Newspaper Page Text
Writer Calls Manchester’s
Book Better Than Build-Up
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The
lowing "review was written
Merriman Smith, UPI
House reporter who won
Pulitzer Pize for his
of the assassination of
John F. Kennedy. Smith was
only one of two reporters
accompanied President Johnson
back to Washington aboard Air
Force One.)
By MERRIMAN SMITH
UPI White House Reporter
WASHINGTON (UPI) —’The
controversial William Manches
ter book, "The Death Of A
President,” is much better than
the build-up. The book was
preceded by a highly publicized
wrangle with the Kennedy
family, critical challenges and
awkward errors in the advance
magazine serialization.
The hard - cover product,
however, is a gripping, incredi
bly detailed and reasonably
authentic account of the assas
sination of President John F.
Kennedy and the immediate
aftermath.
Because of remaining errors
of fact in some passages, there
will be those who regard
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Manchester’s book as slightly
less than definitive history.
To pick at Manchester’s
mistakes, however, Is to ignore
the true stature of his book. In
balance, It Is an amazing piece
of work. Laborious reading,
perhaps. But with the exception
of the Warren Commission
Repoft, there is nothing else on
the subject to compare with
"The Death Of A President.”
On Guard
Manchester also is offensively
defensive. This may relate to
his row with Mrs. Jacqueline
Kennedy and others over
certain expunged passages, to
say nothing of assorted legal
actions, pending or possible. But
the attitude is there.
In his first paragraph, Manch
ester warns the reader, “If you
doubt me you may as well stop
at the end of this paragraph.”
His publishers, Harper & Row,
should hope that not too many
book.Niall browsers decide not to
risk $10, the book’s list price, on
faith.
T’ne book predictably is one
sided. After all, he was picked
by Mrs. Kennedy as the author
of what was to be the definitive
At this distance in time from
the actual event, my interest
turned more to Manchester’s
viewpoint of Pesidient Johnson
wuich comes off poorly in the
book.
Manchester’s Johnson, when
it came to official action,
performed excellently during
the dreadful interregnum be
tween gunfire and burial. But
the new President could not
help making boorish personal
gaffs in the eyes of the Kennedy
crowd and the author.
The JFK staff regarded
Johnson as a clumsy, heavy
handed usurper. They would
have regarded only one man in
creation any differently—and
that would have been their slain
leader.
Manchester captures the Ken
nedy staff bitterness vividly. He
is on solid ground here for I
heard red-eyed stenographers
call Johnson the vilest sort of
names simply because he had
succeeded their fallen idol. I
heard some of Kennedy’s
ranking assistants imitate John
son’s Texas drawl acidly and
accuse him of "trying to push
Jackie out of the house” which,
ol course, was ridiculous and
untrue.
LBJ Champion
Manchester notes that John
son did not deserve this sort of
treatment, but he did not
balance this judgment with
available excerpts from
account of the assassination.
The 647 pages (plus appendices
provide an incredibly detailed
account of a terrible episode of
history written from a largely
Kennedy viewpoint.
Mrs. Kennedy should not
object to the book in its present
form. She comes off magni
ficently if one allows for some
rather strange and petulant
requests during the worst of the
tension that followed the
shooting of her husband on the
streets of Dallas as she rode
with him in an open car.
Hard On Dallas
Manchester Is hellishly cruel
about Dallas as a culture
medium for hatred. There was
hatied of Kennedy, to be sure.
But it is highly questionable
whether this encouraged Lee
Harvey Oswald to pull bis
trigger.
about as active, perhaps more
so, than any vice president in
history.
Four Days
Kennedy’s family and those
closest to him should be
pardoned for almost any sort of
behavior in those confused,
tearful four days of November.
(Manchester captures this per
iod splendidly as the funeral
was planned and Mrs. Kennedy
prepared to face life without
her husband).
On the other hand, the new
President could not have
possibly conducted himself to
the satisfaction of the Kennedy
clan. Unfortunately this does
not come across too stringly in
the Manchester account. The
mere fact that Johnson had
been vice president and came
from Texas was enough to
condemn him in the eyes of the
grieving new frontiersmen.
Never before has there been
such an intimate picture of
grief as that painted by
Manchester of Mrs. Kennedy
and her two puzzled children,
Caroline and John. Perhaps
Mrs. Kennedy will regard some
of this as outrageous.
If so, It should be remem
bered that the entire matter
earlier history. When Harry S.
Truman succeeded Franklin D.
Roosevelt who died suddenly in
his fourth term, the FDR staff
too was quite resentful of the
plain people from Missouri. The
Truman staff complained with
much derogation about the time
Mrs. Roosevelt took to move
out of the White House and
spoke darkly of her ‘‘cleaning
out the place.”
The book’s picture of Johnson
at the time of Kennedy's fateful
Texas trip also is slightly out of
focus. Manchester makes the
then vice president a pitiable
figure (“he was entitled to only
one White House extension” at
home, as if to say Johnson
needed many more government
telephones). Manchester also
says that In 1963 his real
difficulty was that there was so
little for him to do . . . three
years of relative Inactivity
seemed to have sapped his
vitality.”
Kennedy certainly would not
have shared this view. Johnson
would hoot at it for he was
was thrust into the public
domain by an act by Oswald
that was even more outrageous.
Christmas Tree
Meeting Set
In Griffin
Your Christmas tree this year
may be fresher —- and better—
for having been grown In Geor
gia.
Growing holiday trees Is on
the upswing in the state, accor
ding to B. R. Murray, forester
with the University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension Service.
It may not be widely known,
but there is even a Georgia
Christmas Tree Growers As
sociation.
