Weinstein said that the National Archives and Records Administration had reached a settlement with the estate of White, who died in 2003, for the return of the materials, including a rocking chair Kennedy used in the Oval Office, pens he used to sign treaties, and files from his years as a senator. “It was the intent of the Kennedy family that the American people should have the fullest account of the Kennedy administration, and these materials are essential in telling that story,” Weinstein said.
Kennedy’s secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, had been entrusted with the safekeeping of Kennedy’s personal effects, but she gave or sold many of the items to White rather than turn them over to the National Archives.
The settlement follows other efforts to stop White from selling materials he had obtained from Lincoln. In 1998, the government successfully prevented White from auctioning other artifacts, the Boston Herald reported June 18, and last year a map of Cuba annotated by Kennedy that had been up for sale was returned to the library after the Justice Department won a lawsuit seeking its return.
Posted June 24, 2005.