Thomas Broderick, Oral History Interview 4/29/1964 Administrative Information

Transcription

1 Thomas Broderick, Oral History Interview 4/29/1964 Administrative Information Creator: Thomas Broderick Interviewer: Ed Martin Date of Interview: April 29, 1964 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Length: 72 pages Biographical Note Broderick, a Massachusetts political figure and Kennedy campaign organizer in Brighton, Massachusetts, discusses John F. Kennedy s 1946 congressional campaign, including campaign workers, events, and strategies; his 1952 senate campaign; and humorous anecdotes illustrating JFK s personality, among other issues. Access Open. Usage Restrictions According to the deed of gift signed on September 12, 1972, copyright of these materials has been assigned to the United States Government. Users of these materials are advised to determine the copyright status of any document from which they wish to publish. Copyright The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excesses of fair use, that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form. Direct your questions concerning copyright to the reference staff. Transcript of Oral History Interview These electronic documents were created from transcripts available in the research room of the John F. Kennedy Library. The transcripts were scanned using optical character recognition and the resulting text files were proofread against the original transcripts. Some formatting changes were made. Page numbers are noted where they would have occurred at the bottoms of the pages of the original transcripts. If researchers have any concerns about accuracy, they are encouraged to visit the Library and consult the transcripts and the interview recordings.

2 Suggested Citation Thomas Broderick, recorded interview by Ed Martin, April 29, 1964, (page number), John F. Kennedy Library Oral History Program.

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4 Thomas Broderick Table of Contents Page Topic 1 Meeting John F. Kennedy (JFK) during World War II 3 Fighting on atolls during World War II 8 Meeting JFK in the U.S. after the war 14 Joining JFK s 1946 congressional campaign 22 Structure and staff of JFK s 1946 campaign 30 Anecdotes about JFK s personality election day 44 Broderick s identity as a Kennedy-only political operative 48 Reasons why some political operatives stopped working for JFK 51 Broderick s alleged violation of the Hatch Act and subsequent dismissal of charges 56 JFK s 1952 run for Senate 65 Brighton in election day 69 Contacts with JFK as president 71 Evelyn N. Lincoln

5 Oral History Interview with Thomas Broderick April 29, 1964 Boston, Massachusetts By Ed Martin For the John F. Kennedy Library Tom, you first became acquainted with President Kennedy [John F. Kennedy] after the War, but there was an occasion during your military service when you first met him. Would you tell us about that time; where it was and what took place? Well, Eddie, it was a very fast how-do-you-do and away. On June 26, 1943, I was attached to LST 353, and it was during a Jap bombing attack. He was also attached, he was on one of the LST s. They were taking some officers over there at the time. One of the LST s was seriously hit, the 398, and it was [-1-] burning pretty badly. We came to the rescue of it, and we run it up onto the beach. Most of us came ashore, and we took some people ashore with us. We came into some 55 gallon drums. And at that particular time I came up onto the beach, and there was a photographer from the Navy intelligence there. He went over and introduced himself. I said, Where are you from? I said, Boston. There were two or three fellows standing there, and this fellow turned around I m from Boston, too. What s your name? I said, Tom Broderick. And he said,

6 My name is Kennedy. Here is the picture if you would like to look at it. I guess there s no question but you can very easily see that it s him. In the background of the picture, Tom, is an LST burning? Yes. That was the one that we got the Commendation for. That was the 398. And you notice [-2-] here on the Commendation we got, I was on the 353. What did it get the Commendation for, Tom? Well, we rescued most of the personnel that were on the 398. In that particular type of craft you have your armory; your antiaircraft guns are all up forward and aft and along the side, and it was a case of it blowing up. We thought if we could run it onto the beach, we might be able to salvage some of it. But, unfortunately, we weren t able to. much, You were wounded in the service, Tom, were you not? Yes. Would you tell us about that? Well, mine was only a slight thing. I mean, it was a little lend-lease, Japanese lend-lease stuff, and I was hospitalized then in, let me see, it s here in the US Naval MOB 8, that s in Guadalcanal. It wasn t very [-3-] didn t amount to very much, but I was hospitalized. Then I went back to service. I stayed with the 353, and we had occasion to see the LST s over in Tulagi at the time. Of course, I didn t know that Jack Kennedy was who he is today. Here is an article here on a particular ship where we got another Commendation. You see it here, the Navy Unit Citation. It says there for knocking down seven Japs. That s from the Bureau of Naval Personnel. That s quite a record, Tom. Then you didn t see him overseas anymore? No, I didn t see him at all. I stayed on duty, and eventually we shipped back to the States in 1944 for new construction.

