Show f 1 j 1 1 1 1 1 1111 1 1 1 I. I It If Seems To Me MeBy By ISy Joseph B II Roberts i m m 1 m im 1 r 11 m 1 T According Ho to her agent Judith Campbell Exner stands to make a million dollars or so sofrom sofrom sofrom from her account of her affair with John F. F Kennedy I dont don't doubt it Salacious books fiction fiction fic- fic tion lion or non fiction appeal to the common appetite for vicarious rious sex Add to th the the zest for gossip about people in high places spiced with a bitof bit bitof bitof of thrill about Mafia Mana chi chiefs and anda a CIA contract to murder Fidel Castro and the results will be a surefire best seller It saddens me however I think of the handsome boyish looking President loaded with charisma I think ab about ut his beautiful young first lady she lady she whose sex appeal was universal stirring males of every age and social level from teenage bus boys to octogenarian oc octogenarian oc ambassadors Truly Camelot Camelot Camel o t came to Washington when and Jackie m moved ved in such beautiful people in such sucha a clime dime be less t than n eternally blissful In n their relationship Even now it is hard to believe they were not I 1 AM I REMINDED of EA Erp Robinsons Robinson's poem Richard Cory for the title character was very much like John Kennedy Robinson says he was rich aristocratic handsome and full of charm and sex ap ap- ap- ap peal In short he was everything the poor slobs on the pavement were not and wished to be They worked on in their dull jobs cursed their poverty and waited for the light There the similarity ends Robinsons Robinson's gentleman who had everything went home one calm summer and killed himself Our OurI shock shocked d us in a different way But both Cory and Kennedy proved themselves to be human beings full of imperfections beneath their ideal facades If we can derive derive any benefit from Mrs Exner's sordid story it must come from our recognizing that any mar man w we elect to the he highest in the I n land is going to be a human being It is a silly and dangerous sort of idealism to treat him like a god and expect him to act like one Richard Cory John John Kennedy even en Washington they say had their private lives They may mayve have ve glittered when they walked They may have fluttered pulses when they spoke But beneath the facade was a mere man subject to error and full of doubts fears and unsatisfied yearnings HUMAN NATURE God help us seems to increase its demands as its wants are served The more one gets the themore themore themore more one wants Alexander the Great is said to have wept when there were no more worlds to conquer John F. F Kennedy says Mrs Exner was unhappy in his marriage and Imd only the awful power of the Kennedy family p prevented even ed Jackie from divorcing him Franklin Delano Roosevelt we are told had an affair with his wife's secretary What can we we expect from these ordinary mortals we elevate to the position of king I think we must distinguish between the Presidents President's duty to his country and his conduct as a a private person Demand all in one one and nothing i in the other Under no circumstances should we excuse the President for being dishonest derelict in office abysmally stupid or immoral to the point of malfeasance in office officer We cannot tolerate a corrupt President regardless of his human failings What the the man does as a private person however should be between him and his con con- science So long as he is discreet and an his private peccadilloes do donot donot donot not compromise his position as as President we should not become concerned about how he spends his off hours unless hours unless his telling his mistress affairs of state Castro state Castro etc etc threaten threaten the well being of the nation After all we arent aren't bestowing sainthood on him We are only hiring him tot tOI to run the country for four foury years rs |