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ALS signed “Bob Kennedy,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 5.25 x 7.75, personal 'RFK' letterhead, December 17, 1951. Handwritten letter to Dr. Daniel A. Poling, in full: “This is a very late note to thank you for your letter and the enclosure of the article that you were kind enough to write about Dr. Burche’s visit to Charlottesville. Your treatment of my part in the incident was certainly generous and is greatly appreciated.
My brother Jack and I just returned home at Thanksgiving time from a seven week tour around the world with practically all the time spent in the Middle and Far East. It was a wonderful opportunity and I think we both learned a great deal. I am afraid though that with this increase in knowledge of the world we didn't acquire a simultaneous increase in optimism about its future. In the Arab countries and in Malaya, Indo China, and Burma the position of the United States is deteriorating at a disturbingly fast rate. A strong forceful policy could save the situation even now but we saw no signs that such a policy was to be forthcoming.
Incidentally that trip is to blame for the lateness of this letter. My wife, Ethel, sent me your letter to Hong Kong but it missed me there and was just returned to us here last week. I have just started to work down here in Washington. I am in the Criminal Division of the Justice Department and am presently assigned to the subversive section. It looks very interesting and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.
Ethel and I had a baby girl on July 4 whom we named Kathleen. I would like you to meet Ethel and her and so hope that if you ever get to Washington you will drop me a note and plan to come to our home for either lunch or dinner. I am sure you would all enjoy each other. Thank you again for your letter, Dr. Poling, and I hope you will accept my invitation.” In fine condition, with some minor dampstaining along the hinge.
Rev. Dr. Daniel A. Poling (1884–1968) was a prominent American Protestant clergyman, author, and influential public voice on religion and civic life. A Baptist minister, he served as pastor of New York’s historic Marble Collegiate Church and later as pastor emeritus, while also gaining national recognition as longtime editor of The Christian Herald.
This content-rich letter dates to a formative period in the early careers of both Robert F. Kennedy and his brother, Congressman John F. Kennedy, written shortly after their 1951 overseas trip through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and just as RFK began his legal career in Washington as an attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. It also coincides with a significant personal milestone, as Kennedy had recently become a father for the first time.
The letter further connects to a notable episode involving Poling and John F. Kennedy: Poling claimed in his autobiography, ‘Mine Eyes Have Seen,’ that JFK withdrew from a 1950 interfaith event honoring the Four Chaplains at the request of Cardinal Dennis Dougherty, reportedly stating he could not attend ‘as a loyal son of the church,’ a characterization Kennedy’s office subsequently disputed as inaccurate. Despite earlier concerns about Catholic influence in public life, Poling would go on to praise Kennedy during the 1960 presidential campaign, calling his stance on church–state separation ‘magnificent’ and ‘courageous,’ and asserting that he had risen above the issue of religion in politics.
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