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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Paffe Flftoea
Friday, Nov. 20, 1964
Jewish Man of the Year
by FRED
WASHINGTON — The people
who know Myer (“Mike”) Feld
man best—the members of his
own temple—have singled him
out as the Washington personage
who is the “man of the year” on
Jewish issues.
This designation in confirmed
by newsmen and all others who
know the dynamic behind-the-
scenes role of Mr. Feldman as
Counsel to President Lyndon B.
Johnson. Whether one thinks in
terms of the Jewish year just
ended, the election year, or the
calendar year, Mr. Feldman’s role
on matters of special Jewish in
terest made him the “man of the
year.”
Temple Sinai’s Brotherhood or
ganization made its award re
cently to Mr. Feldman at a time
when the honoree was almost too
ousy—fulfilling the wording of
the citation—to attend. Israel
Prime Minister Levi Eshkol was
then in the United States as per
sonal guest of President John
son—a visit which Mr. Feldman
help organize and implement.
Mr. Feldman was honored by
his temple not only for his serv
ices to Jewry and Israel but also
to the local and national com
munity. Secretary of Agriculture
Orville Freeman presented the
award. Lee White of the White
House staff was sent by President
Johnson with personal words of
praise. A similar award has been
given on a previous year to Su
preme Court Justice Arthur Gold
berg. But the Feldman story was
different in that it reflected every
vital issue of Jewish concern
which has transpired in the past
year.
The story began in January,
1961, when President Kennedy
asked Mr. Feldman, an original
A. STERN
member of the Kennedy brain
trust, to handle liaison between
the White House and the Amer
ican Jewish community in addi
tion to other duties.
Mr. Feldman’s function at the
White House emerged on a dif
ferent and on a much higher level
than the roles played by David
K. Nikes, who served president
Truman, and Maxwell Rabb, who
handled “Jewish affairs’ for Pres
ident Eisenhower.
As “Deputy Special Counsel to
the President,” responsible for
vital communications with Con
gress and Federal agencies, Mr.
Feldman worked personally each
day with Mr. Kennedy. His role
was far broader than the Niles
or Babb capacities.
In his book "The Making of
The President” Theodore H.
White, listed Mr. Feldman with
Ted Sorensen and Richard Good
win as the trio constituting Mr.
Kennedy’s “personal” brain trust.
Mr. Feldman was seen behind
the scenes in “The Making of the
President” as an “impressive
man, a one-time instructor of law
at the University of Pennsylvan
ia, later a highly successful busi
nessman, who had abandoned
business to follow Kennedy’s star
as chief of the Senator’s legisla
tive research.”
In 1958, he joined the Kennedy
Senate staff as legislative assis
tant. He handled correspondence
dealing with legislation, helped
draft bills, conferred on the Sen
ator’s program and assisted with
speeches and public statements.
After Kennedy was nominated for
the presidency, Mr. Feldman was
appointed director of research for
the Kennedy-Johnson campaign.
As campaign research director,
Mr. Feldman prepared material
that helped Kennedy achieve the
crucial television debate triumph
over Richard M. Nixon.
Mr. Feldman’s perceptive and
rapid anticipation of events, his
insight and knowledge, caused
President Kennedy to add stead
ily to his White House duties.
His desk was covered with urgent
legislative matters, issues of
tariff and trade, oil questions,
dealings with regulatory agencies,
the Commerce Department, the
Post Office, and so forth. Also,
one found Mr Feldman drafting
proclamations, executive orders,
and attending many Presidential
committees.
Possessing a Jewish heart as
well as a “Jewish” brain, Mr.
Feldman devoted special atten
tion, however, to Jewish issues
and matters affecting Israel. He
indicated that it represented
only a fraction of his responsi
bilities but was actually the part
he cherished most.
When the assassin’s bullet
struck President Kennedy last
November its impact hit Mr.
Feldman. But the new president
quickly asked him to continue
service at the White House in his
previous capacities. He was sub
sequently given a new and even
higher designation as Counsel to
the President.
Pro-Israel projects conceived
during the Kennedy Administra
tion were nurtured by Mr. Feld
man and moved forward under
President Johnson. Israel-Amer-
ican relations in recent months
reached a zenith of rapport.
Mr. Feldman has made two
trips to Israel in line with the
Kennedy policy. President John
son asked him to go again to
help arrange details of the Eshkol
visit—the first official state in
vitation tendered by the White
House to an Israeli leader.
Much had been done during the
Kennedy and Johnson Adminis
tration to normalize Israel-Amer-
ican relations. The United States
responded to Israel’s needs, pro
vided anti-aircraft missiles to
balance Soviet-supplied Arab
arms, trained Israeli troops,
granted unprecedented loans and
aid, worked against the Arab boy
cott and blockade, repudiated
Arab bigotry, supported Israel’s
water development program, and
created the bold new “LBJ Plan”
for nuclear desalting of seawater
in Israel. Behind the scenes of all
these developments was Mr.
Feldman.
On the domestic frdnt in the
last year, Mr. Feldman was in
volved in White House initiatives
for immigration reform and other
liberal stands. Congressman Wil
liam Fitts Ryan of New York,
said in a House speech that Mr.
Feldman was among those who
"must be singled out for their
understanding and assistance” in
attempts to deal with the murder
of the three civil rights workers
•—two of them Jewish—in Miss!—
sippi
History must write the final
story of Mr. Feldman’s year.
When the archives are available,
the world will know how one
sensed the impact on human des
tiny and the Jewish future of its
current “man of the Year."
Gracious Greetings
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Gracious
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