John F. Kennedy Handwritten Speech Sells for $10,408 at NateDSanders.com Auctions
To auction, buy or sell a John F. Kennedy handwritten speech signed or unsigned or John F. Kennedy handwritten notes signed or unsigned, please contact NateDSanders.com at (310) 440-2982 or [email protected].
John F. Kennedy Handwritten Speech
John F. Kennedy handwritten speech documents and handwritten notes started coming onto the autograph market in the 1980’s from collector/ dealer Robert L. White of Baltimore, Maryland who was obtaining them directly from John F. Kennedy White House secretary, Evelyn Lincoln. Both have now passed away. Because of the solid provenance, there was never any authenticity worries. They originally sold for hundreds of dollars and were quite plentiful but over the decades, a John F. Kennedy handwritten speech has become rare and valuable, as the supply has dried up, and now most must be in private collections. Now, they should be worth well into the five figures. Here is an example of a John F. Kennedy handwritten speech unsigned that we at NateDSanders.com Auctions sold for $10,408:
On 30 April 1957, a special five-man Senate committee headed by 38 year-old freshmen Senator John Kennedy chose five “outstanding” senators of the past after almost two years of study. The committee names John Calhoun, Henry Clay, Robert LaFollette, Robert Taft and Daniel Webster. Pictures of these exceptional senators would eventually be placed in a Senate reception area. On March 12, 1959, the unveiling of the portraits took place. This lot contains a colossal amount of handwritten notations on 29 pages from Kennedy for the speech or for notes regarding the five outstanding senators. At the 1959 unveiling ceremony, Kennedy reminded his audience that these long-dead senators were controversial figures in their day. Their own colleagues might not have been as quick as later generations to induct them into a senatorial hall of fame. Kennedy reported that one contemporary said of Henry Clay, “He is a bad man, an imposter, a creator of wicked schemes.” Who made those remarks? None other than Clay’s fellow honoree, John C. Calhoun. Enjoying the audience’s appreciative laughter, Kennedy continued, “On the other hand, who was it who said that Calhoun was a rigid fanatic, ambitious, selfishly partisan and a sectional …turncoat,’ with …too much genius and too little common sense,’ who would either die a traitor or a madman? Henry Clay, of course.” Kennedy then concluded his joking references to the Great Triumvirate with the help of a quote by John Quincy Adams, who viewed with alarm “the gigantic intellect, the envious temper, the ravenous ambition, and the rotten heart of Daniel Webster.” When Senator Kennedy announced his committee’s selections, he expressed frustration over the exclusion from the list of his three personal favorites. If the decision had been entirely up to him, he told his audience, the Senate Reception Room would include Webster, Taft, and Norris, along with Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut and Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri. As an outlet for the frustration of passing over these and other strong candidates, the committee included in its final report the names of fifteen other senators. “Perhaps some future committee of the Senate, meeting at some future date, will find occasion to honor additional names.” These 29 pages have thousands of words in Kennedy’s hand, mostly illegible to the common eye, but worthy of further deciphering from a Kennedy handwriting expert. Also included are two original Government printed booklets regarding detailing of the unveiling, and a typed letter from another Senator to Kennedy dated just days before the unveiling about the Proceedings booklet mentioned above. Sold for $10,408.
To auction, buy or sell a John F. Kennedy handwritten speech signed or unsigned or John F. Kennedy handwritten notes signed or unsigned, please contact NateDSanders.com at (310) 440-2982 or [email protected].