7 But you didn t hear while you were over there anything about the PT- 109 and its No, but we were at Munda, and we were at Vella Lavella, and there were some other small islands, atolls there, that have never been mentioned very much in his book or in anything [-4-] they speak about. Tulagi was right across from Guadalcanal, and we were more or less in Guadalcanal because we had to take on water. We didn t have any evaporators on these LST s so we had to take on fresh water there. That s why the LST s were over there most of the time. And, of course, your PT boats were there. Another thing about that: the PT boat at that time didn t have any fire power other than their machine guns, and when an LST would be hit, they d dismount the 20 millimeters from them, and they d try to put them on the fantail of the PT boats. We were at Vella Lavella, and right across from Vella Lavella was Munda; then further up as you go up towards Bougainville was Choiseul, and from Choiseul you go into Bougainville. And we made most of those trips. We were at Vella Lavella, then we crossed across to Munda. That was all in the area, Tom, where the PT [-5-] boats operated? Yes, the PT boats operated, as I recall and I m very sure and I m definitely certain of this, that was up in the slot, further up the slot. We used to call it the slot, and the Seabees were laying some of these metal carpets on some of the places. I think Munda was the last place we took. There was no place for airplanes on Vella Lavella. It was only an atoll, but on Munda, we finally got a reconnaissance strip laid down there, and we took a lot of Seabees up there. We were pretty much constantly under fire because they were coming down from Bougainville. They were also sending some stuff down from Truk, which later was bombed pretty badly. That was before the Battle of the Coral Sea. Then I came back to the canal on the last trip we made up there. We had [-6-] some air coverage, but Guadalcanal, at that time, was just about secured and that was probably around, just before August in Then I was shipped back to the States, as I say, and I was attached then to a baby flattop, the Independence, and I went into Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. From there on I was attached to an APA, Amphibious Personnel Attack. Of course, I lost track of everything that was going on at the time. I didn t do anything about

8 President Kennedy then. As a matter of fact, until I was discharged in November, 1945, I never heard of him again. You came home to Brighton, was it? I came home to Brighton, yes, Ward 22. Tom, were you then just resting up after your war service or Yes. Of course, I was like most of the [-7-] other fellows. We were in pretty good shape, and we were taking a little rest. States? You had never become involved in politics prior to service? No, no. Politics had never... I d never been particularly interested in them. So it was something new when you ran across somebody who tried to interest you in helping him out politically. Can you tell us the occasion, Tom, when you met President Kennedy back here in the Eddie, the first time I met him, my sister-in-law, Mrs. J. Frank Broderick [Agnes Broderick], called me and she was president of the Brighton Women s Club. She had been approached by Eddie Gallagher [Edward M. Gallagher], whose father was a former City Councilman and representative from Ward 22. They were originally from Charlestown. Eddie s [-8-] a great guy. My sister, Agnes, said, What do you know of Jack Kennedy? Well, by this time I had heard of what had happened over there. Of course, the first thing that came to my mind was, Gosh, there s a kid who could have sat in an armchair and wouldn t sit there. And the terrible tragedy in Europe with his brother [Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.], and I said, Gee, he must be quite a guy. Why don t you have him? She said, Well, what do you think? I understand he s interested in politics. Would he talk politics? I said, Well, no. Well, call him. She said, Well, I can call him at the Bellevue. I said, Well, why don t you do that and see if you can t have him come out? So she called him at the Bellevue and, of course, he was more than happy to come out. He hadn t announced yet at that time?

9 [-9-] To the best of my knowledge, he hadn t because he didn t say anything about politics then, and it wasn t until I went in and met him at the Bellevue about two or three days later that he said, I m going to run for Congress. I mean he said nothing about it at the Women s Club. What he did mention at the Brighton Women s Club, I have it here. Probably you d like to see it. John F. Kennedy, son of the former Ambassador to London, holder of the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, Purple Heart in combat, and so forth, who is a guest speaker at the anniversary of the Brighton Women s Club at the Hotel Sheraton. Former Commander of a PT boat, he was rammed and sunk off Bougainville in the Solomons and torpedoed by a Japanese destroyer. Mrs. J. Frank Broderick, president, and acting chairman, [-10-] Mrs. Mahoney, were at the gathering. Mr. Kennedy was recently elected general chairman of the 1946 convention of the Veterans of Foreign wars to be held in Boston. Now, as it has here in the newspaper, his approach on this particular night, and everybody fell in love with him. You couldn t help it. I mean he was just fantastic, just so retiring. And knowing what a great kid he was, everybody actually fell in love with him. Was he a good speaker, Tom? Yes, he was a very good speaker. He hesitated a little. I mean, as a matter of fact, my first impression in listening to him was that I was more interested in watching him, than I was in listening to what he said. I mean, that s the impression he made on me which, of course, has lasted pretty close to twenty years. But [-11-] his remarks were excellent. He said, In coming home we have a different effect on every veteran. No one can speak with any great authority on what that effect will be. Some selfappointed spokesmen of the veterans, whose presumption is only equal to their inaccuracy, have already told us what we must expect from the new veterans. There s twelve million of them, and they re all thinking of themselves. A lot of them are inaccurate because there is no universality in the veterans opinions, backgrounds, or ambitions. The campaigns were so farflung, the duties so diverse, that the reaction upon the individuals was varied rather than identical. In other words, he glossed over the whole thing. But I ve noticed among my many friends who have come home, and I m sure that you have too, one common reaction [-12-]

