Peter Lawford Oral History Interview – JFK#1, 02/23/1968 Administrative Information Creator: Peter Lawford Interviewer: John F. Stewart Date of Interview: February 23, 1968 Place of Interview: Los Angeles, CA Length: 36 pages Biographical Note Peter Lawford (1923-1984) was an actor and the brother-in-law of John F. Kennedy [JFK]. This interview focuses on personal anecdotes about Lawford’s relationships with JFK and the 1960 presidential campaign, among other topics. Access Open Usage Restrictions Copyright of these materials have 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. 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 The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form.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
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Peter Lawford Oral History Interview – JFK#1, 02/23/1968 Administrative Information
Creator: Peter Lawford Interviewer: John F. Stewart Date of Interview: February 23, 1968 Place of Interview: Los Angeles, CA Length: 36 pages Biographical Note Peter Lawford (1923-1984) was an actor and the brother-in-law of John F. Kennedy [JFK]. This interview focuses on personal anecdotes about Lawford’s relationships with JFK and the 1960 presidential campaign, among other topics. Access Open Usage Restrictions Copyright of these materials have 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. 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
Peter Lawford, recorded interview by John H. Stewart, February 23, 1968 (page number), John F. Kennedy Library Oral History Program.
Oral History Interview
Of
Peter Lawford Although a legal agreement was not signed during the lifetime of Peter Lawford, 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.
Peter Lawford– JFK #1
Table of Contents Page Topic 2 Meeting John F. Kennedy [JFK] after World War II 3 JFK’s interest in motion pictures 5 JFK’s career in Congress 7 Conversations about politics with the Kennedys 9 Joseph Kennedy Sr.’s influence on JFK 11 JFK’s 1956 vice presidential bid 14 Discussion about JFK running for president in 1960 15 JFK’s health issues 18 Work during the 1960 campaign 20 Celebrities contributions to the campaign 21 Relationship with JFK after the election 23 JFK’s sense of humor 24 JFK’s ability to relax 26 Visiting JFK in the White House 27 JFK’s close circle of friends 28 Being invited to dinner in the White House while shooting Advise and
Consent 30 JFK inviting the entire cast of Advise and Consent to lunch 31 JFK’s taste in films 32 Organizing the entertainment at the Inaugural Ball 34 Falling ill on the day of the inauguration 35 JFK’s interest in White House visitors
STEWART I
LAWPORDa
STBWAR'la
LAWFORD a
S'l'EWAM'a
,·
/ /
~-
oral History Interview
with
PB'l'ER LAWFORD
February 23, 1968 Loa Ang•lea, California
f' By Johnfi Stewllrt
For the John F. Kennedy Library
Why don't we begin by my asking· you if you
recall When yoa first met President Kennedy.
What were lhe circumstances and where?
Do you want to try a level here because I '•
soft, I ,apeat softly, but do you just want to
Yea, it's okay.
You said what? I'a sorry.
I Wlla asking if you recall when you first met
·President Kennedy and what your impressions of
him were?
I
' ; I I
I
i I , I
I
/
...
r
·I
T LAWFORD a
-2-
It was directly after the war and he was going
in and out of, I guess, R and R Irest and
recuperation] places, you know, as he still had
that, you know, the original injury. And I met
htm at Gary Cooper's house with . . . . It's
funny, I remember at the same time I met
[Charles B.] Chuek Spalding and his wife--they
were both in the service. Chuck and Betty.-
and he aaid, "How do you do,! and •sow do you
do", and he looked terribly, terribly thin, and
very sort of weak. He was very nie•, and it
was • • • It was nondescript there was
nothing. At that point it somebOdy had said,
•That's goint to be the President of the united
States,• you know, I • • . . Because I hadn't
sat and talked with the man r I never even got a
ellanee to.
