Dec 8, 2015

Sat, Dec 8, 1945: the heartiest of handshakes

"Did I tell you abour our latest distinguished student?  He's Mike Forrestal, son of the Secretary of the Navy.  Mike is here to study Russian -- probably just a jump ahead of the draft.  He's a civilian and barely 18.  The kid has a lot of energy.  And he should do as well as his dad in politics.  When I was introduced to him he gave me the heartiest of handshakes -- as if he were never so glad to meet anyone in his life as me -- when somehow I had the feeling he didn't care whether my name was Brown, Jones or Smith.  I shouldn't have said that.  Mike really seems to be trying to make friends."

--Letter from my father, Boulder, Colo.,  to his family, Bloomington, Kans., Saturday, December 8, 1945.  My father was right about Mike Forrestal.  He went on to be a key advisor to McGeorge Bundy, John F. Kennedy's national security advisor.

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