Kenneth tells of GS rankings in the government. He tells how even at the very top of GS-16, he made nearly the same pay as a GS-18. He described how theese were really "supergrades", as the regular grades only went up to GS-15.
When Kenneth arrived in Burma, the consul general, Glen Abby briefed him on conditions in the country. Burma was disturbed politically, and the Burmese were determined to drive the British out of their country. There were plots and people being shot…
Kenneth delivered the Taft lectures at the University of Cincinnati, and Margaret accompanied him. Cincinnati wanted Kenneth to join its department of philosophy, in which he would be its specialist on Oriental philosophy. The people there treated…
Kenneth called the Board of Economic Warefare and asked Gordon Bowles if they had a job for someone who was an expert on Thailand and Malaya. They answered, "Yes, and his name is Kenneth Landon."
Upon returning from his trip, Kenneth wanted to get his newly acquired hat blocked. He took it to his usual New York man, Lewis Saltz, and had him block the hat. Saltz made a large ordeal of the hat, displaying it for some time. Saltz took great…
While in Bangkok, Kenneth decided that he wanted to buy a fine watch. The Thai would have gladly given him a watch, however Kenneth wanted to buy one. The Thai took him to a jewelry store, showing him the finest watch in the store, stating that he…
After calling on the President, Kenneth said to Donovan that his three weeks were up, and he would be leaving. Donovan still needed him, so he called President Dennis of Earlham College, and Dennis gave Kenneth a leave of absence through that first…
Needing a new position since his had been eliminated, Kenneth stumbles upon the Psychological Strategy Board. After talking with Elmur Staats, Kenneth found himself a job overseeing the area from Afghanistan to Vietnam to Indonesia, although Staats…
Kenneth knew now that he was going to stay in Washington and began looking for a house for the family to move into. They rented at 2910 Brandywine St. in Washington and, later, bought 4711 Fulton Street in the fall of 1944. When the Landons made…
Kenneth tells of General Brute Krulak. General Krulak thought Kenneth went about fighing insurgency incorrectly, finding Marines being slaughtered needlessly. Kenneth also talks about General Krulak's professional desire to be head of the Marine…
General Brute Krulak found Kenneth to be going about the seminar in a way he didn't see fit. While Kenneth taught how to "rebuild the house", Krulak saw the house as on fire, and that the fire must be put out before they could start rebuilding--i.e.…
Such items as desks, chairs, rugs, and so on, were prescribed according to rank in the Department. "In the State, War, and Navy Building, which then became the State Department Building, the really posh offices for Assistant Secretaries and for…
The political adviser to General Lo Han, who was the warlord of southern China, was a man named Yuan Tser Quien. Kenneth talked to him for the most part, to find out what the Chinese really expected. Kenneth learned that a French political adviser to…
During the war, the head of the Free Thai movement in Thailand was known as "Ruth" to the OSS. The head of the police was known as "Betty." These were their codenames. There were agents from the Free Thai movement in Washington during much of the…
Kenneth started from scratch in building the center for South and Southeast Asian Studies at American University. He wanted it to be a top notch program, and brought in many high-quality professors to teach Sanskrit, Hindi, Thai, etc. There were…
The Secretary of State at that point was ill, so Undersecretary of State Edward Stettinius ran the Department. Kenneth tells how Stettinius once spoke at the same occasion as Margaret, the two of them having written books, and of how openly disgusted…
Kenneth tells of his encounter with Winnie Cobey. Winnie brought him a recipe book from a monastery in California. Included in this book was a far superior bread recipe, which he started to use. Kenneth's interest in cooking picked up as Margaret's…
Kenneth tells about his Easter Sunday at the Columbus church, his morning preparation and teaching, his sermon on the resurrection and its impact on the congregation. He commented how the church was willing to get him a car.
Kenneth continued working with Donovan in an unofficial way, though he was no longer with the OSS. He helped with the Free Thai movement and then he started drafting telegrams to Gen. Timmerman in Colombo. The response to the first of these came to…
Dr. Tsiang was of a very wealthy Chinese family in Java, and he took his new American wife back there with him. He had been in this country as a student, getting his Ph.D., and had stayed in America because of the Japanese invasion.
The State Department decided to hire Kenneth because they had no one who knew anything about Thailand, and Kenneth had told them there was going to be a lot more traffic of communication on Thailand. They decided they had better keep it in the…
After flying from Singapore then on to Djakarta, Kenneth tells of his encounter with General Ko Geng Hsui. At the time, the General was one of the most powerful men in the government under Lee Kuan Yew.
The Queen sent word around that she would like to come to dinner at the Landons' home. She named the night and the time, which was the royal prerogative. The Landons had the dinner catered there at 4711. The Queen got quite emotional when she heard…
Then Governor Tri gave a dinner in Kenneth's honor. The menu was in French, beautifully embossed. The menu didn't mean anything to Kenneth, and Governor Tri laughed at him. There were twenty-some courses, and after each one, Tri would ask Kenneth…