10 since their return, a sort of letdown. It is inevitable that this should be so. Home built up a proportion of the reality when we were away. The buildup is a conception served, and it is now going to waste. We have some time ahead, and we should make it easier among the suffering, that bore all these tragedies of war. Then he went on to say the way he felt regarding conditions now. And he followed that through so many times, he spoke so many times about it and he was very forceful about it. He said, If we are strong then nobody will bother us; but we must be strong. I do not believe in letting this thing deteriorate, get away from us. The war is over; we must remain strong. Tom, as a returning veteran, did this match your sentiments? Is this the [-13-] way you felt about it, too? Yes, that was the thing that made me feel so attached to him. There was a lot more to it in his speech that time. After the speech I went up, shook hands with him, and I said, I don t suppose you remember me. And he kind of grinned and he said, No, I don t, but you must be Agnes somebody in the Broderick family. I said, Yes, I am. And he said, I wonder if you would come in and see me. I said, Sure, I would be glad to. He said, I m at the Bellevue. And I went in and saw him within two days. As a matter of fact, I think it was on a Tuesday. He was sitting up in the room. There was a fellow by the name of Bill Sutton [William J. Sutton], and there was a fellow by the name of Walter Powers. He had a nickname for Walter; he used to call him Tyrone. [-14-] And as a matter of fact, he had some nicknames for people that he was fond of. I mean he d say to somebody, Have you seen the Thin Man? They d know, of course, he was looking for me. And if he d refer to Tyrone, and they d try to find out where he was he d say, Well, call the bride. Now that was Tyrone s wife. And he d call Billy Sutton he d say Have you seen the Firecracker? I mean, he had a lot of humor and he, for instance. And then he was so sincere in a good many other things. I have a letter here. It s pretty yellow with age, Ed. Would you like to read it or do you think you can read it? Now, that s written on the Hotel Bellevue stationery, and the date is there. Yes. It says, Dear Mrs. Broderick: I want you to know how much I enjoyed [-15-] the dinner Monday night. You were all very nice to me and I greatly appreciate it. Sincerely, Jack Kennedy.

11 That was February 8... February 8, and that was in What occasion was this? That was for dinner. We thought it would be a good idea if we. I d never heard of house parties or anything like that. But I had talked to him then, and I was so enthused with the fellow that I said, Gee, would it be possible to come out and meet some people? And he said, Great! When do we go? And I said, Well, I ll call up now. So he did and we had, oh, fifteen or twenty people out there, and he moved in and he sat down. When my father passed away a few years ago, he came all the way back from Minnesota to attend the wake and so forth. He just sat [-16-] down, he put his big long legs out, and he just talked. He was glad to meet everybody, nothing political, just that he was so glad to be able to sit down. He felt as though he was amongst friends. Well, I mean everybody there wanted to marry him then. He ended up out in the kitchen talking to my father. Of course, my father was warning him then about the trials and tribulations of politics. Every time you wanted him you had to go out to the kitchen and bring him in with my father. He was out there with Billy Sutton. Tom, he hadn t announced as yet for Congress, had he? Well, he did to me at the Bellevue then. He had mentioned that he was going to run for political office, and he did mention Congress. [-17-] Of course, that was the Eleventh Congressional District which took in Somerville, Cambridge, East Boston, the North End, and also... The South End and Ward 22. Where you were living? Yes. Well, then it was a short time later that he began to put together some sort of a campaign organization, wasn t it? Yes. Gee, I don t know where he got the strength he displayed, but he was fantastic. He d go, go, go, and he wasn t happy unless he was out meeting people, saying hello. For instance, I always like to tell this story. As a matter of fact, I haven t got the transfer with me. But later on in the campaign... I don t want to get ahead of my story, Ed, but he called me one afternoon. I was

12 [-18-] down in the office we had just opened up in Boston, which I think we opened up in April. And he said to me, Look, what do you think we should do tonight? And I said, Well, I don t know. What would you like to do? He said, Well, let s go out to Brighton. So we went out to Brighton, and I said, Jack, I have a good idea. Why don t we take a ride in the trolley car? So we went to Oak Square. We got on a trolley car at Oak Square and it was jammed. They had these two double trolley cars, and he went right through the whole trolley car. He d just shake hands and say, Hello, I m Jack Kennedy. And people just looked at him. I mean, they were amazed. They didn t know who Jack Kennedy was, or what he was doing. And, of course, I was going along and saying, This fellow s running for [-19-] Congress. And they d look at him and he looked like somebody that I was taking care of, leading around. He looked like a juvenile, no hat on and he had a blue suit They might have thought it was an initiation stunt for one of the local fraternities. Well, it was funny. We went all the way in to Park Street. Then we got to Park Street and I thought we did a pretty good job. So then we went down to Park Street Under, and we took the subway train clear out to Harvard Square, and he did the same thing there. Then we came all the way back here, and I said, Well, now we ve got to go out and get the car. He said, Come on, let s go out and get the car. So we stopped and had an ice cream soda, and we went out and got the car and came on back in again. He then started getting. I [-20-] started seeing more faces. Joe Kane [Joseph Kane], I know, was very active at that time. I think probably one of the grandest persons that Jack Kennedy ever knew, or ever will know, was Grace Burke [Grace M. Burke]. Grace at one time worked for former Congressman, Judge You mean Judge Higgins [John P. Higgins], Tom? Yes, yes. And the reason I knew of Judge Higgins and had met him several times was because of his association with the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters. Grace Burke, I think Grace was probably the most dedicated person to Jack Kennedy of anybody I ever knew. I had an expression one time in some groups; I was Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars; also Commander of

