First Friends by Gary
Ginsberg (New York: 12), 2021.
'First Lady' is a well-known expression for the wife of a leader,
especially
the wife of a U.S. President. Recently, there has even been use of
expressions
such as 'First Bloke', to describe the husband of a female leader,
as in Australia
in the recent past.
However, this book focusses on people who are less familiar,
'First Friends',
a key friend/confidante/muse of U.S. presidents. Ginsberg chooses
nine
presidents across a wide span of time from Thomas Jefferson to
Bill Clinton.
I started by reading about the most recent presidents, as they
were most familiar
to me. However, I did not really know any of the 'first friends'.
so it was interesting
to find out about their very contrasting lives and relationships
with presidents.
Each was certainly different, as indicated here:
Thomas Jefferson: James Madison. Madison was the only
one to become president himself.
Franklin Pierce: Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne was probably
the most 'famous' friend, as a well-known writer.
Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed. Perhaps the
friendship where the wealthier background was most that of the
friend rather than the president.
Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House. House, who was not
really an actual 'colonel', played a huge role in U.S foreign
policy around the First World War.
FDR and Daisy
Suckley.
Suckley was the only female 'first friend'.
Harry Truman and Eddie Jacobson. Jacobson was a friend
from boyhood who played a key role in encouraging
Truman to recognise the State of Israel.
John F. (Jack) Kennedy
and The only 'first
friend' who was a foreigner. Ormsby-Gore, later Lord Harlech,
David
Ormsby-Gore
was British and symbolises the interplay between the U.S. and U.K.
in the
'Special Relationship'.
Richard Nixon and Bebe Rebozo Perhaps the
most mysterious relationship between two people with more
different different backgrounds than the other relationships and
long periods
of silence!
Bill Clinton and Vernon Jordan The
only African-American 'first friend' and very much a relationship
of
equals in areas such as charisma and networking capability.
It might seem strange that a U.S. President, who has so much
interaction with others, whether aides or leaders
of other countries, needs such a person. However, there is a
saying: "It can be lonely at the top." and there is
a need to be for someone who the holder of this position can
really have confidence in. In some of the
relationships, advice about policy was extremely important, but in
two (FDR/Daisy Suckley and Richard Nixon/
Bebe Rebozo) it was more an escape from politics.
The only relationship that did not endure to the end was that
between Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House.
Others ended prematurely, with the assassinations of Lincoln and
Kennedy, but many ended in great sorrow.
As Harry Truman said about Eddie Jacobson, "Eddie was one of the
best friends I had in this world. He was
absolutely trustworthy. I don't know how I am going to get along
without him." (p.233) John F. Kennedy's
widow, Jackie, gave David Ormsby-Gore a book of poetry, including
these words from Percy Shelley:
"Friendship...a deer balm. A smile among dark frowns; a beloved
light.
A solitude, a refuge, a delight." (p.272)
See my previous
featured book.