Evelyn Lincoln
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Evelyn Maurine Norton Lincoln (June 25, 1909 – May 11, 1995) was the personal secretary for John F. Kennedy from his election to the United States Senate in 1953 until his 1963 assassination in Dallas. Mrs. Lincoln, who was in the motorcade when Kennedy was assassinated, made it a point to visit Kennedy's grave at Arlington National Cemetery every year afterward on the anniversary of his death.
In 1968 she wrote a book, "Kennedy and Johnson" in which she wrote that President Kennedy had told her that Lyndon B. Johnson would be replaced as Vice President. Lincoln wrote of that November 19, 1963 conversation, just before the assassination of President Kennedy,
"As Mr. Kennedy sat in the rocker in my office, his head resting on its back he placed his left leg across his right knee. He rocked slightly as he talked. In a slow pensive voice he said to me, 'You know if I am re-elected in sixty-four, I am going to spend more and more time toward making government service an honorable career. I would like to tailor the executive and legislative branches of government so that they can keep up with the tremendous strides and progress being made in other fields.' 'I am going to advocate changing some of the outmoded rules and regulations in the Congress, such as the seniority rule. To do this I will need as a running mate in sixty-four a man who believes as I do.' Mrs. Lincoln went on to write "I was fascinated by this conversation and wrote it down verbatim in my diary. Now I asked, 'Who is your choice as a running-mate?' 'He looked straight ahead, and without hesitating he replied, 'at this time I am thinking about Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina. But it will not be Lyndon.'"
Lincoln died at Georgetown University Hospital in 1995, after complications that followed surgery for cancer. Her ashes were placed in a niche in a sepulcher at Arlington National Cemetery.
Personal
- Born: on a farm in Polk County, Nebraska
- Father: John N. Norton, was a member of the House of Representatives
- Husband: Harold W. Lincoln, World War II veteran (Navy)
- Home: Chevy Chase, Maryland
Books
Mrs. Lincoln was the author of two books:
- My 12 Years With John F. Kennedy
- Kennedy and Johnson