13 the Purple Heart and the Allied Veterans Council. You d get a group together and you d say, Well, [-21-] I know we used to get the old story. This kid, what does he want the job for, and all that? And I said, Well, I believe in him. I think the fellow has a tremendous amount on the ball. He s a veteran. He s a great guy. I used to say to Grace, Well, Grace, there s two things we ve got to believe in. We both believe in God and Jack Kennedy. And she said, Well, that s the way I feel. And I think Grace has been that way. She and I have been very close over the years. And Grace is still the same way now with Teddy [Edward Moore Kennedy] as she was with Jack. She s just as dedicated and sincere. Tom, will you tell us a little about the structure of the organization that the President built in his first congressional fight? Who the people were, what type they were, and perhaps some of the specific [-22-] details of the role you played in connection with that fight? Well, after opening the office in Boston, we had a small meeting of what Jimmy Burns [James MacGregor Burns] refers to in his book as his Junior Brain Trust, which consisted of John Droney [John J. Droney], and Billy Kelly [William F. Kelly] from East Boston, Dave [David F. Powers] from South Boston, and myself from Ward 22. He called them his Junior Brain Trust. I don t know where the Junior came from because I was about eight years older than the rest of them. As a matter of fact, they used to call me Pop now and then. Excuse me, Tom, but you mentioned Dave from South Boston. You mean... Dave Powers from Charlestown. We didn t have anybody from South Boston. As I say, there was Billy Kelly who was a terrific [-23-] guy. He worked very, very hard. As a matter of fact, they all did. And he said, What do you think we should do in Brighton? I said, Well, I think we should hold a headquarters out there because we ve got a great start now, and you re in very good favor with the Brighton Women s Club, which was probably the most influential organization in Brighton. And they are to this day. I ll tell you how much he thought of that before I forget it. From 1947 until 1953 he attended their banquet as a guest speaker every single year. He did not miss one year. As a matter of fact, I might even go on to say, and you can qualify this with our now Cardinal Cushing [Richard James Cushing], that a home for retarded children

14 practically was initiated at the head table sometime around 48 or 49 when the Cardinal was there. He used [-24-] to attend every year too. At that time he was an Archbishop. That s when they really got together, he and Jack. And of course, as you recall, Jack gave one hundred and some odd thousand dollars, initial amount of money to start that home for retarded children, which is now the Joseph P. Kennedy Home out there in Brighton. This thing got organized at the head table of one of those women s club meetings? Brighton Women s Club meetings. I m certain, I mean, I ve never mentioned it because that s one thing that Jack would never, you know, you d never discuss with him. But I know prior to that it had never happened, and I know it was right after that that I heard through several of the people who were out there that that was one of the things that they talked about [-25-] at the head table, that time, while the banquet was going on. We started then in Brighton. Of course, out there it was a little difficult because of the fact that Mike Neville [Michael J. Neville] was very, very popular from Cambridge. And there was Cotter [John F. Cotter] from Charlestown. Then there was a Miss Falvey [Catherine Falvey] who was a very lovely person but, I mean, from a standpoint of politics, I don t think she was in the race for anything more than, you know, to see just how the thing would build up. We opened a headquarters in April, and we started working. I got a group together out there. Some of them are still out there. There was Kay Curry, Agnes Broderick, Mrs. Coleman, and Billy Byrnes and a couple of fellows I played ball with. Gee, it goes back [-26-] so far now. I actually have a list of most of their names at home; I just don t happen to have it now, and I can t recall them. We started getting out literature. At that time I had had the headquarters set up, and this little fellow walked in and he said, Is Tom Broderick here? I looked around and I saw this little fellow about five foot five or six, and I said, Yes, that s me. Can I help you? And he said, Yes, you can. My name is Eddie Moore [Edward M. Moore]. I said, Are you from the area? We re very glad to have you help us out because we want everybody we can get. He said, Well, I certainly am from the area. I am former secretary to the Ambassador, Joseph P. Kennedy [Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.]. I said, Well, I guess probably you are going to help us. And he said, Oh, yes, I am. I know several people out [-27-]

15 here. And Mrs. Gallagher, that was Eddie Gallagher s mother. We had about thirty or forty people that were really dyed-in-the-wool Kennedy fans. We really didn t have as much opposition as the papers said we did out there because the image that he created when he d come out through there he d walk around and, I mean, he would just shake hands and How are you and Hello. I remember we had some small buttons printed and just to prove how observing and how he periscoped everything, we were coming out of the K of C [Knights of Columbus] building one night and across the street there was a youngster with his mother. They were walking up, and he kept walking up and looking over and he said, I m going over there. And I said, Well, what do you want over there? So I went over across the street [-28-] with him and he singled out is youngster and he said, Thanks very much for wearing my pin. He had a J.F. Kennedy pin on. The kid, I imagine, probably still has that pin. That s the way he was; he would come out and he would go, go, go. I don t know when he stopped. I can recall many times walking in the Bellevue. There was two rooms adjoining and the bathroom was in there. He d have his coat on and he d be shaving while he had his coat on, and somebody would be downstairs waiting to drive him somewhere. And it would go on and on and on. He was always jovial, always happy about it. As I say, the fight out there was... There was a few things. You know, they started throwing a few bombs. But the only thing they could say was that he was young and inexperienced. He may have been inexperienced, but he had [-29-] such great thinking power. We had him out to the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters Communion Breakfast one morning. It was out in St. Columbkille s and it was a rainy morning. He walked in and he was limping. I knew his back was bothering him and we had to walk up three flights of stairs. He spoke off the cuff and he had about six other places he had to go that day. When we came downstairs, I said, You don t feel good? And he said, I feel great. But he would never admit that he felt the least bit tired or anything. What was his physical appearance? Well, here you can see, that was sometime after. This is a picture taken at your wedding, Tom? Yes, he was an usher, and he called and What do I wear? I said, Wear [-30-]

