Medford mail tribune., November 28, 1963, Image 4

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THURSDAY.
"Everyone in Southern Oregon
Reade The Mat Tribune"
Published Dally except Saturday by
u North Fir St, Ph. 77H-M41
MBLir umj rniwtim w
ROBERT W
rOhL. Editor
HERB GREY AdvertUlnl Manaear
GERALD T LATHAM, But Mar
ERIC ALLEN JR.. Mne Edltol
EARL H ADAMS. City Editor
RICHARD JEWETT, Sport Editor
OLIVE al AKi.H&H women uimm
DALE ER1CKSON. ClrculaUot. MP
An Tnn.m,nrif,nt NWIDID1
Entered a aecond clew matter at
Medioro. ureion unoer
March S, 17
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Flight o' Time
Medford and Jackson County
History from th. files of Trw
Mall Tribune 10, 20, 30, 40
and 50 yean ago.
10 YEARS AGO
Nov. 28, 1953 (Saturday)
A 38-year-old logger from
Tiller was the object of search
by state police today after a
Jacksonville shooting in which
his wife "missed death by
inches."
Nine young local men have re
cently been Inducted into the
armed forces at the Portland
induction center.
20 YEARS AGO
Nov. 28, 1941 (Sunday)
C. T. Reaney, Medford, repre
senting American Hotel Asso-
, ciation, states that "women
have earned a place in hotel
nost-war employment, i
From Arthur Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pot" column: 'The
.OPA has ruled Santa Claus,
due to the manpower shortage,
is 'non-essential.' This applies
only to children and not to so
called 'Good Neighbor' nations
like Argentina."
30 YEARS AGO
Nov. 28, 1933 (Tuesday)
Local intereit high as Med
ford football team prepares to
meet Bend for state champion-
6hState Horticultural convention
scheduled to open Dec. 13 in
Medford.
40 YEARS AGO '
Nov. 28, 1923 (Wednesday)
Halfback Cliff Daly and Quar
terback Glen Fabrfck star as
Medford High football team de
feats Ashland 12 to 10 to win
Southern Oregon championship.
Burglar enters home of city
marshal in Rogue River and
leaves after eating a meal and
stealing a shotgun.
50 YEARS AGO
Nov. 28, 1913 (Friday)
Stanton Griflis wins Thanks
giving day golf tournament at
Medford Golf and Country Club;
John Orth wins turkey shoot.
Sgt. Pat Mego of Medford po
lice department reported recov
ering from recent appendec
tomy. What's Your I.Q.?
Nine or fen correct It superior;
seven or eight h) eicellenti five er
sii is good.
1. Is tapioca obtained from the
roots of the cassava or guava?
2. Is the Gothic arch round,
or pointed?
3. Enchiladas are eaten most
In which country?
4. What two numbers arc used
as a term for confusion?
5. Who wrote, "To err is hu
man, to forgive divine"?
6. Name the man who Is re.
ported to have purchased Man-
flatten Island from the Indians
for the sum of $24.
7. Is the Speaker of the House
of Representatives selected by
the entire House or oy me ma
jorlly party?
8. Who won the heavyweight
boxing title from Jess Willard?
9. How many outs in an in'
ing of baseball?
10. Is a nephogram a medical
chart, a smoke signal, or a pno
toaraoh of clouds?
Answers: I. Cassava, t. Point
cd. 3. Mexico. 4. Slxea and sev
ens. S. Alexander Pope. I. Peter
A! 'null. 7. Majority party.
.'-ck Dcmpsry. 9. Six. 1. Pho-
-,"'1 of clouds.
4 A
Pt5fl& rWuHII!
VAelOCtATIOn)
NATION A I EDITOtlAl
NOVEMBER U. 1M3
Queer Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving Day of 1963 is a queer one
lor still in the minds ol
events of last weekend.
Things are beginning
but they 11 never be quite the same.
Still, and despite our'rrfourning, we as Ameri
cans have much for which we should be gratefu
and thankful. Not least
our government is capable of continuity, and a
quick and effective transfer of authority. With
out this, there would be chaos today, whereas we
now have a new President, vigorous, informed,
capable, and desirous of carrying on the program
so eloquently voiced by
a
IT IS OUR belief that, as our families gather for
the rites of Thanksgiving, each of us will
be a little more conscious and a little prouder of
the traditions which went
American dream.
Most of us give them
us observe them only when it suits our conven
ience.
