"I'd rather my children be red than dead."

[Paz Marverde]

From Alford's book "Once Upon a Secret":

Quote

At one point, after leaving the room to take another urgent phone call, he came back shaking his head and said to me, "I'd rather my children be red than dead." It wasn't a political statement or an attempt at levity. These were the words of a father who adored his children and couldn’t bear them being hurt.

Thoughts?

[Steve Cearfoss]

who is being quoted?

[Robert Harper]

The quote is allegedly from JFK, and given by, allegedly, intern Mimi , 40 years after she spent some time around JFK.

I think Jim DiE has covered her book and I agreed with him that it does not ring true; indeed it smelled like a rat in an attic.

The other JFK line I never believed, was the one attributed to him about "those Ivy league charlatans" and the Secret Service men. Manchester quoted someone, but like Mimi's slur, I think it was not true and only possibly, remotely overheard in a context of banter, sarcasm or another form of narrative. Each was inserted when the subject of the comments was dead. To suggest that a man who wrote often, was quoted widely, and whose press conferences were transcribed,  would speak only to 19 year old Mimi or one of those POS that  were employed by the Secret Service, and were out drinking, requires a stretch of rationality beyond reasonable.  I think both those comments resemble the line the snake makes in the sand.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Robert Harper