Will this thread get legs? Maybe not.
Second Avenue.
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It's the birthday of the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy (books by this author), born in Brookline, Massachusetts (1917). In 1960, he was the youngest person ever elected president of the United States, and many people saw him as a symbol of freshness and youth. Part of his personal story was that during World War II, he was serving on a ship that got torpedoed, and he saved several of his crewmen from drowning. He towed one man in the water for three miles to safety.
But something that almost no one knew about John F. Kennedy was that he had suffered from numerous medical problems for most of his life. He had Addison's disease, which required frequent injections of cortisone. He also suffered from mysterious digestive problems and terrible back pains. He had to wear a corset-like back brace at all times.
Kennedy was in terrible pain and didn't complain about his back or his stomach problems while he campaigned for a House seat in 1946. In 1952, he ran for the U.S. Senate, and he was one of the few Democrats to win a race in a year when Eisenhower swept a lot of Republicans into office. But soon after the race, X-rays showed that parts of his spine had collapsed. He couldn't tie his own shoes or walk without crutches. He finally decided to try a risky operation to fuse his vertebrae. He fell into a coma during the procedure and was given last rites. He recovered, but had to spend six months in bed.
The surgery made it possible for Kennedy to walk, but he could not bend his back forward or backward at all, and could barely turn himself over in bed or sit in a low chair. The media reported that he had recovered completely. During the election of 1960, Nixon operatives apparently tried to break into Kennedy's doctor's office to steal his medical records, but the records were stored under a code name, so they were never found. No one but his closest family members and his doctors knew of his true condition.
17 comments:
Hey biking2006,
With all the Oirish blood on VC, you are sure to get some repies to this info. Fascinating stuff! Didn't know about it, but very interesting to know. However, the medical problems you convey, no doubt, were far less of a problem for JFK than the last problem applied by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas in 1963.
Most people who were around on that November 22 remember most of the day. I was 7 years old and I remember my teacher in Grade 2 in St. Thomas Moore crying after telling us little kids that JFK was shot. Also, I still remember playing hide 'n seek after supper until well after dark, and it was a very foggy night. Funny, how the mind works, eh?
BrownBlrvd
Oops. I meant to sign off as:
BrownBlvd
Much of the damage to Kennedy's spine was done when his PT 109 was rammed by a Japanese sub. He swam for miles and towed one of his shipmates to safety pulling a belt in his teeth. After many operations he was on the road to recovery when he attended a tree planting ceremony in Ottawa. Trying to dig, he twisted his back again. Since then they dig the hole before and have the visiting dignitary put the tree in. Ed
Brownblvd. It was Nov. 23rd for me when JFK was shot. I was in the Phillippines, and had been there for about 6 months at the time. I was in charge the next day for firing the guns every half hour, for a period of 24 hours. I still have one of the shells from that fring. It stunned us all, thats for sure.
Winston Allison
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It would appear that back problem did not prevent him from all physical activities, so the stories go! If anyone is ever in Dublin, Ireland, head to Shanahan's on the Green (one of the best steakhouses anywhere), and go downstairs to the Oval Office bar. This bar is dedicated to US President's with Irish roots and heritage, and is decorated with authentic, signed declarations, letters, etc. from all these Presidents. Behind the bar in a large glass showcase is the actual rocking chair JFK flew on Air Force One with him so he could take it all over the world. Pretty neat historical item to see. Glen
Interesting GlenP,.............. I had never heard that,.......sounds like it would a good visit,................ As you enter the Oval Office Bar, you'll be surrounded by historical treasures, including The Original JFK Rocking Chair from Air Force One.... ....while plush emerald leather chairs and warm table lamps whisper..... "Welcome to Ireland"http://www.shanahans.ie/oval.html
Glen Nice story and pictures... How is it going? Lad
That's right Glen, He had the press room in the White House made into a swimming pool to exercise. He swam every day to strengthen his back. He moved the press corps closed to his office since he knew how valuable the press can be to a president. Ed
I always considered Darcy Mcgee someone who did wonderful things for, not only Irish Canadians, but all Canadians.
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/023001-2370-e.html
Today is Bloomsday, the day on which the action in James Joyce's novel Ulysses takes place in 1904. Leopold Bloom, the main character of Ulysses, does not have much work to do, spends most of his day wandering around Dublin doing some errands, leaves his house on Eccles Street, walks south across the River Liffey, picks up a letter, buys a bar of soap, and goes to the funeral of a man he didn't know very well. In the afternoon, he has a cheese sandwich, feeds the gulls in the river, helps a blind man cross the street, and visits a couple of pubs. He thinks about his job, his wife, his daughter, his stillborn son. He muses about life and death and reincarnation. He knows that his wife is going to cheat on him that afternoon at his house. In the evening, he wanders around the red-light district of Dublin and meets up with a young writer named Stephen Dedalus, who is drunk. And so Leopold Bloom takes him home with him and offers to let him spend the night. And they stand outside, looking at the stars for a while. And then Bloom goes inside and climbs into bed with his wife.
A great Irish Catholic was Joseph Kennedy, Father of John Fitzgerald. There has been much written about him, much of it untrue. He was accused of being a bootlegger which was untrue. He weas a man who saw an advantage and moved on it. When it was obvious that Roosvelt intended to appeal prohibition he bought up Al Capone's old brewerys and was in businees the day it was legal. He made money on the stock market by making phony purchases and sales but it was not illegal. He loved politics and discussed same at the supper table with his sons. Before college they knew how government works and learned about large economics. He layed the groundwork for a great President. Ed
It is said that Joseph Kennedy was a womanizer and had a mistress if not several in his lifetime. Something else he instilled in his sons.....LOL!!! Although I don't know when Bobby would have had time to have an affair let alone a mistress. Wasn't Ethel pregnant with his 12th child when he was assassinated?
I can't speak for Joseph Kennedy but the stories about John and Robert being womanizers were created by J. Edgar Hoover who hated the idea of a Catholic being President. When Marylin Monroe sang the Happy Birthday to Jack which he hated. He never gave anyone except his family to call him Jack. He insisted his old friends call him Mr.President. When she did Hoover was there fanning the flames she crteated.. On the evening of his inauguration, Kennedy was invited by his buddy Red Fay (who was with him on PT109) to a party where there'd be a lot of booze and women. He refused saying, "I have to think of the office I represent and act accordingly." I do not believe that man would have been stupid enough to bring women into the White House under the eyes of his wife and many others. That he was a womanizer is just gossip, we should not pass it on. Ed
Di, wasn't Ethel JFK's mother?
Hi Maggie: Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was JFK's mother. Ethel was Robert Kennedy's wife. They had a slew of kids and poor Ethel was expecting their 11th kid I think at the time of his assassination.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0309/23/lkl.00.html
Thanks, Di.
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