Handwritten manuscript, in French, signed “Andre Maurois,” two lightly-lined pages, written by Maurois after their meeting in France in June 1961. Entitled “L’éloquence Officielle” (Official Eloquence), it was composed after Maurois attended a press luncheon with Kennedy. In part (translated): “I listened the other day, during a press luncheon, to President Kennedy answering journalists’ questions, and I admired his technique. The questions were difficult, some even explosive. A brutal and exacting answer risked losing tempers and polemics. A thousand occasions, “traps” were offered to arouse unpleasant reactions in France, the Soviet Union, England, and the United States. With tranquility, this young man of the energetic visage and eyes tired out by the previous day in Paris, listened to the questions, rose and, without hesitation, said the necessary phrases…President Kennedy does not know how to be boring; he is intelligent and he has style. But this appears to have included, since his early days in this difficult job, the danger of words.” In fine condition, with central horizontal and vertical folds and a small water spot to bottom of first page. Accompanied by the June 2, 1961, issue of France-Soir, with a photograph of President and Mrs. Kennedy being escorted into a formal gala. RR Auction COA.
