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.

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

Harry T. Burn Votes for Women's Suffrage

Pol Light Moment #93 happened on August 18, 1920, when Harry T. Burn (1895-1977) cast the deciding vote in the last state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment (women's suffrage) in a session of the legislator at the State of Tennessee. Harry T. Burn served in the Tennessee State House of Representatives from 1918-1922. He later served in the Tennessee State Senate from 1948-1952.

The U.S. Congress had approved the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Tennessee was the final state needed to ratify the Amendment and they were split on the issue.

Harry T. Burn was a 24 year old legislator that was part of the anti suffrage camp. However, at the last moment he switched sides because of a letter he had received from his mother and he cast the deciding vote for a women's right to vote.

“I know that a mother’s advice is always the safest for a boy to follow,” Burn said, switching sides (New York Times, My Favorite August, August 13, 2010). Because of the historical importance of his vote and the publicity about his rationale for voting as he did, Harry T. Burn became known by some as a hero and others as a "mamma's boy".

This is part of the eight page letter that Harry Burn's mother sent him about his vote on the 19th Amendment and that he kept in his pocket when he changed his mind and voted in support of women's suffrage.

Dear Son: 

Hurrah and vote for suffrage! Don't keep them in doubt! I notice some of the speeches against. They were bitter. I have been watching to see how you stood, but have not noticed anything yet. Don't forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the "rat" in ratification. 

Your mother

(Source: Tennessee State Library and Archives) 

The New York Times reported this account of the vote in its August 19, 1920 edition.

The vote at the outset was on partisan lines, but when the name of Representative Harry T. Burn, Republican, of McMinn County, was called, he voted "Aye." The opposition then virtually conceded defeat, for Mr Burn had voted with them to table the resolution, and his change gave the suffregists the needed majority (Wikipedia, Harry T. Burn). 

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.