John F. Kennedy TLS to the Members of the Harvard Class of 1940

Printed TLS signed “Jack,” in black ink, one page, 8.5 x 11, Harvard Class of 1940 letterhead, December 27, 1945. 

An early example of Kennedy's signature on a printed circular letter to the members of his graduating class. Working up to the inevitable appeal for donations, he writes, in part: “As the Class Secretary, Pete Pratt, is entangled with the U.S. Army, he has asked me to write you about the Class Report. The Class Report is ordinarily published at the time of our First Reunion, in our case, 1943. Due to circumstances beyond any of our controls, we have been unable to hold any semblance of a reunion. Now, however, our time has come and in June of this year we shall meet in Cambridge. You will be informed of that later…There is, as usual, the question of money. Our Class Fund has to its credit about $1300, invested in war bonds which our canny Treasurer, Donald MacDonald Dickinson Thurber, thinks is the best buy since Ponzi. McThurber, who we understand votes Republican in the Michigan elections, feels we should hold them until maturity. There are those who say that the money should be used to buy real estate in Nevada suitable for building a large underground cellar capable of holding 972 men of Harvard. That will be voted on in June.”

A uniform shade of mild toning, some light creases to bottom portion, and two tack holes to top edge, otherwise fine condition. 

John F. Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person to assume the presidency by election and the youngest president at the end of his tenure. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the U.S. Congress prior to his presidency.

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