After the emotional
one hopes that words like
"annalifu "lrvn "fnloi -
"decency" will take on new meaning or, rather,
regain the meanings they
PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S Thanksgiving Proc-
1 lamation, prepared before his death, appears
elsewhere in today's Mail Tribune. But this para
graph bears repetition and thought:
"Today we give our thanks, most of all, for the ideals of
honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers for the
decercy of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of
will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed
and which we must seek every day to emulate. As we express
our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appre
ciation is not to utter words but to live by them."
Let it be so. E.A.
Total Recall
Up in Albany, a group
ing petitions for the recall of the mayor and en
tire city council. The dispute arose after some
changes were made in the
If enough petitions are
put to a vote, and if the
cipal operations in Albany will enme to a full
stop.
The Albany Democrat
no one would be left to appoint new officials to
fill the vacancies, and that it would be necessary
to can a special election
T
HE PAPER adds:
' "Such an election would
is given, which would require
days for posting of notices or
election.
"Meanwhile there could be no
or other claimants of city funds
A hiatus of. a month
ment could be disastrous. In addition, there is
no guarantee that the wrongs, real or fancied,
which led to the recall
fied by a new set of officials.
i
IN VIEW of these circumstances, it would ap-
pear to be an act of irresponsibility to sign
the petitions, or to vote for the recall. There is
too much chance of city government simply be
ing wiped out, if only temporarily.
The more responsible
dissidents would be to seek candidates represent
ing their point of view, and then work for their
election at the next regular voting time.
This would, in the long run, accomplish the
same ends, and it would
chaos in municipal affairs.
Foolproof
Charles V. Stanton,
News-Review, recently was pondering the state's
need for new revenues to make up the deficit
caused by the Oct. 15 election.
Musing, tongue in cheek, he suggests, first,
a tax on golf balls.
"Golf balls most certainly are a luxury," he
said. "Furthermore, taxes,
ing philosophy, should
with ability to pay. How
rich than to levy an impost ot golt balls r
He also suggested that with this income as
sured, we could subsidize
water hazards, thereby increasing sales (and thus
tax revenue) of golf balls.
MEXT, STANTON proposes that a machine be
created which is part parking meter and
part slot machine.
Each would be rigged
a motorist nutting in a
the jackpot. This would
nappy to leed the meters, but would increase
revenues. (He didn't claim it would solve the
parking problem, though.)
Also, noting that, the state now allows horse
and dog racing, and regulates betting on them,
Stanton suggests we go one step further. Set up
state racing .-stables, he says, and then license
bookies throughout the stats for a percentage of
the betting turnover.
Maybe Charley hasn't devised a foolproof
method of increasing our tax income, but he's
had fun trying. E. A.
everyone are the awfu.
to "get back to normal,"
of these is the fact that
John f. Kennedy.
a e e
into the making of the
lip service, but many of
buffetings of recent days,
brotherhood, trust,
onno "rrnnA will anrl
once had.
of citizens is circulat
city's fire department.
signed, and the matter
vote is successful, muni
- Herald points out that
to do so.
not be held before due notice
an intervention of 30 to 40
advertising the date of the
payments made to employes
. . ."
or more in city govern
movement, will be recti
course of action for the
avoid the possibility of
h. A.
Tax Plan
editor of the Roseburg
according to our exist
be collected from those
better can we 'soak the
the links to put in more
so that every so often
narking coin would hit
not only make drivers
New
k-e47 iwc.M.ni--w
...Communications...
Lallan to the Editor muit bear the
the uie of a pen name or initial for
all letter! with a view to clarification ano condensation. Letters submitted tor puBiicarisn musi nor
400 wordi. Tho letters printed In this column do not necessarily represent the views of the paper; in fact
the contrary it often the case.
November Reflections
To the Editor: It was in No
vember, 1623, when Governor
Bradford of the Plymouth col
ony proclaimed a day of Thanks
giving because of the fine har
vest that followed after a hard
winter. In 1789 President Wash
inton made it a national holiday.
Fortunately, we usually have
bounteous crops; in fact, in some
communities surplus wheat is
now "stored" on the streets!
Manv people are convinced that
such surpluses are not an evi
dence of over-production but of
UNDER - CONSUMPTION. Un
doubtedly, the thousands of job
less, half-starved dwellers in our
so-called "blighted" areas would
be glad to buy more bread and
other wheat products if they
but HAD THE MONEY. How
prophetically the poet Edwin
Markham, in his "The Man with
the Hoe," termed the specter
of starvation that still haunts
mankind a momentous occur
rence "fraught with menace to
the universe !
