JFK UNDERSTOOD DIFFERENCES IN PERSPECTIVES FROM ONE END OF PA AVE TO THE OTHER
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) At 4 p.m. on January 24, 1962, President John F. Kennedy held his 21st news conference in the State Department Auditorium here in the Nation's Capital.
The President was asked...
"Mr. President,
In connection with the House Rules Committee* vote...an interview with you...included this sentence: 'The President sees at the end of a year how nearly impossible it is to govern under the system of divided powers.' Would you care to comment on that view?
The President answered...
"Of course there is a difficulty between a Congress and a President. We are coordinate branches. There are different views, different interests. Perspectives are different from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other.
I've been 14 times longer at one end of it than I have been at the other, so I appreciate the Congress' responsibilities."**
*The House Committee on Rules is responsible for the rules under which bills will be presented in the House of Representatives. The HCR was founded in 1789 & its power increased over time. Today, it is one of the most powerful committees on The Hill. During JFK's presidency, the HCR blocked his proposed legislation on civil rights and education.
**JFK served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1946-1953) & U.S. Sentate (1953-1961).
SOURCE
"The President's News Conference of January 24, 1962," Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy, January 1 to December 31, 1962, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1963.
