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one day to say that he was going to be the Secretary of the Interior and that Kennedy was going to announce it the next day, and could he come up and see me and would I then go up with him to the press conference after the announcement. I thought this was extremely flattering, and he said, “. . .as my wife isn't going to be able to come and has to stay with the children, would you go with me?” And I said, “I certainly will.”

We went to see Kennedy in the afternoon at his suite in the Carlyle. Udall told me that he wanted to suggest to Kennedy that Robert Frost be present at the Inauguration and that if he were invited to be present, he would write a special poem for the occasion. This was Udall's idea. He was a great friend of Robert Frost's. And on this day he suggested that Robert Frost be invited, and Kennedy said, “Yes, it's a good idea,” at once. Kennedy was very quick to decide what he wanted to do and what he didn't want to do.

We had about a 50-minute conversation, and then they went into the next room where there was a large number of reporters, and then the news of Udall's appointment was announced. I think he's made an extremely good Secretary of the Interior.

Do you think that Stevenson would have stood a better chance to be named Secretary of State if he had come out in the convention for Kennedy? Do you think this would have made the difference?

Yes, I think it would have made a difference. I think