53 Years- A record run
I was introduced to the Kennedy brothers in August of 1956 watching the Democratic Convention on television. Adlai Stevenson, the presidential nominee, bounced the choice of a running mate to the convention and 38 year old John Kennedy competed with Senator Estes Kefauver for the second spot on the ticket. I was 10 years old and watched the convention on the televison at the White’s camp, the cabin next to my families on Big Sebego Lake.
I had never paid a lot of attention to national politics. I knew Eisenhower was President. He was a nice grandfather. Kennedy was different. He was an adult of that magic age when they were still fun to be around, a lot like the White’s daughter, Bev. She was cool and sometimes I got to stay with her when the parents went home for the week. She was in her 20's. I guess she was a teacher but not like any I had in school. She was, to my young eyes, beautiful. She owned an old 1947 Ford convertible and never felt the need to act like an adult. We watched old movies into the late night long after my mom would have sent me to bed. For some reason the one that sticks with me 53 years later is Stolen Face. Paul Henreid falls for Lizabeth Scott. Who wouldn’t? She leaves Paul and goes back to her fiancé. Paul, who is a plastic surgeon, then operates on a disfigured woman prisoner and makes her look like Lizabeth. But, alas, the bad inside this replacement starts to show through just when the real Lizabeth comes back into Paul’s life. This was the stuff that I was missing by being forced to go to bed by 10 P.M..
I remember one time Bev loaded up her 47 Ford with me and her Cocker Spaniel and went to
the beach at Sebego Lake State Park. It wasn’t far from our camp and the water was the same, but the beach was full of people and things like hamburger stands. We were laying on the beach when her dog wanted Bev to throw a stone to fetch. Bev complied but the dog was tireless and very insistent that the game not end. Finally, to buy herself a moment of peace, she took the stone and hurled it just as far as she could. We watched it soar through the air toward the trees that lined the beach. Then we saw it land right in the middle of a picnic table occupied by a large family just sitting down for lunch. An adult would have marched over and apologized. Bev gave the order to put our heads down in hopes that the family which found them selves under attack would not know who was responsible.
We put our heads on the blanket but every few seconds we would sneak a peak to monitor the situation. At first it looked good. The dog couldn’t find the rock. But the dog was patient and after a few minutes we watched in horror as the dog climbed onto the table and picked up the rock in her teeth. As the dog brought the stone back to us, Bev whispered to the dog to take the rock elsewhere, but the dog laid the rock and the crime at our feet. Thus outed, we did what we should have done in the first place: we quickly moved down the beach.
We put our heads on the blanket but every few seconds we would sneak a peak to monitor the situation. At first it looked good. The dog couldn’t find the rock. But the dog was patient and after a few minutes we watched in horror as the dog climbed onto the table and picked up the rock in her teeth. As the dog brought the stone back to us, Bev whispered to the dog to take the rock elsewhere, but the dog laid the rock and the crime at our feet. Thus outed, we did what we should have done in the first place: we quickly moved down the beach.
Once, I went to a drive-in with Bev and a man who had asked her out several times
There were two great things about this. First he owned a new Buick Roadmaster Convertible.I’d never been in any car that extravagant. Secondly, my job was to annoy the guy or more accurately not leave him alone with Bev. Bev figured she’d said no enough times so that this guy should realize she had no interest in him romantically, but she doubted the message had penetrated his ego. After we got to the drive-in he tried to bribe me to make myself scarce by suggesting I take some money and go to the refreshment stand. At first I showed little interest. Later he offered more money. “How about a cheeseburger, some fries, a soft drink, followed up by ice cream and a couple of candy bars? Here kid, here’s ten dollars, bring me the change if there is any.”
I took the money, got out of the car and started to walk toward the refreshment stand. I could hear the pleasure in his voice as he told me to take my time. I could feel Bev thinking I sold her out for a few pieces of silver, leaving her to a wrestling match. I’d milked it for all its worth, then I walked back to the car and said I was scared to go alone and asked if Bev would come with me. As the man was telling me I’m being foolish, Bev was out of the car offering me encouragement while she gave me a playful pinch on the arm for having appeared to welch on our deal.
So in the summer of 1956, there was JFK and Bev. Not only did JFK look young, not only was he a war hero, he came with Bev's endorsement. She thought he was exciting and was disappointed when he lost to Kefauver. My parents thought the White’s interest in Kennedy might be related to the fact that they were Catholics. To me it was much simpler. I could imagine JFK doing the things that Bev did. He was an adult but he saw the world through young eyes.
