John F. Kennedy memorabilia being auctioned Wednesday, including formerly ‘Top Secret’ Bay of Pigs letter

Résumé détaillé

President John F. Kennedy wrote the Bay of Pigs letter to General Maxwell Taylor on April 22, 1961, soon after the coup plot failed.

History buffs have a rare opportunity Wednesday to bid on assorted John F. Kennedy memorabilia including a letter dealing with the failed Bay of Pigs plot to topple Fidel Castro in 1961, according to a Boston auction house.

The remote auction is currently ongoing, with the “30 minute rule” scheduled to bring things to a close kicking in at 7 p.m., according to the website for RR Auctions.

“A special John F. Kennedy section features his ‘Top Secret’ letter investigating the Bay of Pigs failure, an inaugural photograph signed by Jack and Jackie, a life preserver from the family yacht Marlin, and original NBC Radio recordings of his assassination,” the site says.

Kennedy wrote the Bay of Pigs letter to General Maxwell Taylor on April 22, 1961, soon after the coup plot failed spectacularly, with some 1,400 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launching the invasion that was crushed within days. The Kennedy administration wanted to topple Castro to prevent the rise of a Communist power located some 90 miles south of Florida, at the height of the Cold War against the former Soviet Union.

Kennedy kept the plot a closely guarded secret before the failed incursion, going so far as to lean on New York Times editors to keep the paper from reporting when it learned in advance of the plans. A Times editor, Bill Keller, later said Kennedy voiced regret that the paper of record hadn’t popped what it knew ahead of time, because it could have prevented a fiasco.

“It is apparent that we need to take a close look at all our practices and programs in the areas of military and paramilitary, guerrilla and anti-guerrilla activity which fall short of outright war,” Kennedy wrote. “I believe that we need to strengthen our work in this area. In the course of your study, I hope that you will give special attention to the lessons which can be learned from recent events in Cuba.”

The letter had 22 bids as of 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, with the top bid sitting at $5,185, slightly below the declassified note’s…

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