Armand Hammer's Proper Conversations with JFK - John F Kennedy

Dr. Hammer traveled the world with his wife Frances on Oxy One, his private jet from Occidental Petroleum. It was his meeting with JFK on board Hammer's 78' yacht the Shadow Isle which was memorable. It was not his first meeting with Kennedy but it was the first "proper conversation" as Dr. Hammer described it in his autobiography.

Armand Hammer may be best described as a citizen diplomat. He was a physician, ran the family drug store, traded art, collect art, successful in raising cattle and the list goes on. One book described him as a narcissistic but overall his love of connecting people I believe was his favorite. Some may say he had a low self-esteem to throw famous people names around. And in his autobiography that is exactly what he did. From his book, I gleaned that he loved connecting people - albeit famous people but nonetheless he enjoyed finding common ground often across the continents of the world.

Dr. Hammer was the founder of Hammer Galleries, the benefactor of the arts worldwide from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg to New York to Los Angeles. Dr. Hammer was a great industrialist, and an outstanding philanthropist. What was unique about him was his bridge between communism and capitalism. Dr. Hammer prided himself on being a confident of great leaders from president, prime ministers, sheiks, shahs, emirs and monarchs.

His personal biography entitled Hammer by Armand Hammer is a book for all students of history. His personal accounts and observations of extraordinary events of the twentieth century from the cold war between United States and Russia, the crisis in oil with the Middle East. Imagine hearing firsthand accounts with Lenin, John F. Kennedy, and Khrushchev.

In his book, Hammer, Dr. Armand Hammer, details that after his peraonal 31-year hiatus from Moscow, Hammer returns to Moscow at the specific request of a new, young President, President John F. Kennedy. While he had met Kennedy as a young senator, his first "proper conversation" was aboard Hammer yacht the Shadow Isle.

A Proper Conversation with Mr. John F. Kennedy

A “proper” conversation was not to occurred until the winter of 1960, after JFK was elected President of the United States. It was during a holiday, a winter retreat to Palm Beach that Kennedy was relaxing on the deck of his boat, the Honey Fitz. The story as relayed by Dr. Hammer details that Hammer’s luxury 7seventy-eight – yes, I did say - 78’ luxury yacht, the Shadow Isle had pasted his yacht. As Hammer details it, his yacht “came knifing through the waters at close to thirty knots, and set the Honey Fitz tossing and jouncing all over the place. He jumped up to watch us pass and called out to his captain, “ Who the --- was that?” JFK’s host was Colonel Michael Paul, Michael Paul was a large shareholder in Occidental.

Hammer recounts a wonderful story how his steward “George” had so wanted to impress the new President, the very man who “was in the eye of the world at that moment.” Hammer had heard that JFK liked to drink Bloody Marys and asked George to mix up a pitcher. Since the Show Isle had no vodka on board, George took a dingy and went to a neighboring boat to secure a bottle of the needed liquor. When the owners heard who the vodka was for, they were more than ready to assist.

When JFK came on board and offered a drink, Mr. Kennedy requested a Bloody Mary. Hammer reports that George was elated when Mr. Kennedy took a sip of the drink and stated “I think I’d better treat this with care”.

In their long conversation about the Soviets, Kennedy detailed how he wished to improve relations. During their conversation, Kennedy smoked Havana cigars.

A conversation with President John F. Kennedy

The first time they met Kennedy was a young senator. The next time, Hammer met Mr. Kennedy was during his inauguration on January 20, 1961. A "proper conversation" occurred after Kennedy's inauguration and while Kennedy was vacationing in Palm Beach, Florida aboard the presidential yacht - what Kennedy named Honey Fitz - named after his Grandfather.

Armand Hammer’s Trip to Moscow and His Meeting with Anastas Mikoyan is the Hammer had met Mikoyan in 1923. He was the Minister of Trade. The American Ban Russian crab meat and “Slave Labor” Anastas Mikoyan made it clear that the ban of crab meat which had existed for 10 years was vexing Russian administration. Furthermore, the Russians were affronted that the Americans banned the shipments due to “slave labor”. Other issues were the unpaid Lend-Lease debt to the US and the refusal of the US to grant “most favored nation” status or credit to the USSR – all items that would mandate legislation in order to move forward. Hammer felt the USSR was anxious to openly trade with the United States.

Hammer’s Relationship with Hermitage Museum in Leningrad

Hammer suggested that in order to improve relations with the US, that there be a cultural exchange and that the Russians send a representative collection of their art treasures from their leadings museums to the United States. In order to make it noncommercial and non-political, Hammer suggested that the artwork exchange go through the Eleanor Roosevelt Cancer Foundation, an exchange of art exhibit was held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and other major US cities.

