JFK in Ireland: Four Days that Changed a President. Ryan Tubridy
required to set the wheels in motion.
Before that could happen, in June 1962, the President had a diplomatic appointment to make. The American Ambassador to Ireland, Edward Stockdale, was going home and Kennedy decided to appoint Matt McCloskey, a Philadelphia businessman and major Democratic Party fundraiser to the job. McCloskey threw himself a party and gave a speech that instantly rubbed Kiernan up the wrong way with an emphasis that he considered anti–Irish. He wrote later that the new man was “not in the least Irish or interested in Ireland; that he had never attended anything Irish in his life; that on St Patrick’s Day he went about his business as usual; that he resented very much this nonsense in America of Irish–American; and that he was 100 per cent American.”
Kiernan was livid as he sat watching his diplomatic counterpart rubbishing the country and the culture he had been appointed to. Worse was to come when McCloskey quoted an Irish expression in the national tongue. “I’ll go to Ireland as ‘Mr America’ and I’ll say when I get there Fág an Bealach.”
Kiernan, a published scholar and fluent native speaker knew immediately what the round, ruddy Ambassador was saying. The expression was an old Irish war cry that translated roughly as “Get out of my way!” Kiernan noted wryly: “You say it when you’re going to cut a fellow’s head off.”
It was a dreadful start to the new appointee’s term of office. McCloskey was obviously another Ambassador chosen for his wallet rather than his diplomatic skills, but Kiernan had been around the block and knew how to circumvent such people. “He showed himself to me, ‘Mr Bad Mannered American’ and he lived up to that reputation right up to the end.”
They never got on but Kiernan still kept nurturing the President, waiting for the right moment to strike, watching for the tipping point.
A game of diplomacy
Kiernan continued his campaign of dropping little suggestions and reminders to the President whenever they met and in February 1963 he casually mentioned at an informal function that the Irish government would be prepared to offer Kennedy honorary Irish citizenship. The President’s ears pricked up. It was obviously a suggestion that appealed to him, and he asked for some time to consider it.
The next move came on 15 March 1963. The President wasn’t free to celebrate St Patrick’s Day on the 17th because he was taking a break in Miami before a working trip to Costa Rica, so the ceremony was held two days early. Kiernan had requested some “face time” with the President, away from the clutch of Congressmen who usually attended the event. He reported that “in former years, this has been an embarrassment, putting a damper on conversation.”43 The President agreed to a private chat.
After the shamrock had been presented and the media had got the pictures and quotes they required, Kiernan, the President and the White House Chief of Protocol, Angier Biddle Duke, sat down in the President’s study for an informal conversation. Before long, the President got up from his rocking chair and invited Kiernan to step outside with him. The two men walked out onto the White House veranda and the President shut the doors behind them. Duke was not invited.
Kennedy turned to a baffled Kiernan and set out his stall: “I’m glad to say that I can go to Ireland and I’d like you to find out if that’s agreeable with your government.”
Kiernan was delighted but the President was still worried that he had no compelling reason to go to Ireland and he knew he would get a lot of grief from Congress and the media if he was seen to be heading over to indulge himself on a sentimental journey. “Ireland is not a nuisance in international affairs or is not, one way or the other, in the picture very much,” Kennedy told Kiernan, “so there’s no justification to Congress to go. For that reason I’ll have to make the visit in association with another visit.” He then suggested a stopover in Ireland after a visit to Germany and Italy that was planned for June 1963 and asked if Kiernan thought that might be possible.
Kiernan could hardly believe his ears. The President of the United States was asking him for permission to visit Ireland and what’s more, he was taking the initiative himself. Kennedy obviously meant business now.
Kiernan didn’t hesitate. “The dates, you may take it straight away without referring to the government, will be agreeable and you can come and have a comfortable rest.”
Kennedy’s eyes widened. “I don’t want to rest in Ireland. I want to go around and meet people. I want to meet plenty of people. I don’t want to stay in Dublin. I don’t want too many official receptions. I don’t want any of the stuffed shirt arrangement, if you can avoid it. But it certainly won’t be a rest. The more I can cover, the better it will be. That’s what I call a rest.”
Kiernan asked if there was anything he could do to make the trip relevant rather than whimsical and reminded Kennedy of his government’s offer of honorary Irish citizenship.
The President was keen but unsure of the legal implications: “You know – there are all kinds of procedures and it probably will need legislation. The Senate would have to approve. In any case, it’s gone to my brother [Robert Kennedy, then Attorney General]. He’s the main fellow and he may turn me down. I’d love it, but we’ll see what he says.”
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