Charming but worthless
Sir: I am not surprised Joseph Alsop was so besotted with President Kennedy (Books, 6 June). So many writers and intellectuals were. Alsop, though, ought to have kept a bit more scepticism about him; he might then have seen through the charm the Kennedy clan commonly traded on. That was Alsop's job, wasn't it, to be a critical observer and not a cheer-leader? Calvin Coolidge — not such a grand Wasp as Alsop but one who had direct dealings with the Boston Irish — once judged a slippery `Good God, Witherspoon, take a look down my microscope. I think I've discovered an even lower form of life.' mayor of NYC with words which apply to the Kennedy family too:
He has the Celtic ability to put all his goods in the front window — and leave none in reserve; has shrewdness rather than any real ability; the kind of man who, if you wake him from a sound sleep to make a speech, is able to start right in speaking. But if you examine the speech later, you will find he has said nothing worth while. (Cosmopolitan, April 1933.)
Bill Whelan
8 Mullon Avenue, Port Washington, NY 11050, USA
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