I do
not remember "where I was." Like the president's son, in whom I had
later placed my hope for a renewed Camelot, I had just celebrated my 3rd
birthday. In adulthood, I formed the personal opinion that I favored
Bobby more than John and Teddy more than Bobby. My very first vote in a
Presidential Primary, 1980, was for Teddy. But today we remember a
self-described liberal, from a very wealthy family, who many feared
because he was a minority being a Roman Catholic, and whose time was
shortened by hate. The torch has passed. Rest in peace, Mr. President.
--- and ---
Fifty
years ago today my favorite president took the Oath of Office on-board
Air Force One, administered by U. S. District Judge Sarah Hughes, the
only woman to ever administer the presidential oath. To be sure, the
administration of LBJ did not turn out as expected, its goals not fully
reached, its aspirations for the poor and underrepresented not fully
completed. But for a war, perhaps, this could have been Camelot - not
the glamor of the Brahmin and Hyde Park elite, but the idea that every
American had a president and administration working for them,
irrespective of race or class, or the other divisions of the day. All
the way with LBJ.