During colonial days only the
rich could afford to send their
boys to private boarding
schools; the formal education
of girls was considered super
fluous, or at best secondary. It
was not until the 19th century
that free public schools were
established for both sexes. Uni
versal education was opposed
by the well-to-do as a waste of
tax money, and early educators,
such as the famed Horace Mann,
were bitterly criticized by
churchmen for creating a "God
less" system of instruction.
The art of politics was, of
course, practised solely by the
memolk; it was not until 1920
that the 19th Amendment to the
Constitution granted nation-wide
suffrage to women. I wonder
what our Pilgrim Fathers would
say If they wore to come back
to find that our womenfolk arc
blithely ignoring the admonition
of the Apostle Paul "to be in
silence, and are even aspiring
to the Presidency of the nation?
Freedom of speech is still
with us though challenged
from time to time by would-be
bookburners and supcrpatriots.
Freedom of religion is well es
tablished; but for a long time
religious prejudice and perse
cution were sordid aspects of
our society. Certainly our Prot
estant forefathers never dream
ed that a Catholic would some
day occupy the White House,
nor that divided Christianity
would ever sponsor a ecumeni
cal movement. It has been e
long time since a group of fanat
ics in Salem, Mass., executed
a score of witches. Thank good
ness, the only "witches that
we have around today are those
trick-or-treat" goblins on the
loose at Halloween!
George M. Babcock
Route 2, Box-63-B
Jacksonville, Ore.
For Nothing?
To Ihc Editor: tears were
shed; some openly, some in the
hearts and some in the minds
of all who fell the ineffable
shock and sorrow our nation's
loss.
My tears at President Ken
nedy's unnecessary death wcio
for a man; a young, vital man
who, with his capable back
ground and intelligence strug
gled against almost impossible
odds for decency, kindneis,
peace and tolerance.
Then within hours, at the
height of the world's mourning,
another man died. I cried again
at that moment of death for
Lee Oswald. 1 cried not nr
the man but for the nation. For
my wonderful United States in
which so much hale and re
venge and bigotry has eaten a
free-running sore.
I cried because there is no
time to allow the sore to heal.
The only time is NOW. And the
medicine appears to be fast dis
appearing; a powerful and
healthy dose of individual, per
sonal introspection.
How, 1 ask myself repeatedly,
Chapter
name and addreii of the writer,
publication it permiiilble. The Mail
can an invincible man such as
President Kennedy die for a
principle, only to have its very
purpose forgotten in the next
moment?
Or perhaps he died for noth
ing.
G. B. Fartan,
723 S. Newtown St.,
Medford
'. Twelve Things
To the Editor: Twelve things
to remember:
1. The value of time.
2. The success of persever
ance.
3. The pleasure of working.
4. The dignity of simplicity.
5. The worth of character.
6. The power of kindness.
7. The influence of example.
8. The obligation of duty.
9. The wisdom of economy.
10. The virtue of patience.
11. The improvement of tal
ent.
12. The joy of originating. :
Jerry Golden,
520 N. Front St.,
Medford
Can We Do Less?
To the Editor: Well we re
call in our late President Ken
nedy's inaugural address of
1061 ask not wnat your
country can do for you ask
rather what you can do for your
country.
How sad tnat ne was caueo
upon to make the supreme sac
rifice. Can we do less?
Our hope, sympathy and love
joins yours there.
The Mary A. Williams
Family,
722 37th St.,
Sacramento, 16, Calif.
God Weeps
To the Editor:
A nation mourns,
With rain swept streets
And sodden sky,
And why not rain?
Cannot God cry
That small men kill
And good men die?
The million prayers
That haunt the air
What chance, indeed,
God not be there?
She docs not walk alone,
Who keeDS her vicil
By the casket holding but his
clay,
She is his wife ... in death,
today.
She gave him up to death,
Perforce, death took him
From her side.
But she had promised
And will that promise keep,
To comfort, as a wife,
She has no time to weep.
Before the wet dawn came.
They both returned, once more,
She follows as they bring
Him through the White House
door.
Assassins weep.
Have you no tears to shed?
Then let the grey skies weep,
Our president is dead.
An Anonymous Reader
Central Point, Ore.
We Felt It
To the Editor: In the history
books, we read about the "shot
that was heard around the
world." It could truly be said
that the shot that took the life
of our President was the "shot
that was FELT around the
world."
Ruby Ralston
. 2602 Biddle Rd.
