Kennedy Administration, John F.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was president of the United States for a mere 1,036 days. During that brief tenure, no major domestic legislation was passed affecting U.S. drug policies. That said, the [Page 443]Kennedy administration witnessed several important transitions in narcotics enforcement as well as the ratification of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs by the United Nations (UN).

The Kennedy administration saw the retirement of Harry J. Anslinger from his post as commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Narcotics, a position he had held since 1930. Anslinger himself admitted to being surprised by his 1961 reappointment by Kennedy as the young president's administration demonstrated a proclivity for cultivating younger civil servants. His reappointment aside, it is often asserted that Anslinger was forced out of the Bureau of Narcotics by the Kennedy administration.

Officially, Anslinger tendered his resignation on his 70th birthday (as required by federal law), May 20, 1962. Anslinger praised Attorney General Robert Kennedy for his efforts in prosecuting high-level Mafia figures as a means to curb the role of organized crime in illegal narcotics trafficking. Some sources suggest Anslinger's fondness for Robert Kennedy was not reciprocated. Moreover, it is alleged the Kennedys took a dim view of Anslinger's well-established hard-line approach to narcotics enforcement and as such, wanted him replaced.

More pointedly, some have suggested that the Kennedys were intent on positioning the new attorney general as the administration's point man in the war on crime and, as such, did not want competition from Anslinger at Treasury. This alleged desire to remove Anslinger also was purportedly tempered by the suspicion he would vigorously protest his ouster. As this line of reasoning goes, the Kennedys simply waited for Anslinger to reach mandatory retirement age. The specific conditions of Anslinger's retirement aside, Kennedy asked him to remain as acting commissioner until a successor could be found. Anslinger's closest aide, Deputy Commissioner Henry L. Giordano, was appointed by Kennedy as the new commissioner. In addition to staying on as interim commissioner, Anslinger continued to serve as the U.S. representative to the UN Narcotics Commission, a post he held until 1970.