Hammer and Pure-Breed Cattle

Hammer shared with the Russians his catalog of sales of pure-breed beef which was the only sale of Angus cattle that ran over million dollars. Dr. Hammer through his own personal ingenuity was able to with the same amount of feed and care, farmer could produce more meat at no greater cost. Hammer offered the Russians some prized bulls as a gift so that could use to for increasing their sock.

Hammer Won the Trust of the Russians

Hammer had a pencil factory back around 1923 but it was through his current business endeavors with both cattle and art that won the trust of the Russians.

Narcissistic Personality or Greatness or Both

The autobiography of Armand Hammer is very complimentary as you might expect. Reports out on the Internet accuse the Hammer of being narcissistic. The personality traits of a narcissist are self absorption, lack of empathy, and a sense of high importance. Often seen as manipulative and demeaning and appropriately called emotional vampires as they can drain you of your sense of self. Hammer dedicated his book to his brothers and spoke kindly of his wife Frances. He left out the details that he and Frances had separated. And Frances had reportedly changed her will. Whatever the personality of Hammer, the meetings and the travels across the continents did occur and helped with global peace in some manner - whether great or small is the judgment but the fact remains, Hammer wanted to help bring peace and brings the nations together irrespective of idealogical differences.

Other narcissistic traits - typified by an obsession with perfection, a desperate need for admiration, and a willingness to use and exploit others for personal gain, high level narcissism can spell devastation for anyone who crosses the narcissist's path. In Freeing Yourself from the Narcissist in Your Life , psychotherapist Linda Martinez-Lewi presents an in-depth and supportive plan for identifying, understanding, and dealing with high level narcissistic behavior in those close to you. Martinez-Lewi helps you to liberate yourself from draining personal relationships with narcissists, and shows how to regain a sense of peace, balance, and well-being. Drawing on detailed profiles of famous narcissists, including Pablo Picasso, Frank Lloyd Wright, Armand Hammer...

Art connoisseur - art enthusiast from Lenningrad to St. Petersburg to NY to LA, Hammer loved art and had a great career with Hammer Galleries in New York and his love of art and museums and all things beautiful continued through all of his various entrepreneurial endeavors.

The Hermitage Museum

The Hermitage Museum is fascinating. The State Hermitage (Russian: a museum of art and culture situated in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world,founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and open to the public since 1852.Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise nearly 3 million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya and the eastern wing of the General Staff Building also make part of the museum. The museum has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a federal state property. Since 1990, the director of the museum has been Mikhail Piotrovsky.

Out of six buildings of the main museum complex, four, namely the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New Hermitage, are partially open to the public. The other two are Hermitage Theatre and the Reserve House. The entrance ticket for foreign tourists costs several times as much as the fee paid by Russian citizens. However, the entrance is free of charge first Thursday of every month for all visitors and daily for students and children. The museum is closed on Mondays. Entrance is in the Winter Palace from Palace Embankment or the Courtyard.

Catherine the Great - 1764 - Not Open to the Public

Catherine the Great started her art collection in 1764 by purchasing paintings from Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. He had put together the collection for Frederick II of Prussia, but reportedly Frederick II refused to purchase it.

Subsequently, in a effort to market this vast collection now unwanted by Prussia, Gotzkowsky provided 225 or 317 paintings, mainly Flemish and Dutch, including 90 not precisely identified, to the Russian crown.

The collection compiled by Gotzkowsky consisted of Rembrandts, Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Antoon van Dyck, Paolo Veronese, Frans Hals, Raphael (yes, even 2 Raphael paintings!), Holbein, Titian, Jan Steen and several other great, world renown artists.

In 1764 Catherine commissioned Yury Velten to build an extension to the east of the Winter Palace, completed in 1766. Later it became the Southern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage. In 1767–1769 French architect Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe built the Northern Pavilion on the Neva embankment. In 1767–1775 the extensions were connected to each other by galleries, where Catherine put her collections. The entire neoclassical building is now known as the Small Hermitage. At the time of Catherine the Hermitage wasn't a public museum, very few people were allowed within.

Wikipedia reports that the collections now range from Egyptian antiquities, Classical antiquities, Prehistoric art, Jewelery and decorative art, Italian Renaissance, Italian and Spanish fine art, Knight's Hall, Dutch Golden Age and Flemish Baroque,Neoclassical, Impressionist and post-Impressionist art, German and French fine art, and of course Russian art.

