Kenneth recalls his time in Wilkesboro visiting with Uncle Henry and several of his cousins. Henry was a Colonel and Kenneth enjoyed going around with him because people were friendly and respected him.
When World War II broke out, Kenneth had photographs of both sides of the peninsula all the way up to Burma, and also on the islands in the Gulf of Siam [and the Andaman Sea on the west side]. He had maps. And he had a ten-year file of Siamese…
The Landons had returned to Chicago and Kenneth was out one night, speaking at a church. He was on his way back when he ran onto a middle-aged lady and began talking with her. The two were well into the conversation when they suddenly realized that…
Brad dropped dead while shopping at a store, at the age of eighty four. His funeral was held in Meadville, with no Presbyterians invited, but many of the old girls from his Bible class came. Kenneth and Margaret's attire at the funeral drew a lot of…
Kenneth ran the area studies program from 1963 through 1965. He completely reorganized the program, as many found it to be quite insufficient and superficial. Kenneth modeled it along the lines of serious area studies programs he found in various…
Kenneth had been ignoring Dean Rusk's attempts to meet with him, but Rusk eventually decided to just appoint Kenneth to the Foreign Service Institute. Kenneth was already making a larger salary than the Director, whom he was to be Special Assistant…
Kenneth describes the structure of the Foreign Service Institute. He explains how he might be a dean of one program, yet overall how he was an associate dean.
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…
Upon switching full time to American University, Kenneth retired from government service at the end of 1965. Dean Rusk hosted the reception for him, and awarded Kenneth a medal for his years of service.
At the State Department, Kenneth's official title was International Relations Officer, Southeast Asian Affairs. He worked chiefly with Thailand to begin with. Then for a time he also handled Indonesia. The State brought someone in to be the Chief and…
Kenneth tells of his time in Washington working for the government on Foreign Affairs. He recalls a co-worker set to fire him (and did fire him) but later found out Kenneth had become the Dean of Area Studies at Foreign Services Institute. He tells…
Kenneth tells of Jimmy Lay. Lay was the secretary under the National Security Council and had been secretary under Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. Kennedy got fed up with Lay, as Lay was accustomed to taking minutes of the meetings. When Kennedy…
Kenneth tells of the first year under the Kennedy administration. As there were no committees or coordination, Kenneth saw the entire U.S. government as chaotic. He also tells of the Buddhist incident, in which Kenneth advised a group to "drive right…
Kenneth describes in detail the Executive Office Building. He goes on about a certain office or two, mentioning Rockefeller's office and open fireplace. He talks about the grandeur of the building, with large rooms, large doors, large…
Kenneth tells of his serving on the admissions committee of the Cosmos Club. Customarily, one would only serve for three years. However, after replacing a member who resigned, and finishing that members two years on the committee, he was able to stay…
Kenneth tells of his transition between offices in his job with the Operations Coordinating Board. In the process, his beloved avocado tree got a chill and died. He had various offices in different buildings.
Kenneth tells of how many Presidents he has met (of the U.S.). He tells of the times he has met them, including encounters with Roosevelt, Truman, Nixon, Eisenhower (perhaps), and Kennedy. He also comments on the various likes or dislikes he has for…
Kenneth describes the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem. He clarifies, once again, that he was never involved. He first describes his relationship with Diem, and then expounds on the results of the assassination.
Kenneth and Margaret did a fair bit of diplomatic entertaining. One evening they had Queen Ramphai Barni and Prince Supsowat over for dinner. The Queen's brother was sure to note that he was the member of the royal family that likes Margaret's book…
Kenneth tells of Seni Pramoj. Pramoj greatly disliked Kenneth, yet when he filed a complaint with the State Department, Kenneth was the one able to respond to him. Later, Pamoj became Prime Minister of Thailand.
Peggy and Margaret tell of how they acquired a fine piano. The piano was a Steinway grand piano, and when Margaret caught wind of it being for sale at a reasonable price, she went ahead and bought it!
Also on Kenneth's list of things to do before he dies was to learn to play the piano. He found a teacher, a woman by the name of Mabes Imhoff, and became her only adult pupil. He skipped playing scales, going directly to more challenging pieces. He…
Margaret tells of Anna Fyshe visiting and playing their piano. Anna Fyshe, having been trained professionally, was not asked to play. When she did sit and play, however, she commented that it was quite a fine piano and was thrilled to have had the…
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.