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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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like that are of no difficulty at all, but for her they were really difficult. The kinds of things that are easy for her are handling political and social situations on a big scale, but anything that involves decoration or the visualization of things is hard for her, a problem to her, and she really wanted the reassurance of a friend, which fascinates me.

Well, we decided to put some of the things in parts of the bookcases. The bookcases on the second floor of the White House were all empty. Evidently, they had been filled with Kennedy's books and they all had been moved. The rooms that needed to be furnished were her own bedroom and dressing room. The President's room was furnished with a large ancient bed, very handsome, a fourposted bed, and with chairs. And the central hall of the White House was filled with new furniture that had been gotten with the Fine Arts Committee's funds. The Oval Room was decorated charmingly with beautiful 18th Century furniture, painted yellow, and needed very little except for flowers, books, and a few good pieces of china. I've since given her maybe two dozen good pieces of Lowestoft to try to fill up areas of bookcases and places on tables which pretty pieces of Lowestoft will make look more charming. No matter how good the furniture is one still needs good small ornaments.

I was ushered into the Queen's bedroom which had been re-done by Mr. Boudin with money that was gotten from either contributions to the White House Fine Arts Committee or from the funds that were supplied by the White House guide book which had been issued under Mrs. Kennedy's direction. It was extremely well done. The plates are provided by the National Geographic





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