Martin W. Sandler located this letter some years ago, and shared it in his book, The Letters of John F. Kennedy (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013, pp. 237-238).

Banfield sent the letter on Harvard University letterhead just a few days after the Bay of Pigs Fiasco (April 17-20). He begins, “Dear former colleague,” leaving one to wonder whose name Banfield wrote on the envelope. Many who taught at Harvard went to wokr in the Kennedy Administration. More digging is needed to figure out the intended recipient.

The letter ended up in the Kennedy archive, and the above PDF came from Sandler when he sought permission to republish the letter from Banfield’s daughter.

One wonders how JFK —or whomever opened it– responded!