JOHN JOHN GETS 'TINY FLAG' AT SPEAKER McCORMACK'S OFFICE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On November 25, 1963, National Day of Mourning for the late President John F. Kennedy, The Evening Star reports the President's three year old son, John F. Kennedy, Jr., "has a tiny flag 'for my Daddy.'"
John John, as he was often called, requested the flag while sitting in Speaker of the House John W. McCormack's office yesterday during the memorial service taking place in the Capitol Rotunda.
The Star says that John Jr. "was attracted to a desk set of several small American flags" so legislative assistant Martin Sweig* gave him one.
John John took the flag but asked if he could have flags for Caroline, his six year old sister, and "for my Daddy too."
*Dr. Martin Sweig was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts in 1922 to German Jewish immigrants & attended Georgetown University, earning his PhD in history, 1953.
MS, known as 'the mysterious Dr. Sweig', lived a few blocks from the US Capitol & served as legislative assistant for 24 years. He was acquitted in 1970 of charges of influence peddling.
SOURCES
"Kennedy's Son Gets A Flag 'For My Daddy'," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., November 25, 1963, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"Two Highly Placed, but Little Known, Capitol Figures," by Robert M. Smith, January 13, 1970, The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/
