ABSTRACT
As Jack Kennedy struggled to form his administration, he complained that during his lengthy campaign for the White House he had concentrated on meeting people who could help him win, and met too few who could help him govern. He knew people in politics, journalism, the unions, and the New England universities, especially Harvard, but his immediate circle lacked the bankers, high-ranking military officers, diplomats, and industrialists whose executive talents he now sought. To identify suitable candidates for top jobs he turned to sage veterans of the Truman years—legal counsel Clark Clifford, ex-Secretary of State Dean Acheson, and especially Robert Lovett, a Wall Street investment banker who had worked in the Defense Department. JFK's brother-in-law Sargent Shriver also helped with the recruitment challenge.
