JFK NOT INTERESTED IN A "HEART-TO-HEART" WITH STROM
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) JFK+50's most popular post is the one on a question President Kennedy was asked at his press conference of February 14, 1962. A reporter asked...
"Mr. President, this being Valentine's Day, sir, do you think it might be a good idea if you would call Senator Strom Thurmond* of South Carolina down to the White House for a heart-to-heart talk about the whole disagreement over the censorship of the military speeches and what he calls your defeatist foreign policy?"
President Kennedy answered...
"Well, I think that that meeting should be probably prepared at a lower level..."
His answer was followed by hearty laughter from the White House press corps. This episode demonstrates how fast JFK was able to think on his feet, his wit, and above all his ability to defuse differences with political adversaries.
Earlier, in September, Senator Thurmond sent the following telegram to President Kennedy...
"Both you and the Attorney General have indicated that troops would not be used against a sovereign state...(but) new reports (are saying) that you are preparing to use force to enroll James Meredith at the University of Mississippi against the right of the state....to control its own educational system. (This) is most shocking and disturbing..."
*Strom Thurmond (1902-2003) was born in Edgefield, SC. He graduated from Clemson University in 1923 and was admitted to the bar in 1930. ST served in the army during WWII and served as SC governor from 1947-1951.
SOURCES
"A Malevolent Forrest Gump," by Michael O'Donnell, Washington Monthly, September/October 2012
"Deeply Unsettling Facts About Strom Thurmond," by Michael Anderson, RANKER, www.ranker.co/
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) JFK+50's most popular post is the one on a question President Kennedy was asked at his press conference of February 14, 1962. A reporter asked...
"Mr. President, this being Valentine's Day, sir, do you think it might be a good idea if you would call Senator Strom Thurmond* of South Carolina down to the White House for a heart-to-heart talk about the whole disagreement over the censorship of the military speeches and what he calls your defeatist foreign policy?"
President Kennedy answered...
"Well, I think that that meeting should be probably prepared at a lower level..."
His answer was followed by hearty laughter from the White House press corps. This episode demonstrates how fast JFK was able to think on his feet, his wit, and above all his ability to defuse differences with political adversaries.
Earlier, in September, Senator Thurmond sent the following telegram to President Kennedy...
"Both you and the Attorney General have indicated that troops would not be used against a sovereign state...(but) new reports (are saying) that you are preparing to use force to enroll James Meredith at the University of Mississippi against the right of the state....to control its own educational system. (This) is most shocking and disturbing..."
*Strom Thurmond (1902-2003) was born in Edgefield, SC. He graduated from Clemson University in 1923 and was admitted to the bar in 1930. ST served in the army during WWII and served as SC governor from 1947-1951.
In 1948, ST was the presidential nominee of the Dixiecrat party & served in the US Senate from 1956-2003. There he served as chair of the Judiciary Committee & the Armed Services Committee. Although a Democrat, in 1964 ST became a Republican in the aftermath of passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
When ST turned 100 in 2002, he became the oldest person to ever serve as a U.S. Senator. His filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 stands as the longest in Senate history. ST retired on Jan 3 2003.
SOURCES
"A Malevolent Forrest Gump," by Michael O'Donnell, Washington Monthly, September/October 2012
"Deeply Unsettling Facts About Strom Thurmond," by Michael Anderson, RANKER, www.ranker.co/
JFK at Press Conference
Nov 29 1961
Photo by Abbie Rowe
JFK Library Image
