"MOST CELEBRATED FIGURE IN WISCONSIN HISTORY"

FIGHTING BOB SAYS PROGRESSIVES CONTROL BALANCE OF POWER & INTEND TO USE IT

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On November 18. 1922, Senator Robert M. LaFollette* (R-Wisconsin) announced that progressives have come to the Nation's Capital to "translate the result of the elections into legislation."

Senator LaFollette said...

"The time has now come for the organization of a well-defined group co-operating in support of accepted progressive principles and policies."

The Senator intends to fight to limit President Warren G. Harding's ship subsidy bill and to oppose other administration proposals.

According to LaFollette, progressives will "control the balance of power" and they "intend to use it."

JFK+50 NOTE

Professor Erik Olssen says most historians agree that progressives of the period 1922-1929 held the balance of power and played a key role in shaping new policies regarding water power and agriculture.

*Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" LaFollette, Sr. (1855-1925) served in the U.S. House of Representatives 1885-1892, as Governor of Wisconsin 1901-1906, & in the U.S. Senate 1906-1925.  

RML was presidential nominee of the Progressive Party in 1924.  He has been called "the most celebrated figure in Wisconsin history."

SOURCES

"LaFollette Upon Warpath In Name of Progressives," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., November 18, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

"The Progressive Group In Congress, 1922-1929," by Erik Olssen, The Historians, Vol. 42, No. 2, February 1980, Taylor and Francis, Ltd., www.jstor.org/

 

 

Senator Robert M. LaFollette, Sr.

R-Wisconsin

Harris & Ewing Photo

Library of Congress

"FOUND WANDERING AIMLESSLY IN A DAZED CONDITION"

22 YEAR-OLD SON OF TR'S UNCLE DIES IN NEW YORK CITY HOSPITAL

New York City (JFK+50) On April 1, 1922, Robert B. Roosevelt, Jr., a 22 year old relative of former POTUS Theodore Roosevelt, died in a hospital here in New York City.

The young man had been found the previous evening "wandering aimlessly" on the street "in a dazed condition with lacerations on the body and head."  Authorities suspect he may have been injured in an automobile accident.

Robert B. Roosevelt, Jr. died at 9 o'clock.  His father Robert B. Roosevelt, Sr.*, who died in 1906, was Teddy Roosevelt's uncle.

*Robert Barnhill Roosevelt (1829-1906) was born in New York, studied law & was admitted to the NY State Bar in 1850.  RBR served in the US House of Representatives 1871-1873 & as US ambassador to the Netherlands 1888-1889.

SOURCES

"AFS Roots:  The Father of All the Fishes," by Brian Murphy, Researchgate, www.researchgate.net/

Roosevelt Kin Dies In Hospital," The Washington Times, Final Edition, April 1, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov

 

 

Honorable R.B. Roosevelt, Sr.

Photo by Matthew Benjamin Brady/

Levin Corbin Handy

Library of Congress

 

JOHN J. DUNCAN JR HAS PRESIDENTIAL STORIES TO TELL

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1986

TENNESSEE CONGRESSMAN HAS MET 8 PRESIDENTS

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) In a front page story by Michael Collins in today's Knoxville News Sentinel, Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr.'s life-long encounters with presidents of the United States are recounted.

Mr. Duncan, who represents JFK+50's own Second District here in Tennessee, met President Dwight D. Eisenhower  during a visit at the Knoxville airport. The Congressman was only nine years old at the time.

Michael Collins writes...

"The Knoxville Republican has dined with presidents, ridden with them aboard Air Force One and chatted with them about everything from Tennessee politics to University of Tennessee basketball."

John J. Duncan, Jr. has served in Congress for 28 years.  The younger Duncan followed his father, Congressman John J. Duncan, Sr., into politics.  The elder legislator passed away in 1988.  Former President Richard M. Nixon "called to offer his condolences."  That conversation lasted almost 20 minutes.

Mr. Duncan would go on to meet President Ford, President Reagan, and President George H.W. Bush.  It was Mr. Bush who extended an invitation for the Congressman to ride to Knoxville with him on Air Force One.

The Congressman also met President Clinton, President George W. Bush and President Obama.

If I calculate correctly, that's 6 Republicans and 2 Democrats.  Unfortunately, John F. Kennedy is not on the list.

Both Duncans have served the Second District well.  They are among those legislators who while voters may be dissatisfied with the Congress are very satisfied with their own Congressman.

It has been my pleasure to have visited with Congressman John J. Duncan, Sr. in his Washington office in 1973 and he very graciously treated us to lunch in the Congressional restaurant.  Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr. has visited my classroom at Carter High School and one of his daughters was in my history class.

SOURCE

"Decades next to power recalled, Duncan has presidential stories to tell," by Michael Collins, Knoxville News Sentinel, June 20, 2016. www.knoxnews.com/

Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr.

Tennessee (R)

Official Portrait

United States Congress Image

Congressman John J. Duncan, Sr.

Beverly and John White

Washington, D.C. (1973)

JACKIE'S FIRST YOUTH CONCERT

FIRST LADY HOSTS CONCERT FOR HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-four years ago today, August 22, 1961, President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy welcomed handicapped children to the White House for a special concert given on the South Lawn.

This was the first in a series of concerts by and for young people which were planned and sponsored by the First Lady.  

This first concert featured a symphony orchestra from the Brevard Music Center* of Transylvania County in western North Carolina.

JFK said the musicians who performed were "a great national cultural asset."

Pianist David Yu of New York City, a camp member, says...

"This place is musical heaven!  The word's leading concert masters...come every year and it is absolutely incredible."

*Brevard Music Center was founded as Davidson Music School for Boys in 1936 by James C. Pfohl^.  It became the Transylvania Music Camp in 1944 and finally BMC in 1955.  

More than 400 gifted students ranging from middle school to post-collegiate studies attend a 7 week camp, presenting more than 80 concerts to 30,000 people each summer.  The center encompasses a 180 acre site in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western NC.

^James Christian Pfohl, Sr. (1912-1997) started the music department at Davidson College at the age of 19.  DC became the 1st men's college in the U.S. to offer credit for the study of applied music. 

In addition to founding the Brevard Music Center, JCP served as conductor for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.

SOURCES

"Brevard Music Center," www.facebook.com/brevardmusiccenter

"Brevard Music Center," www.brevardmusic.org/

"Return to Camelot, Music of the Kennedy Years," www.wosu.org/

Brevard Music Center Entrance

Brevard, North Carolina

www.brevardmusic.org

Transylvania County, North Carolina