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Original typed manuscript draft of a chapter from John F. Kennedy’s book Why England Slept, 13 pages, 8.5 x 11, undated [circa 1939–1940], with extensive handwritten corrections and revisions by Kennedy to the fronts and backs. The first page bears his handwritten chapter heading, “Influence of the Desire for Economy and General Disarmament Conference on British Armaments.”
Focusing on 1933, the chapter examines how economic restraint, public pacifism, and hopes for international disarmament shaped British military policy as Hitler rose to power. Kennedy draws on parliamentary debates and contemporary press commentary, describing deficiencies in the British Army: “The Army also came in for its share of criticism…There were only four battalions of tanks in the whole army.” Turning to the political outlook of the Saturday Review, he observes that it “was very ‘right’ and Tory from the beginning, and at different times…was to beseech King Edward to be a dictator, cheer Mussolini, and call for a war against Russia.” His analysis distinguishes awareness of the German threat from willingness to rearm: “It was not that people were ignorant of the possible menaces of Hitlerism, but…their reactions to that menace took a different form than demanding armaments.” In fine condition. Accompanied by a custom cloth-bound presentation case.
Kennedy's research grew out of his experiences in Europe in 1939, when his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, was serving as American ambassador to Great Britain. Returning to Harvard that fall, he drew on parliamentary debates, British newspapers, and material supplied through the embassy to examine the political and public pressures behind Britain's failure to rearm. He completed his senior thesis, 'Appeasement at Munich,' in 1940, at age 22.
With editorial assistance from New York Times columnist Arthur Krock, Kennedy revised the thesis for publication. Krock also suggested the title Why England Slept, a play on Winston Churchill's While England Slept. Published in July 1940, shortly after Kennedy's graduation and the fall of France, the book appeared as Americans debated their own military preparedness.
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