16 the same suit you always wear. And he started to laugh. I said, Let s get a candy tie. So we both got a tie alike. That s him, my wife, and myself and... He was pretty thin there. Yes. The amazing thing to me is not only the full shock of hair there, but he s also carrying a hat. Yes. You know, we kidded him about that. He said that the only reason he carried the hat was he had to take something off when he went into church. Speaking about church, I wrote a little note here. It wasn t at all unusual for him to call you. He called me late one Saturday night and I was pretty tired. And he said, Can I meet you in the morning? I said, Sure. So I met him in the morning; we went down [-31-] to church, down in the North End, and he said, Have you got any change? Of course, I always kidded about him and I said, Yes, I have a little. We paid the seat money going in, so the box coming by, and I gave him a dime. He didn t say anything, he just put the dime in. When we got back up to Bellevue, Bill was there and Powers and Dick Conroy and Walter and them were around. He called them over, and I walked out to the what-do-you-call-it and I said, Well, I did it this time. And he said to Bill Sutton, Gee, Tom s getting very close, isn t he? And I thought that. I always kidded him about it. I said, You know, I m sick and tired of paying for your church fare. If we have to do that to get you to church. But he was a very religious sort of a guy. I [-32-] mean, he was honest and honorable about anything that he ever did. I don t knew whether I m getting away from the story, Ed, but he d call up and ask me to go down and play golf. Well, I d played golf with him on the Cape. We d only play about five or six holes. He d talk about different things, and he d tell me things that were very, very personal. He had two types, as he said, I ve two book s. I have one that s close and the other that isn t. He always stuck very close to that. There were certain people he would go to and he would say, Do this. And he knew that you would do it without being offended because he knew how you felt towards him, and he felt that way toward you. There were other people more or less politically associated with him that he [-33-] wouldn t say that to. I mean, he would ask them if they would do it, but he wouldn t say, I want you to do this. Particularly he had a trait of wanting a direct answer no matter what he

17 asked you. I remember particularly in Brighton one time we were having a group out there. He came in unexpectedly and he was asking me about the coverage in the precincts. I said, Jack, we ve got them well covered and the telephones are going good. After all, we re not experienced pols out here. And he said, If we were, I don t think we d want them. Then he asked me about something that was quite personal and that some people knew. He said he understood that there was remark or story going around up there. Well, the story, Eddie, was going around and it was ridiculous. It was about his using [-34-] certain religious organizations to further his own benefit, such as he spoke at the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters and he spoke at their Communion breakfast. He spoke at the K of C and different places in Brighton that we had had him. The thing that I want to bring out was there were four or five standing around, and he said, Have you heard it? Well, I had heard it, but I didn t pay any attention to it because I didn t think it was serious. I think it was a fellow by the name of Rosie Ryan who was Brighton, and I think he mentioned it to Jack that he belonged to the Knights with me. He asked me what I thought about it. I turned to somebody that was standing there and I said, Well, gee, what do you think about it? That was the first time I think I ever saw him get [-35-] mad. He said, Tommie, when I ask you a question you answer the question. If I want the question answered by somebody else, I ll ask them. Now, I came out here to have you answer the question. I kind of laughed, and I said, Then I ll answer it. I ve heard the story, but it s kind of ridiculous. Nobody is paying any attention to it. Somebody is just getting panicky. We re getting near to the June deadline now. A lot of these people are beginning to get a little panicky. You don t see progress when you re sitting up here in the headquarters. Around ringing doorbells people say, yes, they ll go along, but we don t know whether they will or not, and we know that there s some strength out here for the other people. And they re going to say those things anyway. [-36-] So he said, Well, that s all I wanted to know. And he went out and didn t say any more. As a matter of fact, we never did discuss it from that day on. He d keep calling you up every day wanting to know how it was going. I mean, you couldn t tell him very much, but he d always say, Are all the precincts covered? and so forth. And you d say, Yes, everything is covered the best we can do it. As it got towards the June deadline, he d call up more often and he d come out more often. Then the thing started to really roll. We began to get an awful lot of people in that we never even thought would go along with us. Of course, we put them to work. I think we can skip a little of that now and come to a dirty trick that was [-37-]

