Lot 47

JFK Notes: His "Ask Not" Inaugural Foreshadowed & Drafted, Lincoln Evoked! Fantastic

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JFK Notes: His "Ask Not" Inaugural Foreshadowed & Drafted, Lincoln Evoked! Fantastic

Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000

Current Bid: $4,750

(11 Bids)

by University Archives
July 28, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Live Auction
88 Danbury Road
Suite 2A
Wilton, CT, US 06897

John F. Kennedy
[Palm Beach, FL], [January 4, 1961]
JFK Notes: His "Ask Not" Inaugural Foreshadowed & Drafted, Lincoln Evoked! Fantastic
AM

A manuscript draft statement written by President-elect John F. Kennedy to White House correspondent Merriman Smith (1913-1970). 1p of a Western Union Press Message telegram, measuring 8" x 10", [Palm Beach, FL], January 4, 1961. Penned by Kennedy (unsigned) in blue ballpoint on both sides of the page, which Smith had forwarded for approval in the lead-up to the latter's historic inauguration. Unsatisfied with the quote attributed to him, Kennedy has struck through the second paragraph and added his own statement below, totaling 72 words in his hand. Expected age toning and flattened folds, with minor handling creases throughout. Isolated stapling holes present in the upper left. Overall, near fine.

The President-elect starts with "The pomp and circumstances of the inaugural," but then strikes through that and begins anew: "As the word Inaugural suggests- This is a beginning with new administration- a new decade. The inaugural is about a break with the past. The new President stands in precisely the same spot as Lincoln one hundred years ago. He faced a dividing country- we face now a dividing world. Our survival now as then rests best with ourselves and the hands of God."

Together with a 1988 letter of provenance addressed to noted JFK collection Robert L. White by Evelyn Lincoln, Kennedy's personal secretary. In full:

"These handwritten notes, which you now have in your possession, were written by President-elect John F. Kennedy for Merriman Smith of the AP during a flight from Palm Beach, Florida to New York on January 4, 1960."
Lincoln had errantly written 1960 instead of 1961; a second letter has amended that mistake.

Kennedy's statement of January 4th introduced ideas and phrasings that he later refined in a 9-page inaugural speech draft written two weeks later, which is now housed at the JFK Memorial Library. The start of our offered statement, "As the word inaugural suggests…" was condensed and revised in the January 17th draft to read, "An inaugural is an end as well as a beginning." Another instance, related to the line in which he compares the new president to Abraham Lincoln, broadens the sentiment to include all former leaders: "Today I am linked with the 35 other Presidents, three of whom are with us today and stood in this same place."

Eager to make a lasting impression with his own inaugural address, Kennedy turned to Lincoln's second inaugural speech- long celebrated as one of the greatest in American history- as the benchmark he hoped to match. To accomplish this, he asked his speechwriter, Ted Sorensen, to tally the word counts of various presidential inaugurals, a select group that included Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Both men deeply admired Lincoln's oratory skills, with Kennedy regarding the Gettysburg Address as the ideal example of a short, memorable, and powerful speech. A comparison of Kennedy's Address with Lincoln's first Inaugural revealed a familiar line:

Lincoln: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war."

Kennedy: "In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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