(We continue with our march down memory lane; as for current events, just flip on the
teevee.)
While President, Kennedy attended Sunday Mass, accompanied
by an aide. When the collection
plate came round, he would turn to the aide and touch him for a tenner, then put it in the plate. And never pay it back.
And not in church only. According to Richard Reeves (President Kennedy: Profile of Power (1993)), JFK wore
trim tailored suits, and didn’t want to spoil the lines with the vulgar bulge
of a wallet (a certain other
bulge, he did indulge in). So
spontaneous minor purchases in the field
always fell to his minions, who simply had to swallow the expense.
~
To the student of psychology, the odd thing is, that these
penny-ante infractions were in no
way motivated by avarice.
Remarkably (again according to Reeves), Kennedy had been donating his public-service salary to
charities, ever since he was a Senator, and into his Presidency. And this, not by way of political
virtue-signaling, but sub rosa, as
the Bible recommends. Not
even his wife was in on the secret.
Until, one day, Jackie learned of what was going on, and
blew her top: there were plenty of extra luxuries she could think
of that she would like very much, thank-you-very-much.
Le cœur a ses raisons,
que la raison ne connaît pas….
No comments:
Post a Comment