Catherine the Great - Great Acquisitions

Catherine the Great started the first collection. It was interesting fact that she acquired the best collections offered for sale by the heirs of prominent collectors. Brühl's collection, consisting of over 600 paintings and a vast number of prints and drawings, was purchased in Saxony in 1769. Crozat's collection of paintings was bought in France in 1772 with the assistance of Denis Diderot. The collection of 198 paintings that once belonged to Robert Walpole was acquired in London in 1779. In 1781 a collection of 119 paintings was purchased in Paris from Count Baudouin.

Wikipedia reported that in her lifetime "Catherine acquired 4,000 paintings from the old masters, 38,000 books, 10,000 engraved gems, 10,000 drawings, 16,000 coins and medals and a natural history collection filling two galleries, so in 1771 she commissioned Yury Velten to build another major extension. The neoclassical building was completed in 1787 and has come to be known as the Large Hermitage or Old Hermitage. Catherine also gave the name of the Hermitage to her private theatre, built nearby between 1783 and 1787 by the Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi.^"

Background Report on the Yacht "Presidents"

JOHN F. KENNEDY

According to Dave Powers (former head of NAIA, author of Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye , and a long-standing friend of John F. Kennedy), Kennedy had some of his happiest moments aboard the Honey Fitz (renamed for his maternal grandfather). A life-long lover of the sea, Kennedy would slip away from the White House for a few quiet hours on the yacht in the Potomac. He spent Easter and Christmas holidays on her in Palm Beach, Florida, as well as taking days off in September and October aboard her at Hammersmith Farm. The cover of Powers' book in paperback version was one of the President's favorite photographs, taken on the aft deck of the yacht.

Commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Walter C. Syle of the Naval Administration since the Eisenhower administration, the Honey Fitz was redecorated by Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy herself, who installed a color television for the first time aboard the vessel, primarily for the enjoyment of her young children.

The vessel was primarily used for the family and close friends, though some dignitaries did visit from time to time (Powers particularly remembered Harold MacMillan on board once), and numerous photographs were taken on the yacht. The boat is also on record as being used to transfer guests down the Potomac to Mount Vernon for a particularly impressive State dinner one evening during JFK's administration.

From President Kennedy's birthday (May 29) until approximately mid-September the yacht was kept at the Cape and used every weekend. One particularly happy occasion was the surprise birthday party Jackie threw for her husband in 1963, with most of the family on board. Kennedy loved to spend time alone with his children on the yacht.

The bullshot was the favorite drink aboard, bracing against even the strongest winds. One of the original Kennedy life preservers and two of the flags from the boat are in the Kennedy Library.

A favorite story of Dave Powers: In their early campaigning days (Powers was with Kennedy from 1946 on), they used to take the ferry across from Boston to Nantucket, and Kennedy even loved those ferry rides. But one winter's day in Palm Beach as they cruised along on the Honey Fitz , lounging on the aft deck, Kennedy turned suddenly to Powers and said, "This sure beats the Nantucket ride, doesn't it?"

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

When Johnson entered the White House, one of the first things he looked towards was the yacht. "I eventually developed my own programs and policies, but I never lost sight of the fact that I was the trustee and custodian of the Kennedy administration. Although it was my prerogative to do so, I would no more have considered changing the name of the Honey Fitz - the name Jack Kennedy had given one of the Presidential yachts - than I would have thought of changing the name of the Washington Monument." (From The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency , 1963-1969 by Lyndon Baines Johnson).

The yacht was used during the Administration (along with two others) for cocktail parties (maximum 35 guests), buffet dinners (maximum 25 guests), semi-formal dinners for 12 and formal dinners for 8....

source: JFK Library.com

Dr. Hammer's lifetime accomplishments covered all the continents of the world, many different industries from medicine to pencils to pure-bred cattle to petroleum. It is interesting his greatest achievements were in his years of "retirement" when he started Occidental Petroleum. It is also interesting to hear about his love of connecting people through art and commercial interests. Whatever Hammer's personality and his drive, he did provide to the world a starting point for ending the cold war.

It is through finding similar interests, appreciating and serving the needs of others that he made his fortune and it was this unique talent that served him as perhaps one of the world greatest citizen diplomat.

Dr. Hammer's lasting legacy was not his collections, it was his guidance that across the continents we share common needs and loves - the need for medicine, the need for food, the need for employment, and the love of art.

Enjoy this website? Not a member yet?

JOIN HUB PAGES TODAY!

FTC Disclosure

The author has no affiliation of any kind with any of the companies or governmental entities listed within this article. Additionally, she does not receive financial or service remuneration.

The author has a broad range of interests and frequently writes about communications, art, fitness, health and food safety. She is the inventor of the EZ Swimmer® and President of