Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy often responded to reporter's questions at his bi-weekly televised news conference with humor. February 14, 1962 was no exception,
The President was 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 (laughter) 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 meeting should be probably prepared at a lower level, and then we could have a....." (more laughter).
JFK+50 NOTE
This post first appeared on this blog on February 14, 2012, It is the #1 most popular post of JFK+50. Strom Thurmond was a thorn in the side of JFK beginning in 1960 when the SC senator refused to support him as the nominee of the Democratic Party because of his stand on civil rights. In 1964, ST joined the Republican Party and his state has not elected a Democrat to the US Senate since.
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