Members have planned an all
day meeting for Tuesday, April
11, at the Georgia Experiment
Station in Griffin to bring them
selves up-to-date on latest re
search information.
The session will begin at 10 a.
m., according to Mr. Murray,
and anyone interested in the
Christmas trees is invited to at
tend.
Research plots, where a num
ber of different species of trees
have been tested for several ye
ars, will be observed. In addi
tion, results of weed control in
Christmas tree plantings will be
studied.
Mr. Murray said a panel dis
cussion will give producers an
opportunity to air any produc
tion and marketing problems
they have. Also, the market out
look for Christmas trees this
year will be discussed.
The meeting will end around
3 p.m, with a business session
of the Growers Association.
NICE GUY
FARMINGTON, N.M. (UPI)
—Talk about being nice. Charles
Dale Nice of Dolores, Colo., was
passing through town when he
found $15 in a telephone booth.
He promptly turned it over to
police.
Now wasn’t that nice?
Social Security
Medicare Claim
For Doctor Bill
bia 30223. All Inquiries must be
signed and should include your
address.
Your first claim for Medicare
Doctor Bill Insurance should
be completed by a Social Secur
Ity representative.
Just bring your records with
you. If more information is
needed, we can tell you just
what will be necessary to com
plete your claim. This will help
you get your check from the
insurance company quicker.
Q. I am disabled and can’t
work anymore. If I put in for
disability benefits under social
security, would my check be cut
because I am now only 45 years
old? J.D., Griffin.
A. No. Your disability check
would not be reduced because
of your age.
Q. I’m married and have four
children under 18. My husband
and I both work full time in Jobs
under social security. If I should
die would any social security
payments be made to my fam
ily? F.A.M., Griffin.
A. Yes. First of all y o U r hus
band would collect a lump-sum
payment between $132 and $255.
Payments could also be made
to your children. Payments to
your four children would range
between $66 and $339.20 a mon
th, depending on your average
earnings under social security.
Q. I’m 70 and draw Social Se
curity checks every month. 1
work part time and make ar
ound $1,000 a year. The man 1
work for says he is required to
withhold Social Security taxes
from my pay. Is he correct? L.
J., Griffin.
A. Yes, he is correct. You
must pay social security taxes
if your work is under social se
curity. It makes no difference
whether you are 8 or 80, or whe
ther or not you are drawing
Social Security benefit pay
ments.
Q. My husband draws month
ly retirement checks from So
cial Security. I am not 62 yet
and we have no children. I’m
completely disabled. Can I col
lect wife’s benefit payments due
to my condition? A.B., Griffin.
A. I’m sorry, but yoti can’t.
Disability payments go only to
disabled workers and disabled
adult children. They do not go to
disabled wives. You’ll have to
wait until you’re 62.
If you have a question about
Social security, send it to the
Social Security office, 435 West
Solomon street, Griffin, Geor-
Thursday, March 30, 1967 Griffin Daily New*
DOUBLE TIME
IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich.
(UPI) —Iron Mountain and
Kingsford on Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula share a street.
Going from one side of that
street to the other could take an
hour Saturday, the day Iron
Mountain goes on Eastern
Standard Time. Kingsford won’t
go on Eastern Standard until 24
hours later.
£ ★ Students In WASHINGTON Hard, Newspaper Washington By RAY 'Make Altruistic Enterprise CROMLEY Correspondent COLUMN the Assn. Work Scene' *
WASHINGTON (NEA)
Some time back, University of California student riots and
demonstrations attracted nationwide attention.
But there’s another story at the university—the 8,000 stu
dents who quietly give their time to volunteer community
projects. These students seldom get in the headlines.
A few examples will tell the story.
Two times a week a dozen upper classmen go to San Quen
tin Prison to teach in the prison school. Students work with
blind children at a Braille Institute and tutor at the Oceanside
Pala Indian Reservation. Vietnam. Three campus groups have adopted
two orphanages in South
More than 3,000 people the last from impoverished the University areas of in Cali- the
state were examined in year at
fornia Mobile Clinic by medical center students under faculty
supervision.
Twenty-two students from upper-division psychology and
social sciences spend a half day each week working with men
tal patients at the Patton State Hospital.
Each summer 700 to 1,000 Los Angeles children camp 10
days in the San Bernardino Mountains as student guests.
Ninety student volunteers operate the camps. There are five
10-day sessions, including one for blind children. Student vol
unteers built the camp buildings.
Six students spent last summer helping build an orphanage
at Ensenada, Mexico. They paid their own transportation and
expenses.
Last summer, also, 150 unpaid students went to Michoacan
and Guanajuato States in Mexico. Their goal was to help the
villagers improve their own communities. Students start
schools or clinics and show the local people how to complete
the work and how to operate them. This project, Amigos
Anonymous, is an independent student-operated and financed
organization.
A dilapidated building in a Riverside slum has become a
teen club. Students give classes in Negro and Mexican history,
give medical and housing information, show movies.
Students work in 31 projects in Watts. Some try to find the
cause of the unrest. Others work to develop jobs for the men
and women of Watts. Some teach, help improve living condi
tions and aid hungry families.
In Riverside in the last year 280 students served without
pay as tutors for potential dropouts in the first through 12th
grades.
Thirty dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy students
are working in San Francisco’s Mission District—a poverty
target area.
So on and on for hundreds of projects and 8,000 students.
The same story could be told on every college campus in
the United States. A lot more student work is being done on
these community projects than on demonstrations and riots.
Perhaps we discourage the hard-working student volunteer
by overemphasizing the chronic marchers.
8