Evening star., 1961-01-20
An intellectual at Work
sys atar alast wsi.e.s

-
CAMBRIDGE. Mass, Jan
20.-Opa wintry night in 1855
John +. Kennedy invited abou
20 leading scholars from HAT.
ward and "a. !. T. to talk With
him informally about his %,
litical ideas,
81 remember that evenini
well" . Harvard Law scho6
professor recalls. Some of thu
men were q bit skeptical about
Kennedy beforehand. Most o.
US had met him or seeu him
and we were pretty familiar
with his record. Our impress
sion collectively was probably
Here's an excellent. smooth
politician with terrific popu-
lar appeal. But we didn't
know what type OF q mind ile
had. nor how he stood on sub
stantiye matters.
'"That meeting was very re-
vealing We were terribly
impressed by his directness
and intellectual honesty. he
gave US the impression Of be-
ing 9 person not only alert to
ideas but Of having q. natural
interest," N them. - ~;
IN answered our questions
quite frankly - almost too
frankly ! thought. He seemed
to have Q tremendous knowl-
edge Of the issues-not only on
broad topics. but on the spe-
cific problems.
Finally. he spoke OF the
problems he thought were
ahead. and he asked US II we
would be willing to serve him
In Cambridge In the following
way: He wanted to be- able to
call upon us for advice and In
formation, and In return, we
could contact him In Washing
ton Whenever we had an idea
that we thought could be of
use In drafting policy.
''Never did we feel that he was
o politician courting our sup
port. Instead we thought he
was an intellectual politician
seeking information which we
were happy to give"
Thus was the Cambridge
brain trust born.
Narrowing . Gap
BY asking intellectuals to
play much more Of q role In
politics than had been usual In
recent years. MIR. Kennedy
realized q goal he had set for
himself many years before
that Of narrowing q gap he
believed was developing be-
tween the intellectual and the
politician.
1T is regrettable," he once
said, that the gap between the
intellectual and politician
seems to be growing. Instead
Of synthesis. clash and discord
now characterizes the relations
between the TIVE groups much
Of the time. Rarely have I
seen any intellectual fbestow
praise on either the political
profession or any political body
for its accomplishments, its
ability, or its integrity-much
less for its intelligence"
He urged the two sides to
make peace and mot empha-
size all on which we differ, but
all we have in common. Let US
consider not what we fear sep
arately, but what we share to-
gether."
During his first six years In
public office, 1947-1953, how
ever. Mr.. Kennedy served in
the House and did not need
the assistance Of q brain trust,
nor did he seek one. He had
routtnely supported the domes-
tic needs Of his constituents.
Yet, even as a young Con-
gresham, he indicated that his
intellectual interests were diff
ferent from those Of the aver
age politician.
Travelled to Seminar
He made it q point, for in
stance, to travel to Cambridge
yearly to take part in an adj
vanced seminar in American
government given by his old
college adviser. Profe ssor
Arthur N. Holcombe.
In the seminar, Mr.. Kennedy
played the part Of the typical
Congressman" and answered
any questions by the graduate
students or teachers who
crowded into the room to listen
to him.
Professor Holcombe says that
Mr.. Kennedy handled the tough
questions posed to him with
aplomb. He could never satisfy
everyone, the professor said, be-
cause the graduate students
were always further to the left
or to the right than the Con-
gresham. h
In the Senate, Mr.. Kennedy
found he needed the help Of Il
outside minds more than he did
in the House. As q result. Har- j
ward and M. I. T.. professors ,
were being consulted by the
Senator on specific problems,
even before the 1859 meeting.
One Of the men who has
worked closely with Mr.. Ken
nedy said that he believes the
President appeals to intellec-
tuals for several reasons. but I
principally because Of his abil- l
ity. to set a problem for him I
self, and set about to solve 1t.
Kennedy has an acutely
operational cast Of mind" he '
said. Many politicians make 9
speeches, crammed with good
thoughts and high ideals, but S
stop there. Kennedy Is not like +
that. He poses the problem for 8
himself. and then says-what !
Is the best way to solve It," /
The West virginia "Whyo