In 1956* I finally got a brother* and our family finally got a television set. My brother* Roger Cassidy Clinton* was born on July 25* his father’s birthday. I was so happy. Mother and Daddy had been trying to have a baby for some time (a couple of years earlier she’d had a miscarriage). I think she* and probably he too* thought it might save their marriage. Daddy’s response was not auspicious. I was with Mammaw and oil painting Papaw when Mother delivered by caesarean section. Daddy picked me up and took me to see her* then brought me home and left. He had been drinking for the last few months* and instead of making him happy and responsible* the birth of his only son prompted him to run back to the bottle.Along with the excitement of a new baby in the house was the thrill of the new TV. There were lots of shows and entertainers for kids: oil painting reproductions cartoons*Captain Kangaroo andHowdy Doody * with Buffalo Bob Smith* whom I especially liked. And there was baseball: Mickey Mantle and the Yankees* Stan Musial and the Cardinals* and my all-time favorite* Willie Mays and the old New York Giants.But strange as it was for a kid of ten years old* what really dominated my TV viewing that summer were the Republican and Democratic conventions. I sat on the floor right in front of the TV and watched them both* transfixed. It sounds crazy* but I felt right at home in the world of politics and politicians. I liked President Eisenhower and enjoyed seeing him renominated* but we were Democrats* so I really got oil paintings into their convention. Governor Frank Clement of Tennessee gave a rousing keynote address. There was an exciting contest for the vice-presidential nomination between young Senator John F. Kennedy and the eventual victor* Senator Estes Kefauver* who served Tennessee in the Senate with Al Gore’s father. When Adlai Stevenson* the nominee in 1952* accepted his party’s call to run again* he said he had prayed “this cup would pass from me.” I admired Stevenson’s intelligence and eloquence* but even then I couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want the chance to be President. Now I think what he didn’t want was to lead another losing effort. I do understand that. I’ve lost a couple of elections myself* though I never fought a battle I didn’t first convince myself I could win.I didn’t spend all my time watching TV. I still saw all the movies I could. Hot Springs had two old-fashioned movie houses* the Paramount and the Malco* with big stages on which touring western stars appeared on the weekends. I saw china oil painting Lash LaRue* all decked out in cowboy black* do his tricks with a bullwhip* and Gail Davis* who played Annie Oakley on TV* give a shooting exhibition.Elvis Presley began to make movies in the late fifties. I loved Elvis. I could sing all his songs* as well as the Jordanaires’ backgrounds. I admired him for doing his military service and was fascinated when he married his beautiful young handmade oil paintings wife* Priscilla. Unlike most parents* who thought his gyrations obscene* Mother loved Elvis* too* maybe even more than I did. We watched his legendary performance onThe Ed Sullivan Show together* and laughed when the cameras cut off his lower body movements to protect us from the indecency. Beyond his music* I identified with his small-town southern roots. And I thought he had a good heart. Steve Clark* a friend of mine who served as attorney general when I was governor* once took his little sister* who was dying of cancer* to see Elvis perform in Memphis. When Elvis heard about the little girl* he put her and her brother in the front row* and after the concert he brought her up onstage and talked to her for a good while. I never forgot that.
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10-17-2009, 10:10 AM
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