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!
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 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 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…
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…
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…
Margaret tells of how one day the Landons' bulldog, Candy, took baby Kip's entire head in its mouth. Peggy had to drive her high-heeled shoe into Candy's belly to save the baby. Kip received first aid, but there was no serious damage. The event put…
Kip recalls Kenneth's commenting on Peggy's boyfriends when she was in high school. Kenneth says she was very popular with the boys. He remembers her dating a young Italian boy whom her parents thought wasn't the boy for her. She decided not to date…
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.
Kip remembers an article in the newspaper about the Landons working to put in a special new kind of grass on their terraces. When the Landons moved to 4711 Fulton Street in late 1944, there was no grass, no shrubbery, and no trees. The Landons…
The whole mob of them would go down the stairs to the floor below where the coffee bar was. Half way down the stairs, there was a huge firehose all coiled up and ready to go in case of an emergency. There was a wheel that you whirled to turn the…
Upon being appointed to Thailand, William Donovan needs to meet with Walter Robertston. Kenneth phones his office and tricks him into having a meeting with Donovan, as he was in the office listening to the phone conversation. When the time seemed…
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 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…