An Original Pen Used to Sign the Kennedy Center Act, Given to Kennedy Aide Kenneth O’Donnell by President Johnson After JFK’s Assassination

Acquired from the direct descendants of Kenneth O'Donnell and never before offered for sale.

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O'Donnell, a close friend of JFK and RFK, was famously portrayed by Kevin Costner in the movie, 13 Days

The federal government had never before helped to finance a structure dedicated to the performing arts, but that changed in 1958, when President Eisenhower signed into law the "National Cultural Center Act," which...

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An Original Pen Used to Sign the Kennedy Center Act, Given to Kennedy Aide Kenneth O’Donnell by President Johnson After JFK’s Assassination

Acquired from the direct descendants of Kenneth O'Donnell and never before offered for sale.

O'Donnell, a close friend of JFK and RFK, was famously portrayed by Kevin Costner in the movie, 13 Days

The federal government had never before helped to finance a structure dedicated to the performing arts, but that changed in 1958, when President Eisenhower signed into law the "National Cultural Center Act," which allowed for the raising of funds and selection of an architect to build a cultural center in the nation's capital.  Congress had given tens of millions of dollars, and private groups, including the Kennedy family, accounted for millions more.  This building would operate as the "National Cultural Center."

The Kennedy Administration saw an infusion of passion and energy around the cultural and arts communities and the idea built momentum then.  He and his wife, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, encouraged the arts and brought a sense of style and culture to the White House. They created the first White House museum and published books on the antiques contained in it.  The era was a flowering of artistic expression in DC.

Kenneth "Kenny" O'Donnell was a close confidant of the Kennedy family throughout his life.  He had grown up with Robert Kennedy and was a groomsman in RFK's wedding.  He was tapped by John to be the incoming President's first appointed aide, receiving that appointment the morning he arrived for the first time in the White House.  Throughout Kennedy's time, O'Donnell was with him as Special Assistant to the President, sitting just down the hall throughout the Kennedy Presidency, and was not only an employee but a close friend. Pierre Salinger once commented that he knew of no one who held the President's ear as did O'Donnell.  Sadly, he was present at both JFK's and RFK's assassinations. He was in the motorcade in Dallas when JFK was killed and blamed himself for the President's death.  In short, O'Donnell's life paralleled with those of the Kennedy brothers. He also remained in the Johnson Administration for a brief period.  O'Donnell was famously portrayed by Kevin Costner in the movie 13 Days.  

On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  After his death, Congress agreed to re-name the National Cultural Center the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  Lyndon Johnson signed the Act into law and broke ground on the Kennedy Center.  Johnson used a small number of pens to sign this act, and gave these few to Kennedy's closest friends as a token of remembrance of the fallen President.

An original pen used to the sign the Kennedy Center Act, thereby re-naming the National Cultural Center after the assassinated President, framed along with a high resolution reproduction of the Act, as it hung on O'Donnell's wall, with a small commemorative plaque reading, "Pen used by President Lyndon B. Johnson in signing the above Resolution and presented to Honorable P. Kenneth O'Donnell, Special Assistant to the President."

One of these pens is in the collection at the Smithsonian.

This piece, along with others, was acquired from the direct descendants of Kenneth O'Donnell and has never before been offered for sale.

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