Medford
Protest
To the Editor: This letter,
which attempts to express the
feeling of ail the members of
Local 9208 ot the Communica
tions Workers of America, Med
ford, Ore., concerning the pass-
ins of our late president, is
written with reluctance and in
Indignation.
It is written with reluctance
for these few mere words can-
not express the true measure
of sorrow that each of us has
over the passing of John F. Ken
nedy, whose beliefs and ideals
were so encouraging to the
cause ot working people.
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON
President
Worries, Problems to
y
PHIl NIWSOM
UPI foreign Newi
Analyit
This was a week of disap
pointment as well as sadness
for Japan.
Originally it had been sched
uled that a distinguished Unit
ed States delegation headed by
Secretary of State Dean Rusk
and Treasury Secretary Doug
las Dillon would meet this week
with their Japanese counter
parts for a three-day discussion
of mutual interests and prob
lems. Instead, on the day the meet
ings were to start Premier Hy
ato Ikeda and Foreign Minister
Masayoshi Ohira were in Wash
ington attending the funeral of
President Kennedy.
And the discussions which
although under certain circumstances
Tribune reserves the right to edit
This letter is written in in
dignation over the action of our
employer, Pacific Northwest
Bell Telephone Company, who
refused to permit the installa
tion forces to observe the Na
tional Day of Mourning for our
late president. We were shocked
and outraged at this demand of
a seemingly benevolent and
public-spirited corporation.
This demand would have been
understandable if our services
and labor had been necessary to
help with the increased work
load that all telephone compan
ies experienced last weekend;
but, instead, we were called to
work to continue installations
of new telephones so that, ap
parently, the company could
commence charging for its serv
ices one day earlier.
We fully realize that this is
but a trivial incident when com
pared to the events, and their
consequences, of last weekend;
but it was not incidental or tri
vial to our members. In addi
tion to the personal loss that
we all experienced we felt that
we had 'also been stripped of our
dignity by the commercially
motivated demand of this finan
cial corporate plant. We believe
our only recourse is to maKe
our indignation known through
a public protest.
Lyle R. Brown,
President Local 9208
Communications Workers
of America
Medford
Clarification
To the Editor: With due re
spect to Mr. Dale of Ashland
Oregon and to the editor in his
note of Nov. IS, 1963 regarding
what Is claimed in regard to a
national holiday, namely Veter
ans Day, I respectfully cite to
you the Encylclopedia Brittanl
ca, vol. 2, page 387 under
"Armistice Day or Veterans
Day," which states that on the
anniversary of'Nov. 11, 1918 and
the signing of the armistice be
tween the allies and Germany
it was designated as a National
holiday by Great Britain,
France and trhe United Mates.
In the United States the Presi
dent signed a bill on June 1,
1954 redesignating the day as
"Veterans Day" in honor of
veterans of all wars. I hope this
clarifies my statement in
gard to a national holiday.
Herman Lee Wood
725 N.W. Second St.
Grants Pass, Ore.
re-
Rest In Peace
To the Editor: As the shock
ing news of President Kennedy's
assassination swept across our
land and around the entire
world it brought forth mixed
emotions, all dominated by sor
row for the passing of a great
man at the height of a career
dedicated to the welfare of man
kind. One might ask, what has been
accomplished by the outburst
of rifle fire that snuffed out his
life? The answer is much; more
than is revealed at this early
date, not what the assassin had
in mind, if a mind so warped
can have a purpose. It did not
cancel out his, our late Presi
dent's, program, for if the law
makers can only see it is made
plain by the crowds that came
to pay last respects. They came
not to view uie flag-draped cof
fin, not out of curiosity, but to
show before bod and man that
they loved him. Their patient
waiting In line said plainer than
words "We respect you and
your efforts. Let it continue!"
No, this sniper's bullet did
not remove John Fitzgerald Ken
nedy from the American scene.
it only removed him from the
living and enshrined him in the
hearts of his fellow countrymen
for as long as there is an
America. Nor will we soon for
get the courage, devotion and
loyalty shown by wife when she
cradled his bleeding head in her
lap through the few minutes of
his life, nor did she falter or
show panic as long there was a
duty to perform. Her name will
be there beside his in many
pages of history of this brutal
blot on the records of our
Kennedy's
the Japanese had hoped would
be so fruitful were put off in
definitely.
it was just one more exam
ple of the paralysis that had
fallen over many other nations
with close ties to the United
States as it settled back into a
period of enforced waiting upon
the policies and decisions of the
new President, Lyndon B. John
son. Until the death of President
Kennedy, the conservative Li
beral - Democratic government
of Ikeda had been off to an
auspicious new start.