Four years later, in 1960 we saw a lot more of the Kennedy's. We watched Jack at the Texas delegation saying Lyndon was such a good Majority Leader that he should stay right there. There was brother Bobby in shirt sleeves running the first modern convention operation. There was Teddy with the Wyoming delegation as they put JFK over the top. There were all three brothers three playing football. The reaction of my generation to the Kennedys underlines what we all want most in a President: a man or woman who sees the world through the same eyes as we see it. The Kennedys saw it through young, questioning, impatient, critical and caring eyes. Eyes that saw Sputnik not as a tiny satellite launched by the Soviets, but in the way Ben Franklin saw one of the first the hot air balloons. When asked what good it was Ben replied, “no more use than a new born baby.” Kennedy’s response to Sputnik was that we must own the future and the new science that baby Sputnik foreshadowed.
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since those early years. We’ve learned in detail about the personal shortcomings of the Kennedy brothers. We watched Teddy become old and decidedly unathletic. Yet somehow Teddy never lost the ability to see the world through young eyes. He wasn’t a grandfather like Ike. He was the grandfather who told us exciting stories, took us on adventures and bought us ice cream and warned us not to tell our parents. 53 years from our introduction in 1956. That’s a long run.
I took the money, got out of the car and started to walk toward the refreshment stand. I could hear the pleasure in his voice as he told me to take my time. I could feel Bev thinking I sold her out for a few pieces of silver, leaving her to a wrestling match. I’d milked it for all its worth, then I walked back to the car and said I was scared to go alone and asked if Bev would come with me. As the man was telling me I’m being foolish, Bev was out of the car offering me encouragement while she gave me a playful pinch on the arm for having appeared to welch on our deal.
So in the summer of 1956, there was JFK and Bev. Not only did JFK look young, not only was he a war hero, he came with Bev's endorsement. She thought he was exciting and was disappointed when he lost to Kefauver. My parents thought the White’s interest in Kennedy might be related to the fact that they were Catholics. To me it was much simpler. I could imagine JFK doing the things that Bev did. He was an adult but he saw the world through young eyes.
Four years later, in 1960 we saw a lot more of the Kennedy's. We watched Jack at the Texas delegation saying Lyndon was such a good Majority Leader that he should stay right there. There was brother Bobby in shirt sleeves running the first modern convention operation. There was Teddy with the Wyoming delegation as they put JFK over the top. There were all three brothers three playing football. The reaction of my generation to the Kennedys underlines what we all want most in a President: a man or woman who sees the world through the same eyes as we see it. The Kennedys saw it through young, questioning, impatient, critical and caring eyes. Eyes that saw Sputnik not as a tiny satellite launched by the Soviets, but in the way Ben Franklin saw one of the first the hot air balloons. When asked what good it was Ben replied, “no more use than a new born baby.” Kennedy’s response to Sputnik was that we must own the future and the new science that baby Sputnik foreshadowed.
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since those early years. We’ve learned in detail about the personal shortcomings of the Kennedy brothers. We watched Teddy become old and decidedly unathletic. Yet somehow Teddy never lost the ability to see the world through young eyes. He wasn’t a grandfather like Ike. He was the grandfather who told us exciting stories, took us on adventures and bought us ice cream and warned us not to tell our parents. 53 years from our introduction in 1956. That’s a long run.
Consider this. The other new team to come on the national stage at the 1956 convention and become a national phenomenon was NBC newsmen Huntley and Brinkley
They became the real news powerhouse of the 50's and early 60's. Unmentioned in most eulogies for Walter Cronkite was the fact that in those days Huntley and Brinkley were so dominant that CBS abandoned Cronkite for Robert Trout and Roger Mudd in its 1964 convention coverage, hoping to find a formula to beat NBC. To most Americans in 2009 Cronkite was ancient history, so Huntley and Brinkley must be prehistoric, old and dated like your grand parents wedding picture, like a 1947 Ford or even a 1956 Roadmaster. And yet Ted, who came on the national stage at the same time, was, on the day he died, more a part of today than any other member of the Congress. Ted’s candle might not have burned as bright as Jack’s and Bobby’s but it never dimmed and was never extinguished as he sailed through storm after storm. This Labor Day I think I’ll jump in an old ‘47 Ford Convertible and head for the beach.