GLA Meets JFK in the White House

"Gary Anderson meets President Kennedy in the White House"

Four months prior to the World Shooting Championship in Cairo, Egypt, in October 1962, the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP, the predecessor to today’s Civilian Marksmanship Program) proposed the creation of the U. S. Distinguished International Shooter Badge, obtained Pentagon approvals, finalized the medal design and established the criteria for earning the new badge.

To earn the Distinguished International Shooter Badge, a U. S. shooter had to win a gold, silver or bronze medal in the Olympic games, World Shooting Championships or Pan American Games.    The creation of this badge expanded a tradition of U. S. Government awards for marksmanship that began with the first Distinguished Marksman Badge in 1884.  The new International Distinguished Badge immediately became one of the most highly coveted shooting awards in the U. S.

Shortly after the Cairo World Championship, the NBPRP selected Gary to receive the first Distinguished International Shooter Badge (Serial #1) because he dominated the individual rifle events in Cairo (four gold medals and three world records, see “1157”).   The formal presentation of the badge in April 1963 involved visits to the Pentagon and to the White House where President John F. Kennedy offered his personal congratulations for this unique honor in a White House Oval Office presentation.   Frank Orth, Executive Vice President of the NRA and later President of the U. S. Olympic Committee, accompanied Gary to the President’s office.

After being cleared into the White House and waiting for a few minutes in an adjoining room, Gary and Mr. Orth were ushered into the Oval Office.  The President was standing near his desk to greet them.  Gary remembers being impressed with how much the President knew about why Gary was there.  The President had been well briefed and obviously paid attention to his briefing.  They discussed how USA shooters had come much closer to USSR shooters in the World Championship and how Gary had outshot them in the individual rifle events.  The President was fascinated with how anyone could shoot a rifle and hit a four-inch bulls-eye (the size of the 300m ten ring) that was nearly three and one-half football fields away.  In the official photo that the White House photographer took of the occasion, the President is holding his hands together while forming a circle with his thumbs and index fingers to envision the size of the 300m ten ring.

One of the most remarkable aspects of their conversation was President Kennedy’s discussion about his personal interest in shooting.  He told Gary how he and his brothers enjoyed target shooting with a .22 cal. rifle that they kept at their home in Palm Beach, FL.  While it did not come up during their White House meeting, Gary later learned (after he became the DCM) that President Kennedy had purchased an M1 rifle from the Army’s Director of Civilian Marksmanship while he was a U. S. Senator (1953-1960).  President Kennedy’s apparent personal interest in guns and shooting juxtaposes rather dramatically with U. S. gun rights politics that began to take shape in the late 1960s.

Since the President knew Gary was from Nebraska, he concluded their 15-minute visit by taking him to the office of his personal secretary Evelyn Lincoln, because she was also from Nebraska.  Ms. Lincoln originally came from Polk, another small farm town only 80 miles from Gary’s hometown of Axtell, Nebraska.

After the visit, the White House presented a picture of the President, Mr. Orth and Gary on a piece of firm cardboard with the President’s hand written message, “To Gary Anderson, with warm regards, J F Kennedy.”    Years later the photo was showing acid damage from the paper, so thanks to good advice from Lynetta Martin (a friend who worked in a genealogy bookstore), the photo was de-acidified so no further harm would come to it. 

Some years later when Gary was working for the NRA in Washington, one of his staff members had a fellow church member who had written a book on Kennedy signatures.   He examined the photo with the signature and declared it to be authentic.  Regardless, the framed photo of Gary with President Kennedy and Mr. Orth in the White House Oval Office occupies an honored place in the Anderson home.  Especially after having met President Kennedy in person, he has always remembered November 22, 1963 as one of the darkest days in history.