Family Jokes

His wild Irish prose, it sparkles and it glows. It fulfills all the needs--of word, if not deeds. And if Cuba we lose, we can heal up the bruise With 'the charm of his fine Irish smile.

As this and other satiric bits ricocheted through a Statler Hilton dining room, John Kennedy's smile seemed wan. Like any President, Kennedy is sensitive to kidding, and at their annual Gridiron Club dinner, Washington newsmen ribbed him, his policies and his family mercilessly. But when the President arose for his own five-minute speech, he showed that he could dish it out as well as take it.*

Denying that he would intervene energetically in the Massachusetts Democratic senatorial primary, in which his brother Ted is running against House Speaker John McCormack's nephew Ed, the President quipped: "We're not sending in any troops, just a few training missions. We're confining ourselves to the slogan, 'We'd rather be Ted than Ed.' " Referring to his sister-in-law, he said it was not true that "we're going to change the name of Lafayette Square to Radziwill Square--at least, not during my first term." About Jackie's trip he observed: "I know my Republican friends were glad to see my wife feeding an elephant in India. She gave him sugar and nuts. But of course the elephant wasn't satisfied."

Warming to the evening's mood, the President's wit ranged widely. Recalling his efforts to persuade the U.S. to drink milk as an aid to the dairy industry, he said: "I am certainly enjoying being with you newsmen this evening. None of you know how tough it is to have to drink milk three times a day." He used the occasion to return the press-conference barbs thrown frequently at him, as at President Eisenhower, by Newswoman Sarah McClendon. "I saw my wife's picture watching a snake charmer in India," Kennedy said. "As soon as I learn Sarah Mc-Clendon's favorite tune, I'm going to play it." He dealt deftly with another frequent press critic, New York Times Columnist Arthur Krock, and with Washington's Metropolitan Club, which does not admit Negroes. "Krock criticized me for not letting President Tshombe of Katanga come here"the President noted. "So I told him we would work out a deal. I'll give Tshombe a visa and Arthur can give him a dinner at the Metropolitan Club."

*The President's Gridiron Club speech is supposed to be off the record. But Washington's newswomen, who are excluded, do not consider themselves bound by the rule. Last week the Washington Post's Dorothy McCardle buttonholed the diners, found out what the President had said, and quoted him in the paper, thereby putting his speech on the public record.

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