Barack Obama Gives Gifts at Children's Hospital

Barack Obama

Pol Light Moment #163 happened on December 19, 2018, when Barack Obama visited the Children's National Hospital in Washington DC to hand out gifts. Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States. He served as President of the United States from 2009-2017.

Barack Obama visited the hospital to pass out gifts and talk to the children and their families. The following is a video from NBC News on Barack Obama's visit to the Children's National Hospital and his remarks.



Fox News also published a story on this visit by Barack Obama.

For other posts on Barack Obama search with the "Barack Obama" label at Pol Light.

Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.  

The photo of Barack Obama is in the Public Domain as his official photo.

Donald Trump Sends His Private Jet to Transport Sick Boy Across Country

Donald Trump

Pol Light Moment #148 occurred on July 20, 1988, when Donald Trump sent his private jet to transport 3 year old Andrew Ten across the United States to receive medical care. Donald Trump is the 45th and current President of the United States, serving from 2017 to the present.

Andrew Ten was 3 years old in 1988 and he needed to travel from Los Angeles to New York for medical help. The little boy was refused passage on commercial airlines because of the complex life-support system he needed, such as an oxygen tank, suction machine, and breathing bag. Three nurses also traveled with him.

When Rabbi Harold Ten, and his wife Judy, contacted Donald Trump about their son's need, Trump offered his private Boeing 727 to transport Andrew from Los Angeles to New York. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has more information in their archives on this event from 1988 (Orthodox Jew with Rare Ailment is Rescued Aboard Tycoon's Jet, July 20, 1988).

Sadly Andrew Ten passed away in 2008, ten years after this event. His parents sponsored Camp Avraham Moshe for Jewish teens and young adults with special needs in his honor (Times of Israel, July 20, 2015).

Donald Trump has been featured on other Pol Light posts. To view other posts search the blog with the label Donald Trump.

Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.

The photo in this post of Donald Trump is in the Public Domain.

John F. Kennedy Writes Sympathy Note to Mother of a Sick Child

John F. Kennedy

Pol Light Moment #98 is when John F. Kennedy wrote a sympathy note to a mother of a sick child on August 9, 1963.  John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961-1963.

John F. Kennedy's son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born premature on August 7, 1963 and suffered from hyaline membrane disease.  In the early hours of August 9, 1963, with his son Patrick's conditioning worsening, John F. Kennedy went with his friend Dave Powers at 2:00am to the Children's Medical Center in Boston. Prior to seeing his son he stopped to write a sympathy note to a mother whose son had been burned badly and was in the same hospital.

Here is an account by the Washington Post of John F. Kennedy stopping to write a sympathy note to a mother he had never met before.

While waiting for the elevator, his eye wandered into a nearby room, falling on a small child who had been badly burned. JFK summoned the night nurse. He wanted to know how the accident happened. And how often did the mother visit the hospital? When he learned that the mother came every day, the president asked for her name. Taking a slip of paper and a pen from Powers, he scrawled a note of sympathy. “There he was, with his own baby dying downstairs,” Powers recalled in his memoir, “but he had to take the time to write a note to that poor woman, asking her to keep her courage up (Washington Post, October 24, 2013).”

Patrick Bouvier Kennedy died on August 9, 1963 at 4:00am.

John F. Kennedy has been featured on other Pol Light posts. To view all John F. Kennedy posts search with John F. Kennedy label at Pol Light.

Quote Light: John F. Kennedy has a page on the Quote Light blog.

Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.

The photo of John F. Kennedy is in the Public Domain.

Franklin Roosevelt Founds March of Dimes

Pol Light Moment #50 is when Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis on January 3, 1938. Roosevelt later renamed it the March of Dimes Foundation. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States and served from 1933 until his death in 1945. Franklin D. Roosevelt also served as the Governor of New York from 1929-1932.

