Browse Items (92 total)

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

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…

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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 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.

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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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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'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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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 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…

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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 describes the role of religion within the political realm. He was the first to present a paper on the role of Buddhism in Southeast Asia--this event occured in the 1950's. Kenneth says it was because of him that a religious advisor was…

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Kenneth was the first political officer FE ever had who had lived in Southeast Asia and spoke a Southeast Asian language. Up to that time, all matters regarding Souteast Asia had been dealt with by the Europeans, and the FE had to nod their heads and…

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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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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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Kenneth, after receiving his job with area studies, traveled around to study other programs. He says he "was well-informed, probably as well-informed as anybody in the United States in academia on all these different kinds of area studies programs." …

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Hornbeck was the political adviser on Asia to the Secretary, but he arrogated to himself the responsibility of adviser to the Secretary on anything. He once delivered to Ballantyne and Kenneth an elaborate speech, all in indirection. Kenneth told him…

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As the war really got going, people started coming into the State Department from the field, like John Davies, Jack Service, and fellows who were cashiered later on in the McCarthy era. John Davies was fired. Service made a fool of himself by making…

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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…

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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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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 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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Ken and Margaretta fled from Thailand to India when the Japanese invaded. Kenneth was here when they reached this country in early 1944, and he found Ken a job with the State Department in the research section. What Ken did was much more "sedate"…

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Kenneth discusses later seminar classes. After his first class, he was informed that the insurgency seminars were now to cover the entirety of the world. With this additional work, he had to make some changes to the seminar--a constant work in…

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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…

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Roosevelt died before the end of the war, of course. Joseph McCarthy got going with his anti-communism in early 1950. Kenneth came into his office there one morning to find that his files had been dumped all over the floor. He gave the Haskell…

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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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