Robert J. Donovan Oral History Interview, 06/08/1983 Administrative Information Creator: Robert J. Donovan Interviewer: Sheldon Stern Date of Interview: June 8, 1983 Place of Interview: Falls Church Virginia Length: 66 pages Biographical Note Donovan (1912-2003) was a journalist, including a Washington bureau chief for the New York Herald Tribune, and was the author of the 1961 bestseller, PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War Two. In this interview, he discusses the process of writing his book, the casting of the PT 109 film, and his memory of the assassination, among other issues. Access Open. Usage Restrictions Copyright of these materials has passed to the United States Government upon the death of the interviewee. Users of these materials are advised to determine the copyright status of any document from which they wish to publish. 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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 Robert J. Donovan, recorded interview by Sheldon Stern, June 8, 1983, (page number), John F. Kennedy Library Oral History Program. Oral History Interview Of Robert J. Donovan Although a legal agreement was not signed during the lifetime of Robert J. Donovan, upon his death, ownership of the recording and transcript of his interview for the Oral History Program passed to the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library. The following terms and conditions apply: 1. The transcript is available for use by researchers. 2. The tape recording shall be made available to those researchers who have access to the transcript. 3; Copyright to the interview transcript and tape is assigned to the United States Government. 4. Copies of the transcript and the tape recording may be provided by the Library to researchers upon request for a fee. 5. Copies of the transcript and tape recording may be deposited in or loaned to institutions other than the John F. Kennedy Library. Robert J. Donovan Table of Contents Page Topic 1 Meeting John F. Kennedy [JFK] for the first time 2, 11 Coverage of the 1960 presidential campaign 7 Comparing press coverage of JFK and Richard Nixon 10 Issues with religion during campaign 12 Donovan’s reaction on election night 13 Coverage of the Democratic National Convention 15 Visiting JFK after the election 16 JFK’s appointment of Robert F. Kennedy as attorney general 17 Researching for his book, PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War Two 26 Reactions to the first draft 32 Casting and filming the movie, PT 109 37 Reactions to Joan and Clay Blair’s book, Search for JFK 41 JFK’s reaction to the movie, PT 109 43 JFK cancels his subscription to the New York Herald Tribune 47 Issues with reporting confidential news 53 The rise of television and its effect on journalism and politics 57 Relationship with Robert Kennedy 59 Remembering the day of the assassination 64 President Kennedy’s legacy Oral History Interview with Robert J. Donovan June 8, 1983 Falls Church, Virginia By Sheldon Stern For the John F. Kennedy Library STERN: Uh, why don't we begin with your earliest contacts with JFK [John F. Kennedy]. When did you first meet him? When he was in Congress presumably? DONOVAN: Well, I only, you see, I saw President Kennedy when he was in the House of Representatives, but mostly—that's where I met him—but mostly at things like White House correspondents' dinners and so forth. I began to know him, personally, when he was a senator and getting under the presidential picture, and then I used to go to see him and travel some with him. And then, of course, when he was president [laughter], every day. STERN: Right. Did you, were you with the '56 convention [Democratic National Convention] when he almost.... DONOVAN: No. I was not. I was not at the '56 convention. STERN: When did it become clear to you in the fifties that he was running for president, I mean talking about the, before he announced… DONOVAN: Well, from talk and speculation around Washington. And there were so many pictures, early on, photographs, of [-1-] him and Jackie [Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy] going around the country and meeting people. That's what I mostly remember. STERN: Yeah. And what about some of those major high points in his senate career, did you have any, for example his speech on Algeria and that sort of thing. Did you cover any of those things? DONOVAN: No. I was covering the White House then. STERN: Just the White House then. Okay, uh, well, let's, why don't we get up to the point where he announced for the presidency… DONOVAN: Yeah. I was there that day. STERN: ...that was 1960, if you want to talk about your reaction to that, maybe any anecdotes that you might have? DONOVAN: No. Except that it was, it was a fine performance. Uh, it was a very convincing performance and what I remembered about it, most people didn't take Kennedy very seriously early on. It just seemed unlikely and, uh, this man had so, such self confidence and so much particular authority about his plans, his campaign, that you knew that, uh, he thought very seriously that he was going to be the nominee of that party. STERN: Did you think he would be at that point? DONOVAN: I can't remember. But I know that as I used to go to see him after that and he would sit in his, in a rocking chair in his office, he used to tell me why he [-2-] was going to get the nomination. And he must have told that to everybody. He would not have told it to me personally. And, I think, in those days it was a strategy of his to try and convince people that he was a serious candidate. I can't remember exactly what he would say, but he would show why he would be strong in the primaries and, uh, his organization, and, uh, the, uh, uh, the different states that he had a chance of carrying. I don't recall his stressing so much the Catholic vote in those, in those speeches to me. I suppose he did. The best campaign, one of the greatest performances I ever saw President Kennedy make was before the Houston Ministerial Association. STERN: Right. Okay. We'll get to that. What about some of the people who were working with him, people like Ted Sorensen [Theodore C. Sorensen], did you have any contact with them, and, uh.... DONOVAN: In those early days, not so much, mostly Pierre [Pierre E. G. Salinger]. It wasn't all that difficult to get to see the president then, to see Senator Kennedy. He was always accessible to the press and, so I didn't have to go through a lot of rigmarole. In fact you could often call him up. His personal secretary arranged to see you. Uh, sometimes I used to go up with Fletcher Knebel, an old friend of mine, an old colleague. And I remember one of those days, Fletcher suddenly brought up the question of Addison's disease. And, in fact, I wasn't on to this Addison's disease business and, on the basis of what the president told us, Knebel wrote, I think, a [-3-] very good story on it. I held back. I was reluctant to put that story in the Herald Tribune [New York Herald Tribune], just on the basis of that interview. I didn't know enough about Addison's disease and, to do it wrong would put a lot of mischief in the campaign and, so I never had the occasion to and I probably should have. I didn't write a story about Addison's disease. But it soon became such a common piece of discussion. STERN: This question of access to him. Many journalists have talked about that, the fact that he was very accessible. Uh, did you ever feel that, because he was so accessible, that in some ways he might be, uh, manipulating you? DONOVAN: Well, anyone who had been around the town for as long as I had would know, would understand that possibility. Uh, in other words—let me back up a little bit—I once did a book on Eisenhower [Dwight David Eisenhower].