SCARCE 1961 PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT SIGNED BY JOHN AND ROBERT KENNEDY APPOINTING A FUTURE SENATOR AND CABINET SECRETARY AS ‘ATTORNEY FOR THE UNITED STATES’
It is extremely scarce to encounter a presidential document signed by BOTH of the Kennedy brothers! This is just such a document, signed by“John F. Kennedy” as president and “Robert F. Kennedy” as attorney general, one page, 19.5 x 15.5, August 15, 1961. President Kennedy appoints Brockman Adams as “Attorney of the United States, in and for the Western District of Washington…for the term of four years.” Boldly signed at the conclusion in fountain pen by President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The crisply embossed gold foil Department of Justice seal affixed to the lower left remains intact.
A veteran of the United States Navy, Brock Adams served as United States Attorney until 1964, when he was elected to the House of Representatives. He served in the House until 1977, when he resigned to become Secretary of Transportation in Jimmy Carter’s administration. He would go on to be elected to the Senate, serving from 1987 to 1993. Presidential appointments signed by both of the Kennedy brothers are quite scarce and seldom encountered.