayor of Cambridge and a member of the legislature, and all of your pros were already with him. And it was strange, you know, Bobby could have worked in Charlestown with me or he could have worked in Somerville where LTimothy J., Jr.] Ted Reardon was working, but he wanted to go to Cambridge where he thought it would be the toughest. He volunteered for that area and he was assigned it. From time to time he'd call and want to know what we were doing. And when I told him that I thought •••• Ever read a book called--a little brochure called Survival? Well, it was our number one piece of literature. From that [Robert J.] Bob Donovan got the idea for PT 109. Way back in 1944, John Hersey wrote a story about PT 109 and what happened to Jack Kennedy that night, and we were making sure that every veteran in the district received one.