Keep on the Premises

The Administration of John F. Kennedy may well come to be known as the Verbalist (or Windbag) Era in American history. Among the men with whom Mr. Kennedy has surrounded himself are some of our most formidable wordslingers. Virtuosi like Arthur Schlesinger, Chester Bowles, Adlai Stevenson, Walter Heller and John Kenneth Galbraith can turn out a couple of thousand fashionable words in the time it takes an ordinary citizen to write “Having wonderful time, wish you were here” to his mother-in-law.

Every day or two a huge new message to Congress, White Paper, commission report or special memorandum on urban renewal, astronautics, recreation, medicare, transport or whatnot is proclaimed to the public. Nor are foreign affairs neglected in the tidal waves of words. Cuba, Berlin, Togoland and South America all get their generous quotas; and on disarmament alone the weight of Administration words is enough to swamp a library.

JB

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James Burnham

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The Administration of John F. Kennedy may well come to be known as the Verbalist (or Windbag) Era in American history. Among the men with whom Mr. Kennedy has surrounded himself are some of our most formidable wordslingers. Virtuosi like Arthur Schlesinger, Chester Bowles, Adlai Stevenson, Walter Heller and John Kenneth Galbraith can turn out a couple of thousand fashionable words in the time it takes an ordinary citizen to write “Having wonderful time, wish you were here” to his mother-in-law.

Every day or two a huge new message to Congress, White Paper, commission report or special memorandum on urban renewal, astronautics, recreation, medicare, transport or whatnot is proclaimed to the public. Nor are foreign affairs neglected in the tidal waves of words. Cuba, Berlin, Togoland and South America all get their generous quotas; and on disarmament alone the weight of Administration words is enough to swamp a library.