And then after that through the years, I met
his sister [Mra. Patricia Kennedy Lawford],
I met Pat in • 49. We were
-3-
sort of thrown together here and there~~
different things. I got to know him, but I
didn't really get to know him until after I
was married/Which waa in '54. I shouldn't )
say that, it was probably a couple of years
before that we started having . . .
but ~ot the relationship we finallt wound up
having which was a marve lous one, and one
I'm very, very grateful for. We~ think had
hit it off, because he loved my business.
He love~ anything to do with the arts and with the
motion pictures, an~e was always terribly
interested in my business which never ceased
to amaze meo I mean, more than a passing, mo.~e
than a surface thing, which I think he got frG~
his fatherDbecause his father was involved in ::::;...--
the motion picture,business, as you know~~
I think that's probably where he got it. ~
he used to read Variety like I read variety ~ ~ A
{!./
\,.
,.
-4-
Not the daily Variety but the weekly. And he
knew what was going on.
For instance, one day after he was President,
I wae talking to him on the phone and he said,
"What did •oceans Eleven' do?", which is a picture
that we made, soon after 1960. He said, "How's
it doing?- ~ I sa!AJ·-· "Well, it's doing . • •
It's fir~t ttme around, it's been out two weeks."
He said, 11What about Enqland?" I said, "We
read (aqa1n in Varietr> I read a gross in
some town.• I was not aware of that gross,
ant! ~ aa14. "IJ.'ha~ wae • t •• atrong •• 1 t waa in
Boston.• ror instance, you knowt that kind ot
interest. Bow perhaps he didn't know the
grossesr be was interested 1n that particular
picture because t was involved in it. But he
did have a tremendous grapp of my business 1\.._
especially, which tmpressed ~ which impressed
STEWJ\R'l'r
LAWFORD a
STEWART&
LAWFORBI
-5-
every actor he came in contact with. And the fyJ-1]
same thing applies to painters, or Frost, you
know,pe,ple like that~he just admired.
Well, were you, you weren't married to his
sister but you knew him during the 1952 cam-
paign when he ran for the Senate• Do you re-
call that at all?
Yes, but I was not involved in that campaign .
You know, I didn't work in tha~ ~ J.n
'60 is where 1 did moat of my little contri-
butions in '60
noyou recall a~hing about his attitude toward
his work in~ongreaa er his career in Congress \ -Z H:1"
and then in the Senate, ~t would've been in
the senat•eby the time you got to know him
was he always totally serious about his wor~?
Completely involved at all times and loved itt If
and never, never questioned ~h, I've got11 to ·
~ ~ . go)'and so and so ,'and that /1 ~ot to be t~er~- \'" '·
~L _,..........._ <t;_-yt~'--<- G \
because they're calling}~ !--tbtnk. His tnte.reat
\ I • .
I I I I
-6-
~ !nother marvelous thing about h~, to depart a -
STEWART a
LAWFORD a
LAWI'ORBa
STEWART a
minute from what you are saying5l\ ~ere's a
projection wf what you're saying. His interest
in everything was just, you know, to watch it
was something incredible . And, of course, they
all have that, the whole family.
It's often been said, for example, that his . '
attitude about his career changed quite
drastically after he was martied. Well, he
was married when you • in '53, '54.
He was married just before me.
So you really didn't know htm before that. ·
~· not well. And I didn't go, I
to the wedding, because I didn't
that well.
wasn't asked
know him
When you first got to know htm well which
~ wouldo've been after 1964, was there always
a general, qood discussion of politics when ~-{
you saw him,for example, ~ the home in
HYannis Port or whereever it was?
">... ·.····
LAWFORD a
-7-
Well, it was constant, you know, even before
I was married. Dinner, Lunch was always taken
up with ~ ~ot only natiDnal but inter-. A1]11-~c.S
national~S5~ !timulating, marvelous ~
dinners and lunches, you know, and/one of the
things I got out of being involved with that
whole scene was it made me--even though before
being involved ...--- ____....,
with th e Kenned~s or with interested in what was happening to