3 ms·

When an extraordinary collection of talent gathered at the Kennedy White House

24 points by samclemens 8y ago

indescions_2018 8y ago
A Visit To Camelot, Diana Trilling https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/06/02/a-visit-to-camelot https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/06/02/a-visit-to-cam...
bryanrasmussen 8y ago
requires login, I'm guessing though it's the story of the time a number of scientists, writers and artists were dining with President Kennedy and Kennedy said something like 'I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.' There's some evidence Kennedy was a rapist, but as far as I know no slaveowners were present at the occasion so the remark is perhaps less pithy today than it seemed at the time. /on edit, I probably feel obligated to comment on this since I grew up idolizing Jefferson. /on second edit - the quote found at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/john_f_kennedy_114950 https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/john_f_kennedy_114950
Latteland 8y ago
Wow! Today every invitee would face a skeptical consideration of political views and who they supported publicly. I wonder who didn't accept the invitation then? Can you imagine having someone demonstrating outside the white house in the morning today and yet a guest of honor in the evening? All that was happening after Central High in Little Rock, yet before major civil rights legislation passed congress. My mind spins thinking about all the things happening in the 1960's. Would Kennedy have even been able to pass civil rights and other reforms without the experience of the later President Johnson's legislative skills? What if Kennedy had not been killed, we had not been drawn into an endless Vietnam war, would we have even had the fortitude to make it to the moon?
- stevenwoo 8y ago
  The USA's involvement in suppressing the Vietnamese uprising against the powers that be began with Truman (if one ignores Ho Chi Minh's plea to Woodrow Wilson at Versailles). The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba seems pretty ill advised as well, even though it was planned under Eisenhower, Kennedy was in office when it was executed.
  - Latteland 8y ago
    I forgot that France lost their control of Vietnam in the 50s, right? The us was incredibly focused on commies hiding everywhere, but they really did want to take over the world. The Kennedy's did get us over the cuban missile crisis, even though we went to the brink multiple times (accident or genius, imagine if we had Trump then). I also didn't know Ho Chi Minh was active in the 1920s - just read something about it on reddit. There are so many cases where we supported a dictator. It's important to remember that today's support of a dictator because we think he's better than chaos could lead to something worse tomorrow. I think a challenge for the US today is to help the many democracies in the south china sea maintain their independence against the powerful China - not to hem in China, just that we should help democracies. But I'm sure I'm hopelessly naive about these great power games.

24 points by samclemens 8y ago

indescions_2018 8y ago

A Visit To Camelot, Diana Trilling https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/06/02/a-visit-to-camelot https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/06/02/a-visit-to-cam...

bryanrasmussen 8y ago

requires login, I'm guessing though it's the story of the time a number of scientists, writers and artists were dining with President Kennedy and Kennedy said something like 'I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.' There's some evidence Kennedy was a rapist, but as far as I know no slaveowners were present at the occasion so the remark is perhaps less pithy today than it seemed at the time. /on edit, I probably feel obligated to comment on this since I grew up idolizing Jefferson. /on second edit - the quote found at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/john_f_kennedy_114950 https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/john_f_kennedy_114950

Latteland 8y ago

Wow! Today every invitee would face a skeptical consideration of political views and who they supported publicly. I wonder who didn't accept the invitation then? Can you imagine having someone demonstrating outside the white house in the morning today and yet a guest of honor in the evening? All that was happening after Central High in Little Rock, yet before major civil rights legislation passed congress. My mind spins thinking about all the things happening in the 1960's. Would Kennedy have even been able to pass civil rights and other reforms without the experience of the later President Johnson's legislative skills? What if Kennedy had not been killed, we had not been drawn into an endless Vietnam war, would we have even had the fortitude to make it to the moon?

stevenwoo 8y ago
The USA's involvement in suppressing the Vietnamese uprising against the powers that be began with Truman (if one ignores Ho Chi Minh's plea to Woodrow Wilson at Versailles). The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba seems pretty ill advised as well, even though it was planned under Eisenhower, Kennedy was in office when it was executed.
- Latteland 8y ago
  I forgot that France lost their control of Vietnam in the 50s, right? The us was incredibly focused on commies hiding everywhere, but they really did want to take over the world. The Kennedy's did get us over the cuban missile crisis, even though we went to the brink multiple times (accident or genius, imagine if we had Trump then). I also didn't know Ho Chi Minh was active in the 1920s - just read something about it on reddit. There are so many cases where we supported a dictator. It's important to remember that today's support of a dictator because we think he's better than chaos could lead to something worse tomorrow. I think a challenge for the US today is to help the many democracies in the south china sea maintain their independence against the powerful China - not to hem in China, just that we should help democracies. But I'm sure I'm hopelessly naive about these great power games.