Monthly Archives: January 2014

I can’t remember where I got this pin because Democratic campaign items were not plentiful in Morrisville, N.Y., in 1960. I remember that I wore it throughout the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon campaign, wore it throughout the Kennedy years, and was wearing … Continue reading →

52 years ago Oct. 9, a former Secretary of State dictated a letter to a 15 year-old kid who yearned to enter the noble life of politics. Acheson was a leading architect of Harry Truman’s Cold War foreign policy, and … Continue reading →

Thomas E. Dewey was unexpectedly defeated by President Truman 65 years ago this week, and 51 years ago this Thursday he was still grousing about Democratic presidents. In my bipartisan pursuit of politicians’ autographs, I wrote to him and received … Continue reading →

LBJ also responded generously with personally autographed pictures. I’ve lost track of where they might be filed, and suspect they were misplaced in one of several moves. LBJ was my commander-in-chief during the four years I was in the Air … Continue reading →

In Robert Caro’s multi-volume biography of LBJ, the rising senator, vice president, and president is frequently described as taking time to deal with his correspondence. I have no idea how many staff persons were assigned to helping him respond to … Continue reading →

Lyndon Johnson died 41 years ago this January 22. He was certainly one of the most extraordinary politicians of our era, and we might remember him as the greatest leader of the second half of the 20th century if he’d … Continue reading →

Winston Churchill’s death 49 years ago January 24 corresponded with my Air Force assignment to a three-year tour at RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge in Suffolk. The cabbie took me past Buckingham Palace, where the Union Jack was lowered in Churchill’s honor but … Continue reading →

Harry Truman – another politician who corresponded with admirers long after he needed to win votes – was inaugurated 65 years ago January 20.

In January 1962 (or thereabouts) I wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt to interview her for “Smoke Signals,” the mimeographed student newspaper of Morrisville-Eaton Central School. I sent her seven questions and she responded in due time with seven typewritten answers. Historians … Continue reading →

52-year-old New Years greetings from Eleanor Roosevelt, probably typed herself, 11 months before she died. It was a gracious endorsement of one of my more quixotic efforts. To get into the Congressional Page school, one needed passing grades in math … Continue reading →