Land of the Ancients

April 30, 2012

I was watching CBS Sunday Morning yesterday, which featured a story on Robert Caro, the great historian and two-time Pulitzer Prize winning biographer. The occasion for the interview was the release today of the fourth volume of Caro’s magnum opus on Lyndon Johnson which covers the period from 1958-1964. The centerpiece of the volume is, of course the assassination of President Kennedy and Johnson’s elevation to the presidency. An excerpt from the new volume, entitled “The Path to Power” appeared in the April 2, 2012 edition of the New Yorker (which is behind their paywall). It is a gripping tale and worth reading.

The thing that caught my eye during the CBS broadcast yesterday was the image below from a joint session of Congress on November 27, 1963. Pictured are President Johnson, Speaker John McCormack and Senate President Pro Tempore Carl Hayden. (The gentleman on the right side is unknown.)

Joint Session of Congress, November 27, 1963

Look at how old those guys are! At the time, Speaker McCormack was 72 years old (born in 1891). Senator Hayden is 86 years old in this photo (he was born in 1877!). The average life expectancy of an American male in 1963 was 66.6 years. These guys were literally living on borrowed time. Senator Hayden was 120% of the average life expectancy. Based on 2011 tables, that would equate to a 98-year-old Senator today.

Hayden was so old and feeble that when he rose to be second in the line of succession for the presidency (during the period in which there was no Vice President from 11/22/63 through 1/20/65 when Hubert Humphrey became VP) that he had a plan if the situation arose in which he was required to become the President. He said that he would await the appointment of a new Speaker of the House (ahead of the Senate President Pro Tem in the line of succession) and then resign and let the new Speaker assume the presidency.

Every time you think that the current moment is unique or fraught with things that have never been seen before, you stumble across something that reminds you that every era had its strange elements and unique circumstances.

 

 

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Posted by Mark Wegener

Pat Robertson on Alzheimer’s

September 17, 2011

Pat Robertson, always a lightning rod, stepped into a moral minefield last week when counseling a man on dealing with his spouse who has Alzheimer’s.

According to the New York Times:

On his television program, “The 700 Club,” on Tuesday, Mr. Robertson took a call from a man asking how he should advise a friend whose wife was deep into dementia and no longer recognized him.

“His wife as he knows her is gone,” the caller said, and the friend is “bitter at God for allowing his wife to be in that condition, and now he’s started seeing another woman.”

“This is a terribly hard thing,” Mr. Robertson said, clearly struggling to think his way through a wrenching situation. “I hate Alzheimer’s. It is one of the most awful things, because here’s the loved one — this is the woman or man that you have loved for 20, 30, 40 years, and suddenly that person is gone.”

“I know it sounds cruel,” he continued, “but if he’s going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over again, but to make sure she has custodial care, somebody looking after her.”

When Mr. Robertson’s co-anchor on the program wondered if that was consistent with marriage vows, Mr. Robertson noted the pledge of “till death do us part,” but added, “This is a kind of death.”

Much criticism has been leveled at Robertson, some of it by people who are inclined to disagree with anything that comes out of his mouth, no matter what it is.  I think that there are some who would argue that the world is flat if Robertson said it was round, despite the fact that they know better.

It’s fine to disagree with Robertson on this topic.  It’s clearly a tough and personal call.  But before you criticize, please watch Jan’s Story.  This link is the best teller of the tale.  The story aired on CBS Sunday Morning January 24, 2011.  It’s a revealing and touching tale of a couple in love and in the midst of the hell that is Alzheimer’s. A book followed and then this interview with Barry Petersen.  The Sunday Morning piece is better, but hearing Petersen discuss the feelings of their friends is also useful.

Petersen’s frank discussion about his feelings is useful in this discussion.  It’s a tough call.  But spend a few minutes in Barry Petersen’s shoes before criticizing Pat Robertson…or Barry Petersen.

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Posted by Mark Wegener