At age 39, Franklin Roosevelt was stricken with Polio and unable to walk again. His passion for the March of Dimes reflected his desire to help give a boost of care and research to help there be more healthy babies and mothers in the country. Over the years the March of Dimes has focused it's energies on healthy pregnancy and premature babies.

The organization started with donations from wealthy friends of Franklin Roosevelt giving in his honor, but the name March of Dimes has it's roots in the need to involve the general public in more funding for the organization.

In 1938, Roosevelt decided to appeal to the general public for help. At one fundraiser, celebrity Eddie Cantor jokingly urged the public to send dimes to the president, coining the term March of Dimes. The public took his appeal seriously, flooding the White House with 2,680,000 dimes and thousands of dollars in donations (Source).

The following is a news feature for the 75th Anniversary of the March of Dimes that shares Franklin Roosevelt's important role in founding the organization.



Franklin D. Roosevelt has been featured on other Pol Light posts. To view all Franklin Roosevelt posts search with Franklin Roosevelt label at Pol Light. Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.
Photo: The photo in this post is in the Public Domain. It was obtained from Wikipedia.

Franklin Roosevelt Writes Letter to a Sick Boy

Pol Moment #4 is when Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) wrote a letter to a sick boy named Charles Snow Smith.  Franklin D. Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States and served from 1933 until his death in 1945. Franklin D. Roosevelt also served as the Governor of New York from 1929-1932.

Franklin Roosevelt would be able to relate to the sick boy that he wrote a letter to, because he himself had numerous health problems and battled through them (Health Media Lab). The content of the letter has been preserved for 75 years.  Here is the letter that Franklin Roosevelt wrote to a Charles Snow Smith in New York. It was dated March 8, 1935.

My dear Charles:

One of your good friends has told me about you and of the splendid courage you have shown during your long illness. Just keep up your fine spirit and don't let anything at all discourage you.

I am writing this little note to send you a personal word of cheer and my very best wishes.

Very sincerely yours,

Charles Snow Smith,
Jackson Heights,
Long Island, New York

Citation: Franklin D. Roosevelt:"Letter to a Sick Boy.," March 8, 1935.Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley,The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=15017.

Franklin D. Roosevelt has been featured on other Pol Light posts. To view all Franklin Roosevelt posts search with Franklin Roosevelt label at Pol Light.

Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.

Photo: The photo in this post is in the Public Domain. It was obtained from Wikipedia.

Rick Santorum's Advice on Trisomy 18

Pol Light Moment #1 is a story from Michigan, where a family dealing with Trisomy 18 (Edward's Syndrome) in their daughter found encouragement from Rick Santorum. Rick Santorum served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995-2007. The Michigan family was not even a constituent of this Pennsylvania politician but they share a common bond with him.

In the Spring of 2010 on a visit to Troy, Michigan, Sen. Rick Santorum met Brad and Jessi Smith, whose daughter Faith had recently been diagnosed with Trisomy 18. The politician took the time to talk to Brad Smith about his situation and offer some insight into the situation.

Like the Smith's, Sen. Rick Santorum and his wife Karen are the parents of a 3 year old girl named Bella who has Trisomy 18. Rick Santorum shared his heart about raising a child with special needs during a political debate in 2011. The related segment is available in a video on YouTube. 

7 months after that first meeting, Sen. Rick Santorum visited Brad Smith at the radio station he worked at.  Sen. Santorum had heard that Brad Smith's daughter Faith wasn't doing well. He took the time to explain some steps the parents needed to take and when he observed that Brad Smith was not listening he said, "You need to do this. If you don't do this you are going to lose your daughter." Brad Smith contributes that tough advice to helping him tremendously in raising his special needs daughter.

Here is a news story that covers this incident that made a difference for the Smith family in Michigan.

For more information about this story you can read an article at the Detroit Free Press.

Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.

Photo Credits:

• The photo of Sen. Rick Santorum is attributed to Cage Skidmore and is in the Creative Commons of Wikipedia. 
• The graphic of the genetic code of  Trisomony 18 is in the Public Domain courtesy of the National Institute of Health.