Kennedy and the Bayou State!
Thursday,
November 21st, 2013
Baton Rouge,
Louisiana
JFK AND HIS SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH
LOUISIANA
The 34th President of
the United States was assassinated 50 years ago this week under controversial
circumstances that leave a number of questions unanswered to this day. Republicans look to Ronald Reagan as their
ideal. But John Kennedy captured the hearts of the American people like no
other president, before or since. And
from the first stirrings of his efforts to become president, to events that
took place after his death, my home state of Louisiana has had a special place
in the Kennedy legacy.
John Kennedy’s first foray in
building Louisiana relationships began in 1956, during the then young Senator’s
efforts to become the vice presidential candidate on the Adlai Stevenson
ticket. Stevenson had promised the VP
spot to Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver, but didn’t want to offend the Kennedy
patriarch, Joseph Kennedy. So he threw
the nomination open to the convention floor.
As luck would have it, the
Louisiana delegation sat right beside the Massachusetts delegates. John Kennedy and his campaign manager and
brother Bobby became fast convention friends with two senior Louisiana delegates,
Judge Edmund Reggie of Crowley, and my mentor and friend, Camille Gravel from
Alexandria. But the Louisiana delegation
was controlled by Governor Earl Long, and he was firmly committed to Kefauver
for the vice presidential nomination. Long
left the convention early, having given strict instructions to Reggie and
Gravel to support Kefauver.
Despite orders from Ole’ Uncle
Earl, Reggie and Gravel led the whole Louisiana delegation in support of John
Kennedy. Long was furious, since the
rest of the southern states went with Kefauver, the southern candidate. But the efforts by Reggie and Gravel built a
special bond between Louisiana and the Kennedys.
Four years later, when John
Kennedy set his sights on the presidency, he knew his Catholicism would be a
problem. There had never been a catholic president, and Kennedy wanted to
build some initial political bridges in friendly territory. On October 16,
1959, he headed for Crowley, Louisiana, at the invitation of Judge Reggie and
his wife Doris, to be the Grand Marshall of the International Rice
Festival. (A sad side note. Judge Reggie passed away this week at the age
of 87.) One Hundred and thirty thousand
people packed the streets to show their support and affection. There are some marvelous photos taken at the
Rice Festival of the future president, who never wore anything on his head in
public, sporting a hat made from rice.
Following the Rice Festival, it
was on to Baton Rouge, and then to the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans where
Kennedy received similar accolades from the city’s large Catholic population. There was no doubt that Louisiana was in
Kennedy’s corner. After he had become
president, he reminisced that he felt his campaign had really taken off after
his initial foray into the deepest of the deep southern states.
Under the Kennedy presidency, many
Americans throughout the country felt a new wave of optimism, which they referred
to as Camelot. But then came Dallas. An
unstable 24-year-old man with a $21 rifle changed the world. Some historians have written that the Kennedy
assassination caused America to loose its innocence. And sadly, Louisiana ties to Kennedy’s death
emerged. Lee Harvey Oswald was born in
New Orleans, and was active for years in the Crescent City as a pro-Castro
Marxist.
New Orleans District Attorney
Jim Garrison alleged a conspiracy involving a number of Louisianans, and even
the CIA. Garrison exposed contradictions
in the Warren Commission Report, but his witnesses turned out to be unsavory
characters and he was too small a player to take on an alleged international
conspiracy. And by the way, a key member
of the Warren Commission was New Orleans Congressman and House Majority Leader
Hale Boggs. The Louisiana Connections
abound.
I knew “Big Jim” (he was 6’ 5”)
well, and shared a locker right beside him at the New Orleans Athletic Club
throughout the investigation and trial. He would often whisper that a new
bombshell was about be revealed and he was certain that he would solve the case
of the century. Jim, as it turned out, was both delusional and paranoid. The case consumed him and he died a few years
later at 70.
So at the beginning of the Kennedy
presidential quest, and at its end, Louisiana was in the mix of history. Both the highs and the lows of the Kennedy mystique
were partially framed by those who loved him and by those who hated him in the
Bayou State.
Fifty years later, President
John F. Kennedy is remembered as one of Americana’s most inspiring and creative
presidents. But his story would not be complete without an acknowledgement of
the strong feelings of affection between this popular president and the people
of the deepest of the deep southern states. Louisianans by the thousands were
there for him on his path to the White House from the very beginning. And, tragically, at the end, as well.
*****
"It certainly was one of the most
spectacular political tours I've seen... If I ever had any doubts that Kennedy
should be the nominee, as far as Louisiana was concerned, any other candidate
would be totally unsatisfactory by comparison."
Philip Des Marais
Peace and
Justice
Jim Brown
posted by Jim Brown @ 7:00 AM
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