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and was just going to mail. But when I heard that you were coming down here and had an appointment with me, I thought I'd give it to you directly.”

He handed it to me, and it was a very friendly letter which I still have, but don't have at this moment in my hand. I could get it out of my file. It was to the effect that he had been shocked to hear that I had expressed the view in New York that he, Kennedy, might not have been the author of Profiles in Courage, and he was appalled to think that a responsible newspaperman like myself should have even suggested such a thing, and he wanted me to know that he was the author. The letter went on in that tone. I was a little taken aback by this, because I hadn't really suggested it as my own suggestion. I really had asked the question. It was very common talk around New York.

But I was very glad to have the letter, and as far as I was concerned, that was that. And I wanted to get on to the subject of politics, which is why I had come to see Jack Kennedy. But, no, he wouldn't discuss anything except his authorship of this book. He immediately rang the button on his desk as I sat down, while I was reading the letter. He had one of his assistants-and now I don't remember who it was; it might well have been Sorenson, but I can't remember-bring out the actual notebooks that he had used in writing the draft of this book when he was recovering from his operation down in Florida where the book was supposed to have been, and actually was, written. And he went over the notebooks to show me that these were written in his own hand and to show to me how much work he had actually done on the book and how this obviously was his work because here were the notebooks in JFK's own handwriting.