Browse Items (92 total)

  • Tags: Kenneth Landon at the State Department 1939-1988

One day Peggy decided to give a party. She held it in the Landons' living room. When the party was going, a large group of kids crashed the party uninvited. Peggy just told those fellows how they were going to have to behave. The boys were hunting…

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Bill was a natural golfer. He could have been a professional golfer if he had wanted to. He had good timing, coordination, grace. Bill wanted to run the mile, so he went out for the track team at school. Later on, when he was living in Seattle, he…

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Kip mentions the time when Thailand was admitted to the U.N., and a significant gift was given to Kenneth. He was involved in some way. The gift was from the family of the Thai ambassador.

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The communists in Calcutta sent out orders to communist cells in South East Asia to have a general uprising of all their guerrilla forces simultaneously.  People were being shot on the highways and dared not drive at night. The US consul sent a cable…

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Kenneth recalls a story in which John Dulles is to relay a new policy to the State Department. Upon noticing the incredible amount of people gathered, he commented to Douglas MacArthur that he couldn't comprehend why they might need this many people,…

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Wriston decided that the State Department needed to be restructured. In this, It was decided that, rather than having two different services, the departmental officer and the foreign service officer, it would be best if the two were merged into one.…

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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…

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Kenneth recalls a story in which he was going to a dinner party with Malcolm MacDonald. Kip asked where he was going all dressed up, and Kenneth explained he would be attending a dinner for work. His son was shocked to hear he'd be going out to…

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Kenneth elaborates on the purpose and function of the Operations Coordinating Board (OCB). He explains that it was set up under presidential directive, and how exactly it came to exist from the Psychological Strategy Board.

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Kenneth tells of bringing the "biggest living thing in the state Department" with him to his new job. His avacado tree had been started by an old maid. Kenneth was asked to take care of it and he graciously agreed. The tree grew to quite some size. 

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Abbot Low Moffat received a tiger skull ashtray from the Thai government. When Moffat left Southeast Asian affairs, he also left the tiger skull. Kenneth took it upon himself to keep it in his office. When Nixon saw it, he claimed he would get a…

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Marshall Sarit of Thailand came to dinner with the Landons in 1958. When Kenneth and Sarit were on the porch, Sarit noted the wild animals which lived in the same area as the Landons. Noting they weren't afraid of him, he concluded Kenneth had the…

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Kenneth tells of a lovely arrangement of flowers. This was during the time of the recordings. The flowers were from Phil Bonsal's wife Margaret, who had sent the flowers to Margaret Landon.

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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.

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Kenneth tells of his visiting Nelson Rockefeller's office. Rockefeller had a working fireplace. He had insisted upon this, and to further the elegance, he had flawless birchwood logs which he would burn.

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Kenneth speaks of his office and the various other offices in his building. He discusses the view and varying other aspects of his office. 

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Kenneth tells of the swimming pool at the White House. He was allowed to use this pool, however he usually would use the pool at the YMCA as he was able to horse around a little more.

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Kenneth tells of Bill Godel. Bil was an assistant of the Operations Coordinating Board who was an ex-marine. He tells of Bill's family which included five daughters!

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Kenneth recounts Pote Sarisin's interaction with John Dulles. Dulles had been quite gruff, and Sarisin simply didn't know how to respond. Finally they worked it out, but not before many an awkward moment.

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Kenneth tells of the time he was to brief McGeorge Bundy and Walt Rostow on Laos, as he was just returning from there. This briefing was right after John F. Kennedy was elected president. He found that McGeorge Bundy was quite the knowledgeable man,…

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Kenneth explains how the OCB worked, emphasizing the two different sides--that of policy and that of operations. He goes on to indicate that he was on the operations side and goes into how exactly that played out with his time on the OCB. 

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Kenneth tells of his elimination from the Operations Coordinating Board. McGeorge Bundy called a large group together to make the announcement. The entire group was to be abolished, as they weren't able to technically be fired. The members would…

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Kenneth, now not having work because his position had been abolished, looked to solve his situation. He found Walt Rostow's office to be of interest, and did some work for him without anyone's knowing, as technically it wasn't allowed under mandate.

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Kenneth received a call from Walt Rostow in January of 1962. Walt had a job that was of interest to Kenneth. This job was to establish a seminar to fight communist insurgency. The seminar was under the highest presidential directive and would be for…

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Kenneth's first class in the seminar had sixty officers, thirty going to Southeast Asia and thirty going to Latin America--a twist Kenneth had to deal with right before the start of the class. Kenneth had decided to give quite a bit of material to…

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