"1ST PRESIDENTIAL BABY IN 68 YEARS"

PRESIDENT KENNEDY SHUTTLES BETWEEN OTIS AFB HOSPITAL & CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On August 8, 1963, The Evening Star reports that last evening Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was "rushed to a Boston hospital, 67 miles from Otis AFB...to have specialists help him to breathe more easily."

After a "solitary supper" at Squaw Island*, President Kennedy visited with his wife then flew to Boston to see baby Patrick who, born prematurely, was "encased in a kind of incubator called isolette."

*JFK & his family used the Brambletyde House on Squaw Island near Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

JFK+50 NOTE

This was the first time in 68 years that a baby was born to a sitting President of the United States.  In fact, JFK & GROVER CLEVELAND, both Democrats, are the only POTUS to have a baby born to their wives when they were in office.

SOURCE

"President Shuttling Between Hospitals," by Mary McGrory, The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., August 8, 1963, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

The Kennedys at the Brambletyde House

Squaw Island, MA

Photo by Cecil Stoughton

USNA/www.picryl.com/

PRESIDENT WATCHES HELPLESSLY THROUGH A SMALL PORTHOLE

JFK CONFERS WITH DOCTORS ON NEWBORN'S CONDITION

Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On August 8, 1963, a concerned President John F. Kennedy conferred with doctors at Children's Hospital here in Boston on the condition of his newly born son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy.

Baby Patrick was was born 5 and 1/2 weeks premature on August 7 at Otis Air Force Base Hospital where Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy had been rushed by helicopter from Hyannisport.

President Kennedy, who had flown by helicopter to Boston,  wore a white cap and gown as he "watched helplessly through a small porthole in the high-pressure chamber" where the baby was fighting for his life.

Antibiotics were not helping so as Ralph G. Martin writes...

"The only hope was that normal body functions would dissolve...a veil-like membrane (which) covered the inside of his walnut-size lungs..."*

*Hyaline membrane disease is caused by the development of an insufficiency of surfactant production and structural immaturity of the lungs.  It is the leading cause of death in premature births.

SOURCE

"A Hero For Our Time:  An Intimate Story of the Kennedy Years," by Ralph G. Martin, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1983.

YOU JUST SANK THE AIR FORCE BUDGET

JFK LOSES IT WHEN SEEING PHOTO OF NAVY HOSPITAL BED FOR JACKIE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On July 25, 1963, President John F. Kennedy lost his temper when he saw a photograph in the Washington Post of a Navy man standing in a bedroom built for Mrs. Kennedy at Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod in the event she went into labor.

The bedroom, funded at taxpayer expense, was provided by Jordan Marsh & Company at a cost of $5000.

The President, whose temper was rarely if ever seen in public, immediately telephoned USAF General Godfrey McHugh*.  JFK asked the General if he had seen the photo of "that silly bastard...(standing) next to the bed?"  The President added...

"You just sank the Air Force budget."

General McHugh's response to the President's tirade was to say that he was appalled.  JFK answered, 

"Well, I'm appalled too!"

The President was concerned that the photograph would convince Americans that his administration was wasting their money on "foolish" items for his family's own benefit.

*General Godfrey T. McHugh (1911-1997) was born in Brussels, Belgium & educated at the University of Paris.  GTM served in the USAF in WWII & received the Legion of Merit.  In 1961, he rose to the rank of Brigadier General & served as military aide to JFK.

SOURCE

"July 25, 1963:  Phone call about furniture purchase," www.youtube.com/

General Godfrey McHugh

Photo by Robert Knudsen (1962)

JFK Library Image

PATRICK BOUVIER KENNEDY

PATRICK BOUVIER KENNEDY BORN 52 YEARS AGO 

Falmouth, Massachusetts (JFK+50) Fifty-two years ago at 12:52 this afternoon, First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy gave birth to Patrick Bouvier Kennedy. 

The premature baby was delivered at Otis Air Force Base Hospital where Mrs. Kennedy had been rushed by helicopter from Hyannisport.  Patrick, born five and a half weeks premature and weighing 4 pounds 10.5 ounces, suffered from respiratory complications often seen in early births.

According to Secret Service agent Clint Hill, because the President had no travel plans for the day, Air Force One and other jets in the VIP fleet were unavailable.  JFK was still en route at the time the baby was delivered.  The President arrived 40 minutes later.

The baby, named after JFK's grandfather and Mrs. Kennedy's father, was transferred at 5:55 p.m.to Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston for specialized treatment.  The President traveled to Boston to be with Patrick while Clint Hill stayed at Otis with the First Lady.

Clint Hill writes...

"Every time I thought about baby Patrick, so small and alone inside the incubator, it nearly tore me apart.  Throughout this time, Mrs. Kennedy seldom woke up, but continued to remain in a stable condition."

Patrick Bouvier Kennedy passed away the next morning and funeral services were held on Saturday, August 10 in Boston.

SOURCE

"Mrs. Kennedy and Me," by Clint Hill with Lisa McCubbin, Gallery Books, New York, 2012.

PT 109 SURVIVORS RESCUED 

Solomon Islands (JFK+50) The survivors of PT109,  including 11 of the 13 man crew and their commander, Lt. John F. Kennedy, were rescued 72 years ago today, Saturday, August 7, 1943, by PT boats of the United States Navy.

The survivors were met first by Reginald Evans*, an Australian coast watcher who had been alerted by JFK's message carved on a coconut and brought to him by local natives.

Evans radioed this message to Lumberi at 9:20 a.m.

"Eleven survivors PT boat on Gross Is X Have sent food and letter advising senior come here without delay X Warn aviation of canoes crossing Ferguson"

Robert J. Donavan writes that Evans dispatched 7 scouts by canoe to retrieve the "senior" member of the 109 crew from Olasana.

Lt. Kennedy was hidden in the canoe and covered with dead palm fronds as the natives paddled out into Blackett Strait.  When they reached shore, JFK stuck his head out of the palm fronds and said to Evans "Hello, I'm Kennedy."

JFK suggested to Evans that he be permitted to pilot PT boats back to Olasana to pick up his crew.   When PT 157 arrived to pick Lt. Kennedy up, he was upset with the delay in the rescue operation and vented his unhappiness to Lt. W. F. Liebenow who had greeted him with these words...

"Calm down, Jack, we have some warm food for you." 

JFK replied sarcastically...

"No thanks, I've just had a coconut."

It was after midnight when JFK rejoined his crew on Olasana and shuttled them aboard PT 157.

*JFK could not remember Evans' name but had a letter from him which appeared to be signed by A. Rinhaus and that is the name JFK would know him by for the next 17 years.

 In the first article about the 109 incident, John Hersey identified him as Lt. Wincote.  Robert Donovan says that it was not until after JFK became president that Evans was finally correctly identified.

SOURCE

"PT 109: John F. Kennedy in WWII," by Robert J. Donovan, McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, 1961 and 2001.

PT 157 and Crew