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until that day, and announced both of us at once. So I was announced as of the middle of December as the future Secretary of the Treasury.

That rather limited my capacity in the State Department. But I did continue for two or three more weeks to wind things up and make a proper turnover.

And then I resigned from the State Department in January and continued that preparation for the new job.

And that is how that happened.

Mr. Baron. So you left the State Department -- you said earlier to me on January 2nd or 3rd?

Mr. Dillon. Or 4th or 5th or sometime in the first four or five or six days. And after that one thing I ought to make clear is that President Kennedy had a great interest in the authority of the Presidency in foreign policy. And I think he was under the impression that Secretary Dulles had probably dominated President Eisenhower in some aspects, which I don't think was an accurate description of what happened at all, but it was a generally held one at that time. So he wanted to take over this very much himself. And so he put in some new people there.

And we came to be very close, and worked very well together. And I had the greatest admiration for him.

He never at that time or later ever asked me anything about my experience at the State Department or any foreign policy

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