General elections earlier in
the month had returned his
party to power with a comfort
able majority of 283 in the 467
seat House of Representatives.
His Socialist opponents had
gained seven seats for a total
of 144. But that total was far
short of the 180 the Socialists
had asked in order to be sure
of blocking any changes in Ja
pan's no-war constitution.
The Socialists had cam
paigned on two old standby is
sues, expanded trade wun nco
China and an end to Japan's
alliance with the United States,
and on a new one, Japan's
mounting inflation.
Ikeda's answer had been to
point to the millions of new
television antenna sprouting
from Japanese rooftops, thou
sands of new refrigerators in
Strictly
Personal
By Sydnay J. Harris
(c Field Enterprises. Inc.
PERSONAL PREJUDICES
It is one of the ironies of na
ture that intelligence and talent
do not necessarily go together;
and so we find people of talent
without the intelligence to con
trol their sifts, and people of
intelligence without the talent
to express their perceptiveness,
Those who tend to "blame"
science for recent frightening
developments in warfare and
technology should recall what
Gustav Le Bon said a long
time ago: "Science has prom
ised us troth ... It has never
promised us either peace or
happiness."
.
Marx and his followers were
guilty of a dangerous half truth
when they propounded uie max
im that "The moneyed class is
not fit to rule"; this is true, but
they failed -to add that NO class
is fit to rule and perhaps the
proletanet least of all.
The only time we are. will
ing to admit that there are
two sides to every question is
when we do not adhere too
strongly to either side.
It is the grandness of sound
rather than the objectivity of
meaning, that sways most of us;
for instance, "a thousand"
sounds greater than "twelve
hundred" because the very word
"thousand" is more impressive
than "hundred," until we take
a second look at the context.
The most false dichotomy
we can make is between
"mind" and "emotions" or
"heart" and "head" for
thinking and feeling are in
separably linked to one an
other like the blades of a scis
sors, and we cannot cut any
thing accurately or cleanly un
less both blades are operating
in conjunction.
Children, until they are civil
ized, tend to laugh at cruelty,
deformity, or misfortune; in
short, at anything they consider
alien or inferior to themselves;
as we get older, we discipline
these reactions and no longer
laugh at cruelty, deformity or
misfortune in individuals but,
rawer, we transfer such reac
tions to large and anonymous
groups of people who, we per
mit ourselves the luxury of feel
ing, are alien and inferior. But
are we any better than the
children?
In a surprisingly large num
ber of families, the wrong
member is going for psychia
tric help: the more disturbed
one who is rigidly opposed to
getting help has driven the
more flexible and less dis
turbed one Into treatment
which can hardly have a sat
isfactory solution.
The peril of divided authority
was never more forcefully or
tersely put than by Napoleon,
when he observed: "One bad
general does better than two
good ones.
time. Jacqueline Kennedy will
forever remain loved, revered
and respected in the hearts of
her countrymen.
The vast crowds waiting in
the rain and filing past his bier
in solemn respect and a clear
cut vote for his two most im
portant measures, one to cut
taxes, the other civil rights, in
all its intent, and it is to be
hoped that Congress will see
this and pass these lonn over-
due pieces of legislation. There
could be no greater monument
erected to his memory.
May his soul rest In peace.
C. R. Burrill
8344 Cherry St.
Central Point, Ore.
L
Death Brings New
Japanese
Japanese homes and an aver
age annual gain of 10 per cent
in the gross national product.
Except for the candidates,
the Japanese yawned their way
throuh. Nonetheless the Japan
ese had problems.
They were worried about the
possibility of new barriers
against the entry of Japanese
goods into the United States
States and they wanted the
United States to agree to a re
laxation of trade rules with
Red China.
Now discussions of both
issues would be put off.
President Kennedy's death
brought new worries,
The Japanese stock market
plunged downward, reflecting
PRESIDENT JOHNSON
WASHINGTON - "If I didn't
want the job myself, I'd get be
hind Lyndon. He's the ablest
man I know in American poli
tics, and he really cares about
this country as I want' a Presi
dent to care." -
In this fashion, in an interval
of his hard-fought contest for
the Democratic nomination and
almost oft-hand, President John
F. Kennedy gave his own esti
mate of his chief rival of that
time, President Lyndon B.
Johnson. ......
In President Kennedy's years
in office, his false friends (of
whom every President has a
few) and his Vice President's
false friends (of whom every
politician also has a few) did
everything in their power to
poison the Kennedy-Johnson re
lationship.