18 played on him. We were doing pretty well out in Brighton. We were well covered and we had cars. There weren t too many of them but we had enough to take care of us. I went out around 5 o clock that night and somebody said, There s about twelve taxicabs down there. I said, Where are they from? And this fellow came upstairs and said, They sent us over from Cambridge. I said, Well, we don t want you over here. So I called Cambridge, and I talked to a fellow by the name of Lem Billings [Kirk LeMoyne Billings], who was very close to Jack, and he said, Well, we re looking for those cabs, Tommie. I said, Well, they re out here. He said, How did they get there? I said, Somebody from down in your headquarters said we needed them out in Brighton to take people to the polls, [-38-] which we didn t need at all. But that was about the only trick that was played. Tom, about the vote. How did he do in Brighton specifically? Do you recall those figures? Yes, Eddie, I m sure I have them here. I don t have the figures, but my best recollection was that he won by about 5,000 votes. The reason I say that, Eddie, is somewhere around 7,500; Neville, the next man, got about 2,200; Cotter got 5 or 600; and Miss Falvey didn t get but very, very few. But I know when he called up, he said, We re running behind by about 3,000 votes in Cambridge. Now that was before the final count was made. When he came out, I said, Well, we ve picked up about 2,000 out here so that gives you 2,000 plus over what you re behind in Cambridge. [-39-] I think that was somewhere around 7 o clock. A couple of fellows were working at the polls. They were at the fire department. I was Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Purple Heart, and I had all that gang around; they were continually calling me and telling me about how it was going. Then after the final count was made, as I say, to the best of my recollection it was somewhere around 5,000 give or take some. Eddie Moore called and he said, Don t let the people go home. Jack is on his way out. I said, Well, that s great. So we waited around, and then we heard a big roar and Jack came in, and his father came in and also his mother. Now, I d met his father, but I had never met Mrs. Kennedy. She was just as sweet and gracious then as she is today. She shook [-40-] hands with everybody, and his father shook hands with everybody. They boosted me up onto a table, and they asked me to say something. I said, I don t think I d better. Here s the boss. So Jack got up and he thanked everybody. You know, believe it or not, and this may sound a little ridiculous and far-fetched but there were actually tears. He choked up with emotion with the people that were there. I mean, they wanted nothing; they weren t politicians; they

19 just were dedicated people to him. And every time they heard him or talked to him they became more solidified. They just couldn t think of anybody but Jack Kennedy. He just choked up, and then he got down and he shook hands. He didn t miss anybody. He shook hands with everybody in that place. The papers the next day, I think the article [-41-] was written by George Holland in After Dark, I have it here and, of course, it s blowing my own horn a little bit; it said something about Peter Jordan and the School Committee said, Everybody insists that Tommie Broderick be given credit for the huge sweep in Ward 22 made by young Jack Kennedy. Of course, I was very happy to see my name in print. It made me happy and a lot of people called up and said they had read it in this column. Tom, let me ask you this question. I know it may be slightly unfair in view of your lifelong affection for President Kennedy, but in his beginning fight, the first time he ran for Congress, what were some of the major criticisms of him as he began this career? Well, Eddie, I have read so many things. People say he was criticized. I think [-42-] he was naive, but you couldn t criticize him for being naive as far as politics were concerned. I can truthfully and honestly say that... Now I have documentary evidence here, being with him. There s hundreds of them here as you can see of personal letters from him. I mean, you couldn t be any closer than that. I don t think I ever can remember any time anybody criticizing him. I would criticize him sometimes for something that I... For instance, he was very sincere on that low-cost, low-rent housing bill, and he would be apt sometimes to go way out on a limb. I used to say to him, Well, gee... And he d say, Look, I ask you: what do you think of this bill in the way it s written up? And I said, It s great and it s got to be because you ve done a [-43-] lot of research on it, but I don t like this. And he said, Why don t you like it? And I said, Well, gee, I just don t like it. It just doesn t sound good. And he said, Well, the phraseology isn t good, but the content of the bill is what I m interested in, low-rent housing for veterans. That s going to be what I m after, and that s what I want. Well, Tom, you participated in his reelection fights for Congress as well as subsequently in his campaign for the Senate. Oh, yes.

20 But there were those who were with him in the early years of his political career that kind of either became disenchanted or drifted apart. Now, why would that be? I don t like to argue... Well, Eddie, [-44-] that s something I ve often told people. It wasn t through anything that the boss, or Jack, had done. Let me tell you how he felt about it. I was asked several times. Somebody was running for mayor, Sonny McDonough [Patrick J. McDonough] or John Powers [John E. Powers], the people that were with Kennedy at that time. Powers would get to them or somebody else would get to them. I m not criticizing either one of those two candidates. Don t misunderstand me. But they would go to some of the people I knew, and they d Well, I d like to have you go along with me and help me out. Well, now, I would call him and I would say, What do you think of giving this fellow a hand? He d say, Tommie, I can tell you not to because that s the way we feel. And he d talk at great length on the telephone, and he explained to me some- [-45-] thing that I have never forgotten. He said, If you go with them, if you want something politically, I ll get it for you. But you re not interested in anything politically. Now, if you go with them, you lose your identity with me. And then you re of no value to me. He was very honest. By that, Ed, I could call somebody up on the phone in 1952, and one of the reasons I insist that we were so successful in a good many areas that I worked, in 1952 I could call people up on the phone and say, This is Tom Broderick. They immediately knew that I was interested in Kennedy because I had never been interested in any other politician. And, I mean, that is the reason why a lot of those fellows went with somebody else. Now, those were the people that I say he had in these two [-46-] categories, the ones that were close and the others that weren t close. That would also indicate that he was somewhat possessive. Well, yes, he was possessive up to the point that he knew who he could be possessive with. My wife once told me, You should have married Jack Kennedy. But she said it jokingly because if the phone would ring and he wanted something, I was long gone. What is it? But nobody close to him ever resented the fact. I mean, they felt flattered that he felt that way towards them. He would ask you things that... Another terrific trait he had: he would be talking about some particular bill or something that was going on politically, something to do with his campaign, and he would call me down and he would say, You re the greatest

