Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in ... - The Black Vault

Exploring the Unknown 237
buyers. It proved a prickly issue for NASA, much of it the result of the celebrity status of the
Mercury Seven. As this memorandum demonstrates, concern for these issues rose all the way to
the Oval Office and prompted comments by President John F. Kennedy. NASA worked to refine
its policies in this regard, but never found a fully satisfactory solution that balanced the rights
and privileges of the astronauts with government regulations on private activities.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON 25, DC
MEMORANDUM For Mr. James E. Webb
Subject: Meeting with President Kennedy on Astronaut Affairs
August 30, 1962
On August 23, I called Pierre Salinger about 5:30 p.m. to advise him of
the discussion Mr. Lingle, Mr. Johnson and I had with Alfred Friendly. It occurred
to me that such a call might serve to remind him of our interest in having the
reaction of the White House that Mr. Lingle and I sought in our meeting with
Salinger nearly two weeks ago. Salinger commented that since meeting with
Lingle and me, he had had a long talk with the President and others in the White
House about a revised policy relating to the affairs of the astronauts. He stated
that “the President tends to agree with you (NASA) and Bundy (McGeorge) agrees
with me.” He expressed no particular interest in the reaction of Mr. Friendly but
indicated that he would try and set up a meeting in a few days to get together with
us again. Within a half hour, he called back and said “bring Mr. Webb and Bill
Lloyd down tomorrow morning at 10:30 and we’ll meet with the President and
settle this once and for all.” I told him that you were out of town but that I would
attempt to bring Mr. Lingle and Mr. Lloyd. This was satisfactory to him.
I checked with Dr. Seamans to determine whether he wished to go to the
White House but he felt that Mr. Lingle could handle the problem satisfactorily.
We attempted to contact you Friday morning but you were somewhat ahead of
your itinerary and were apparently enroute [sic] from Norton to Medford. Lingle,
Johnson, Lloyd and I discussed the proposed meeting with Dr. Seamans prior to
going to the White House.
The White House meeting lasted some 30 minutes. The President at the
outset stated generally that he felt the astronauts should be permitted to continue
to receive some money for writings of a personal nature inasmuch as they did
seem to be burdened with expenses they would not incur were they not in the
public eye. He felt there should be stricter control of their investments. He cited
the proffer of the homes in Houston as an example of the type of situation that
should be avoided in the future. Salinger was rather restrained in presenting his
own views and seemed satisfied to take his cue from the President. Mr. Lingle
prefaced his remarks by expressing the hope that no firm decision would be made
at this particular meeting as to the [2] specifics of the policy inasmuch as no
member of the NASA group at the meeting was prepared to delineate in a positive
way your views. It was made clear to the assembled group that you wished to have