30-06-2012, 04:26 PM
Adele Edisen Wrote:Greg,
Thank you for that video interview of Kennedy. Towards the end he was asked about his battle with the head of U.S. Steel Company, Roger Blough, when Blough reneged on the agreement which had been reached between the steel workers union and the various steel companies to keep the price of steel down. Blough, representing the steel companies, told President Kennedy that they would raise the price of steel anyway.
Speaking of this incident, Kennedy was quoted as saying, "My father always told me that all businessmen were sons-of-bitches, but I never believed him until now!"
At the next press conference, Kennedy did a masterful job of paraphrasing that sentence. He said:
"The statement which I have seen repeated in one daily paper is inaccurate. It quotes my father as having expressed himself strongly to me, and in this I quoted what he said, and indicated that he had not been on many other occasions wholly wrong."
Source: THE HUMOR OF JFK, compiled by Booton Herndon.
Adele
So very much to miss about this man. Those of us who were "there" saw these profound changes and saw his incredible humanity. His humor was also a delight. I cannot recall another president who could be so utterly charming with humor. The press loved him and for good reason. He made us feel safe and he made us feel good about life. I was never afraid during the Cold War. Later when I read the words of Jim Garrison and F Prouty calling this an "artificial conflict" those words really resonated with me. Only later did I realize just how dangerous those thirteen days actually were.
I believe both Jim and CD are correct here. JFK having lived the horrors of war was not the hawk he presented in the debate, but during his brief time as president he was changed and the "hope" he inspired was not the hollow mindless chatter of the current White House occupant but real.
Dawn