It is a tribute to the character
of both men that the attempt
always failed. In a certain
sense, it is a miracle that it did
fail, for no Vice President, in
the nature of his office, can
ever hold more than a watching
brief.
PRESIDENT Kennedy was an
active, leading, all-directing
chief of the American state.
President Eisenhower was a
passive, reacting, watching-and-waiting
chief of state. But even
President Eisenhower publicly
and somewhat cruelly admitted
that he could not call to mind
a single contribution made to
his Administration by his Vice
President, despite all the Madi
son Avenue build-up of the
countless contributions of Rich
ard M. Nixon.
President Kennedy would nev
er have said that sort of thing
about his Vice President, for he
always valued and constantly
sought President Johnson's ad
vice on every kind of matter.
Yet the fact remains that it
must have been enormously
hard for President Johnson to be
only the man holding a watch
ing brief in the Kennedy years,
even if called upon as a valued
advisor as he was; and
even if required to participate
actively in the policy-making
process at all times of serious
crisis as he also was.
TT MUST have been hard for
President Johnson to hold
only a watching brief, because
he is an almost pure man of
action, in the way that his
predecessor never was. No pure
man of action, like President
Johnson, can simultaneously act
and stand apart, so to say,
coolly judging and even on oc
casion mocking his own action.
President Kennedy did that.
President Johnson will never do
that.
Thus President Kennedy could
never tear a passion to tatters,
in the way the political gallery
gods often enjoy, and hated
above all things any public
show of his own emotions, even
when they were very deep in
sss,-ix. k-rk -swat
. and, above all, thank yon. President Kennedy and
America, for giving as hope!"
Leaders
investors' fears that the new
Johnson administration would
slow the drive toward freer in
ternational trade.
There also was wonder
whether the Johnson adminis
tration would maintain the
same close ties with Japan as
had been followed by Kennedy,
and finally there was another
reflected throughout the world.
The newspaper Asahl expressed
it editorially by saying:
. "In view of the magnitude of
the personal leadership of Mr.
Kennedy in foreign affairs and
the depth of mutual understand
ing that existed between Mr.
Kennedy and Premier Khrush
chev, we are bound to feel
some anxiety."
Matter
of Fact
By Joseph Alsop
fe) New York Herald Tribune 8nd(ctt
deed. Whereas President John
son downright enjoys tearing a
passion to tatters, if this is jus
tified by the occasion; and like
Sir Winston Churchill, he is
wholly capable of giving way
to public tears if he is genuinely
moved.
This difference between the
two men explains the anomaly
for it is a real anomaly
of the different kinds of support
they have enjoyed and the dif
ferent kinds of toleration they
have commanded.
.
PRESIDENT Kennedy's con-
templative, intellectual side
appealed to the American Left.
Thus the Left forgave him a de
gree of conservatism, mani
fested in the tax bill, for in
stance, which ought to have
earned, but of course did not
earn, the prayerful gratitude of
the whole business community.
President Johnson's character
as a pure man of action appeals
to the American Right, and
especially to the senior leaders
of the Senate and House who
acknowledge him as the great
master of their craft. Thus he
has had support from many
who suspected President Ken
nedy, and he also arouses idiotic
suspicions among many who
have no smallest ground for
suspecting him.
This only goes to show the
powerful political influence of
silly, superficial, even rather
vulgar stereotypes. But if you
look behind the stereotypes,
what do you find in Lyndon
Baines Johnson? You find, in
fact, the qualities that are most
wanted in a President.
VOU find common sense, cour
age, intelligence, a knack of
getting things done, and the
deep, true concern for this coun
try that President Kennedy him
self noted in the quotation above
given. To this summary of
President Johnson's prime qual
ities, one must add, with warm
gratitude, that the new Presi
dent has not put a foot wrong
in the tragic, difficult circum
stances of these last days.
Lyndon Baines Johnson is in
fact a very big man, not just
physically, but in all his dimen
sions as a human being. That
was why John Fitzgerald Ken
nedy chose him as his vice
President, on the specific
ground, as this reporter can
testify, "that you've just got to
think about what might nap
pen." :i
When that choice was made,
it bitterly offended many com
promisers and breast beaters.
But although President Johnson
will no doubt make his mis
takes, as all Presidents must
do, this widely unexpected
choice should later be remem
bered as sovereign proof of the
enormous, enduring good luck
of the United States, just as the
untimely death of President
Kennedy will be remembered as
a cruel American loss.
v y'