It's Nice to Be Liked

President Kennedy had just completed his three-day "nonpolitical" trip to South Dakota, Colorado and California--and he personally considered it a smashing political success. Wherever he went, cheering crowds told him that he still had his way with the people. And when he went swimming, they swooned.

The swimming incident took place in Santa Monica, where Kennedy had stopped off for a visit with his brother-in-law, Actor Peter Lawford. The President spent a lazy afternoon beside Lawford's pool, then, deciding he wanted to try the surf, strode through a gate onto the public beach. Hundreds of bathers came running up. Shaking hands as he went, the President marched into the water. Many of his admirers trailed after him, including one fully dressed woman. After 15 minutes, Kennedy emerged from the sea, and again he was all but mobbed.

All this was heady stuff. And its memory kept Kennedy cheerful after his return to Washington.

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