21 [-47-] liaison officer there is in Washington. And he would ask me about certain things that were going on in housing, on the Old Harbor housing, on aid to dependent children, and things like that. He was interested in anything. It couldn t be too small for him to be interested in. And you d tell him some particular thing that he d asked you to investigate; you d be all through, and you d think everything was happy, and about twenty minutes later he d ask you the same thing over again. Then you d say to him, Well, you just asked me that. And he said, Well, I want to see if I get the same answer. But there were some people in that first fight that didn t participate in the second fight. Some went with him as far as his first senatorial campaign. Now is it possible, Tom, that they may have become [-48-] disenchanted with people around the candidate rather than Well, yes. Eddie, you ve been identified with politics and newspapers long enough to know there s a tremendous amount of jealousy in politics. I sometimes myself have resented certain things that somebody has done. I haven t approved of it, but that was beside the point. My feeling is the fact that Jack wanted it that way, and so I accepted it. I didn t like it, but I didn t show it. I mean, I wouldn t say anything about it because I wouldn t want to hurt him. But they did. They weren t too happy there in his Boston office. There were certain releases given out that were incorrect. He didn t approve, but they were given out. Somebody gave the release out and he wasn t consulted on it, let s put it that way. I know the releases were bad publicity, and I [-49-] know they hurt him and I know they hurt people that were close to him. Then as he went along there was a lot of jealousy because he was being successful. And I insisted, even at that time, in my conversations with him... He was very interested in local politics and state politics and national, but Jack always wanted international politics. He would talk international politics all day and all night. He knew more of what was going on out of the country, or as much I shouldn t say more... But I mean he was as well-versed on it as he was what was going on in the country. Well, Tom, after he went down to Congress, what were you doing at the time? Were you employed with the government? Well, I went to work with the Veterans

22 [-50-] Administration. We had a little rhubarb about that. Back in 1948 they accused me of the Hatch Act. Violating the Hatch Act? Violating the Hatch Act. And I said that was kind of ridiculous because. I went up before the Civil Service Commission and I told them. There was a Colonel Nance, who was the Administrator of the Veterans Administration here in Boston; the complaint had been given to him because of my name having been in the paper and identified with Congressman Kennedy that I had violated the Hatch Act. Well, the newspaper picked it up, and I was notified that I was to be fired, as they claimed. So the newspapers picked it up here and I read from the Herald, the Globe, or something, An unkind blow to Congressman John F. Kennedy. [-51-] The New England branch office of the Veterans Administration today has fired Tommie Broderick. Some say today the story will be told to high officials. In brief, here it is: Tommie, of course, you made speeches for you and the Senator in his campaign for Congress. As one of our war heroes, you deserve better treatment. He wanted you to have this job, and you were qualified. You took the examination, and in my investigation you qualified and were appointed. Now the Paraplegic Association of the United States has disagreed with the findings of the Veterans Administration Hospital. Now, the reason Tommie was fired from this was a violation of the Hatch Act. He is also the Commander of the Oak Square, Brighton VFW Post. All the veterans organizations [-52-] have notified all their congressmen and senators in Washington regarding the condition that exists. Now that went on for about three or four days. The Washington papers took it and a couple more of them took it, and the next thing I knew I got a call. Congressman John F. Kennedy comes in Boston to receive a blow. But he called me on the telephone and said, What s going on? And I told him. Well, that s kind of crazy. So I said, I don t know whether it s crazy or not, Jack, but I m not concerned about it. I ve been to the manager of the VA Hospital in Framingham, and he agrees that I have made no violation. You ve been up to see me up here while I was working and visited with me, but it was only a personal friendship. So nothing was said for about a day or two; then I got [-53-] a telegram from Washington saying the Justice Department is interested in the VA operation in New England: The FBI is investigating at this moment, also, the fact of Tommie Broderick s firing at the VA. He is now being reinstated. Colonel Nance of the Boston branch

23 office informed Thomas Broderick of that and has withdrawn his dismissal application. Please notify me if Mr. Nance is satisfied with the results. Also if Mr. Broderick is. The reinstatement is the result of action by General Gray [Carl R. Gray, Jr.], national VA head. All the powers-that-be had sent in requests including Mr. Powers of VFW, DAV, Jewish War Veterans, The Purple Heart, Marine Corps, and AMVETS. So Jack came up and he said, Are you going back to work? And I said, Yes. And he said, Well, how do you feel after your [-54-] vacation? I said, It was only three days. And he said, Well, I work fast, don t I? I said, You didn t even do anything. And he kind of laughed about it. But that was my only trouble that I ever had with being identified with the President, and I have always been with him. But in the future from then on I sort of took a leave of absence. Any time anything came up we kind of got around it that way. Well, your loyalty to Congressman Kennedy continued. You used to make trips down to Washington from time to time? About three or four times a month. What were the purposes of those visits? Well, he would ask you about things that were happening in certain areas. He would be in correspondence with people. At that time, as early as 1950 and I [-55-] have it here. He called me one time and asked me if I would come down to the Cape and meet him. I went down to the Cape. This all ties in with the goings on that we had down there and meeting certain people. He always wanted me to join as many organizations as you can. He was very far-sighted. Consequently, I joined all the organizations you possibly could join. He asked me to come down, and we were sitting in the front of the house, and he said, Let s go over and play golf, a hole or two. And we did. Now, this was as early as 1950, Eddie, and he said to me, What would you say if I told you I thought I d like to run for the Senate? I said, Well, you don t surprise me any. I mean, you re always running for something so why not the Senate? Of course, I feel that [-56-] Senator Saltonstall [Leverett Saltonstall] is very well liked in Massachusetts, and you may have a problem there. He said, I m not thinking of Senator Saltonstall. I m thinking of Senator Lodge [Henry Cabot Lodge]. And I said, Well, you can leave me home anytime. He said, Well, Tommie, why do you say that? I said, Oh, you can t beat him, Jack. And he said, I think we can. I said, Well, when do we start? He said, We ve started, as of

