2500301
[Lyndon B. Johnson]
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Extremely rare letter in which Johnson, as Vice President, declines an invitation
for the evening of President John F. Kennedy’s first day in Texas,
where Kennedy would be assassinated the next day
[Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1908–1973.] 36th President of the United States, 1963–1969. Typed Letter signed with Autopen, Lyndon B. Johnson, one page, 7” x 9”, on stationery of The Vice President, Washington, [D.C.], November 19, 1963.
This is an extremely rare find. It is only the second Johnson letter as Vice President that we have seen in which Johnson mentioned President John F. Kennedy’s trip to Texas, where he would be assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963. We sold the other one, a chillingly prescient letter in which Johnson predicted that Dallas would be on Kennedy’s itinerary, for $14,900. Click here to see that letter, which Johnson genuinely signed.
In this letter, Vice President Johnson declines an invitation to be in New York on November 21, 1963, the day Kennedy began his fatal trip to Texas. Writing to a friend in New York, Johnson explains: “I appreciate your thoughtful invitation to be with you Thursday night, but that is the date of the President’s visit in Texas. It will be my privilege to be with him there.” He adds congratulations “for the citation you are to receive.”
When Johnson wrote this letter, however, he was already in Texas. His diary for that day shows that he was staying at the LBJ Ranch and had been there for a few days. Consequently, this letter from his office in Washington bears his Autopen signature. It nevertheless conveys his thoughts and message.
Kennedy began what would have been a two-day, five-city trip to Texas on November 21. Accompanied by Johnson and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, he went to San Antonio, Houston, and ultimately Fort Worth that day. We currently have for sale the last color photograph of Kennedy, with Jacqueline, on the airport tarmac before he left Washington, D.C., for San Antonio. Click here to see that listing.
Our research shows that Alfred M. Kunze, to whom Johnson wrote this letter, was at one time the Governor of New Rochelle, New York, Lodge # 906 of the Loyal Order of Moose, a fraternal and service organization founded in 1888. The address on this letter, Post Office Box 315 in New Rochelle, is the address on a 1947 letter that we found by Kunze on Moose stationery. Kunze may, then, have continued to hold the office when he invited Johnson to New York. Our research has not disclosed what honor Kunze was to receive.
This letter is in good condition. It has three horizontal folds and flattened creases at the corners, and there is some staining and overall handing. One circular stain affects parts of two lines of the typed text.
The rarity of this letter cannot be overstated. It would, of course, be worth much more had Johnson signed it himself. Even with the Autopen signature, though, it is an important relic of the time leading up to the Kennedy assassination. As such, it belongs in any fine Johnson, Kennedy, or Kennedy assassination collection, and collectors should be careful not to let it pass by.
Unframed.
Click here to see other Johnson and presidential autographs.
