Seth Kaller, Inc.

“Each of the Parties to this Treaty undertakes to prohibit, to prevent, and not to carry out any nuclear weapon test explosion, or any other nuclear explosion, at any place under its jurisdiction or control …”

This is one of seventeen pens that President John F. Kennedy used to sign the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on October 7, 1963. It was one of the historic achievements of Kennedy’s presidency.

JOHN F KENNEDY. Steel-nib Fountain Pen by Esterbrook, used to sign the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, October 7, 1963, Washington, DC. Measuring ¼ x 6? in., the pen has “The President – The White House” molded into the clear handle in white lettering and “Esterbrook” on the nib. In folding wooden presentation case, with brass portrait profile of Kennedy, small silver medallion, photographic portrait of Kennedy, and descriptive placard. From the Forbes Collection.

Inventory #27903       Price: $9,500

Historical Background
After the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to bring an end to World War II, testing of atomic and then hydrogen devices led to rising concerns over the effects of radioactive fallout. Efforts to negotiate an international agreement to end nuclear tests began in 1955 in the United Nations Subcommittee of Five (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Soviet Union) Disarmament Commission. The UN General Assembly repeatedly passed resolutions calling for a ban on nuclear tests. Between 1951 and 1958, the United States conducted 166 atmospheric nuclear tests, the Soviet Union carried out 82, and Great Britain held 21.

President Eisenhower’s attempted negotiations to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons were unsuccessful, and by the early 1960s, more deadly and advanced bombs had been developed. When John F. Kennedy became president in January 1961, he was committed to a comprehensive test ban. After failed negotiations in Geneva and Vienna, the USSR lifted its moratorium on nuclear testing in August 1961, and the US followed in April 1962.

In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis pushed the world to the precipice of nuclear war and forced President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to reduce tensions between the two nations. Kennedy was deeply concerned about this escalation and vowed to “put the nuclear genie back in the bottle.” In June 1963, at a commencement address at American University, Kennedy called for a reduction of Cold War tensions: “The one major area of these negotiations where the end is in sight—yet where a fresh start is badly needed—is in a treaty to outlaw nuclear tests. The conclusion of such a treaty—so near and yet so far—would check the spiraling arms race in one of its most dangerous areas. It would place the nuclear powers in a position to deal more effectively with one of the greatest hazards which man faces in 1963, the further spread of nuclear arms.” Kennedy also announced a unilateral halt to atmospheric tests.[1]

On July 25, 1963, after ten days of negotiations in Moscow, representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union agreed to ban testing in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater, and pledged to work toward complete disarmament. The treaty did not ban underground tests but prohibited such explosions if they produced radioactive debris outside the borders of the testing nation. The following day, Kennedy delivered a televised address to the nation on the agreement, declaring that since the invention of nuclear weapons, “all mankind has been struggling to escape from the darkening prospect of mass destruction on earth.... Yesterday a shaft of light cut into the darkness.” Both France and China refused to join the treaty.

On August 5, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, and British Foreign Secretary Lord Alec Douglas-Home signed the treaty in Moscow. Over the next two months, Kennedy lobbied a frightened public and a divided Senate on the merits of the treaty, and on September 24, 1963, the Senate approved the treaty by a vote of 80-14.

On October 7, 1963, Kennedy signed the instruments of ratification for the treaty with this pen in the Treaty Room of the White House. In associated remarks, Kennedy said, “Even this limited treaty, great as it is with promise, can survive only if it has from others the determined support in letter and in spirit which I hereby pledge in behalf of the United States. If this treaty fails, it will not be our doing, and even if it fails, we shall not regret that we have made this clear and honorable national commitment to the cause of man’s survival.”[2]

The treaty entered into force on October 10, 1963. Since then, 126 other nations have become parties to the treaty, and 10 other states have signed the treaty but not deposited instruments of ratification.

Condition: Pen lightly worn.