24 now. So we talked about it at great length, and he asked me how many people I knew through different areas in the state. He wanted names and addresses, and he wanted to keep in constant touch with them all the time. And from that time on, why, it was go, go, go with him. He was talking all over the state. He had more speaking engagements [-57-] than anybody, I think, I know. That s something that so few people realize. Everybody knows that your congressmen and your senators when they are invited to speak at these different functions receive a stipend for doing that. Oh, I could name fifty different places where they had set aside a certain amount of money that they were to pay him and he always insisted that they give it to their favorite charity. He would never accept anything. As a matter of fact, he may, by the same token, have given them something to help the charity also. I mean, that was the way he was. Well, you took active part in the 52 senatorial fight. Was your function pretty much the same or did you come into the Boston headquarters? [-58-] Yes, I came into the Boston headquarters and helped get it established, Ed. And I went out to different parts of the state Worcester, Middlesex County and I worked in the Boston office. I don t say I was instrumental in doing any one particular thing. I was in constant touch with him by telephone. You know, contrary to what people say about Jack and his political savvy and knowledge, he was bright. He d have something on his mind and if he really wasn t sure of himself or anything, Jack would call his father. His father was very, very helpful in many of his decisions. He was very helpful. His father was always available, and he could always get to him. He knew where he was, and he never hesitated to call him. I mean, he didn t feel as though, I m not showing initiative by having to [-59-] ask him for these things. But he never hesitated to call. And he never hesitated to ask your opinion on something. He wouldn t agree with you and you wouldn t agree with him, but he d always ask your opinion. And he may ask somebody else what they thought. If he still wasn t satisfied, he may ask a third person. But he d never tell you whether you were right or wrong. He would just probably consolidate the three opinions and bring you into one group. And I worked down there and then Who were some of the officials of the Senate organization? Well, the group I remember, of course I remember Bobby very well. There was Bobby [Robert F. Kennedy] and Teddy Reardon [Timothy J.

25 of Reardon, Jr.], Grace Burke, Joe Kane. There was a fellow by the name [-60-] O Brien [Lawrence F. O Brien] and Lem Billings, and Tom Ahearn. By the way, I forgot to mention his name, but Tom was very active in the 1946 campaign in the congressional fight and he was also very active in He came from Dorchester and he was a great guy, and has been I guess for the last eight or ten years, I think he s a purchasing, agent for the Archdiocese of Boston. He s very bright and an excellent guy, and he was there and, as I say, Dick Conroy. And there was Lem Billings and then Red Fay [Paul B. Fay, Jr.] came on from California. As the thing got rolling, we had a couple of people out in Brighton in Ward 21 or 22, a fellow by the name of Vinny Harold; he was in Ward 21. Jack had asked me who would be a good fellow to put out there and I said, Vin Harold. He s an excellent fellow. And Vinny had [-61-] been out there a long time and he was a POW. As a matter of fact, he was commander of the POW. That s the Prisoner of War. Vinny worked out in Ward 21. He did a terrific job. It s a big ward; it runs from Kenmore Square clear up to Harvard Avenue and then it ties into Ward 22. Then Bobby said, Don t you think probably now that we ve got this thing rolling, get some house parties. Would you object to going out to Ward 22 and concentrating out there? And I said, Well, I d rather do that than being in here. I m not getting any votes in here, but I can out there. So Bobby suggested that I go out there which I did. And Bobby was a dynamic force. Bobby just, the girls also. We had probably eight to ten or fifteen house parties out there. We had one big group down to the [-62-] VFW home, the VFW quarters there. And there must have been about 500 people. Jack was tied up somewhere, and Bobby came out and spoke and he did a terrific job. He did a terrific job. I mean, he wasn t known like Jack, but he said, I m Jack s brother. My name is Bobby Kennedy. And he took it from there and it was terrific. And the girls came out there. We had eight or ten house parties out there and we went around. And they had moving pictures and then the teas. But we had about ten or fifteen house parties out there. We didn t really, I felt and I told Jack and I also told Bobby. I said, I don t think we really have to worry too much about Brighton because you re so solid out there now. And he said, Well, I don t think we re solid anywhere. That was Bobby s attitude: [-63-] get them out, register them, get in touch with them, stuff the envelopes, get the stuff out. Well, at that time, Dever [Paul A. Dever] was running for governor, and their idea, then, was taking the literature, all the state literature for the state ticket as well as Jack s literature and