Presidential Privacy (Continued 1
soon, for Caroline will be six in November.
Jackie puts her foot down firmly against all
special interviews and pictures of the children.
This is a turnabout from the earlier days of the
Administration when Caroline made coast-to-coast
headlines with her amusing antics.
Indeed, the President himself did little to dis
courage such publicity at the start because he
adores hispixyish daughter so much. Finally
Jackie's firmness prevailed ; Caroline is no longer
permitted to have "press conferences" such as
the famous one more than a year ago when a
reporter asked her what her father was doing
and she replied: "He's not doing anything. He's
just sitting up there with his shoes and socks.
off, doing nothing."
The clamp-down on Caroline's publicity, how
ever, cannot stop the tidal wave of gossipy ar
ticles about the family which are published
month after month in the movie and "confession"
magazines. One recent cover line read: "How
Long Can They Hide the Truth from Caroline
Kennedy?" The "truth" was nothing more star
tling than the fact that Caroline's father is the
President, her mother the First Lady, and that
she, too, is a celebrity.
These sensationalized articles have grown so
numerous and so personal that President Ken
nedy himself has taken notice. Terming them
"cheesy," he has asked his press secretary Pierre
Salinger to see if anything can be done.
But the Kennedys are by no means unique in
all this. The problem of privacy has plagued all
American Presidents and their families.
In Grover Cleveland's time, the south garden
of the White House was open to the public, and
Mrs. Cleveland soon discovered that she couldn't
send her baby daughter Ruth out for an airing
with her nurse. Each time, women would dash
over, shove the nurse aside, and actually pick up,
fondle, and kiss the baby. Finally, to protect his
daughter, the President had to close the garden.
Some Presidents tried unsuccessfully to take
their families out of the White House entirely.
The Benjamin Harrisons wanted to build a pri
vate dwelling, closed to the public, on the White
House grounds. The Chester A. Arthurs went as
far as choosing a spot near Washington where
they wanted to build a home, but Congress re
fused to appropriate funds because real-estate
speculators had gotten wind of the idea and
bought up nearby land. President Arthur de
manded the strictest privacy for his family. His
daughter Nell was brought up in almost total
seclusion and was photographed only once while
he was President
Mr. Truman and Hi Balcony
The one time Harry Truman firmly insisted
upon privacy, he triggered a national furor. Back
home in Independence, Mo., Mr. Truman loved to
sit on his porch in the evening. But when he tried
it in front of the White House, he became a prime
tourist attraction, easily spotted from the front
gate with binoculars. So he decided to build a
second-floor "back porch" on the south portico.
Howls of protest arose from many quarters.
The porch, it was charged, would spoil the classic
line of the building, and Mr. Truman was re
minded that he was, after all, only a tenant at
the White House, not its owner. But he stood his
ground. He wanted the right to a breath of fresh
air in privacy and he got it. The porch is still
there today.
Did Dwight D. Eisenhower blow up at inva
sions of his privacy? Here is what a source close
to the former President told me:
"He certainly did, especially when reporters
asked what he felt were silly, prying questions.
He answered most but drew the line at others,
He felt, for example, that his golf score was no
body's business, so he never revealed it.
"Often he was unable to get much-needed re
laxation. Once word got around that he planned
to play golf at Palm Springs, Calif. Such a crowd
gathered that he couldn't enjoy the game. When
incidents such as this multiply, they can hurt"
Is there a solution? One observer in Washing
ton thinks not '"When a man seeks the Presi
dency, he knows he must give up all hope for a
normal home life. Everything he does, thinks,
wears, and says is news. He belongs to the nation.
While some of the so-called intrusions may show
bad taste, they are nonetheless part of our demo
cratic process." '
But others believe the notion that a President
is everyone's property at all hours and in every
circumstance is wrong. They point out that the
President is also a person and that he and most
especially his family are entitled to some de
gree of privacy.
As one official put it: "When a man is elected
President, he is raised to an exalted position, but
he still belongs to the human race, and privacy
is the right of all humans."
Hullo there, Clyde. I'm lookin' for
a feller named . . . uh . . . lemme
see ... H. D. Tharew. You see him?
My name is Thoreau. Henry Thoreau.
Oh. Well, listen, Hank, the folks in Discord
aren't too happy about this place you got out here
in the woods. It don't look good. Gives the place
a bad name.
I don't bother the people in Discord. I see no
reason why they should bother me.
Town's thinkin' of puttin' a new freeway
through this swamp. Figure we can get the gov
mint to hold still for federal funds. Got to be
progressive, you know. Might put up a shopping
center or industrial tract Be good for business.
Business? What have I to do with business? I
walk here in the woods. I listen to the music of
the world about me. Go away, sir. Leave us alone.
Oh, come on, Hank, or whoever you are. You
can't stand in the way of progress. We got to
tear down and build up. You been out here too
long. Times change.
Time is a stream we go a-flshing in.
Come off it. What kinda beatnik are you? I
tell you this junk heap has got to go. I heard
about you sittin' out here eatin' berries and talk
in' to snakes. You got a corner on a valuable
piece of property here, Mac. We kin get us a court
order and throw you out by morning.
Morning is when I am awake and there is a
dawn in me.
What? People don't go for that jazz. We got
progress, I tell you. We put up neon signs and
beer joints and superhighways and low-rent hous
ing. We got to have more public buildings to
write our names on and. more popcorn for the
sacks we throw on the highway. We got a moon
rocket cookin' and trouble with the Beds and you
sit around here doin nothin'. You're unpatriotic,
that's what You're a pinko.
Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.
Well, I've had it. O.K., boys, come and get him.
I told you this Tharew would be as kooky as they
come. Now Hank, you just let these nice fellers
put that little jacket on you. They're gonna take
you for a ride in that big car. You don't wanta
sit around in the woods holdin' a fish in your
hands and talkin' that crazy junk the rest of your
life, do you?
What are you, Tharew? Some kind of nut?
The Best of Patty Johnson
Sixty of the beat-loved essays of Patty Johnson
are available in an attractive book. For copies,
please send SI. SO each, postpaid, to Family Weekly
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