Part Two
BUG
1961–1962
11
George felt wary when he went to lunch with Larry Mawhinney at the Electric Diner. George was not sure why Larry had suggested this, but he agreed out of curiosity. He and Larry were the same age and had similar jobs: Larry was an aide in the office of Air Force Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay. But their bosses were at loggerheads: the Kennedy brothers mistrusted the military.
Larry wore the uniform of an air force lieutenant. He was all soldier: clean-shaven, with buzz-cut fair hair, his tie knotted tightly, his shoes shiny. ‘The Pentagon hates segregation,’ he said.
George raised his eyebrows. ‘Really? I thought the army was traditionally reluctant to trust Negroes with guns.’
Mawhinney lifted a placatory hand. ‘I know what you mean. But, one, that attitude was always overtaken by necessity: Negroes have fought in every conflict since the War of Independence. And two, it’s history. The Pentagon today needs men of colour in the military. And we don’t want the expense and inefficiency of segregation: two sets of bathrooms, two sets of barracks, prejudice and hatred between men who are supposed to be fighting side by side.’
‘Okay, I buy that,’ said George.
Larry cut into his grilled-cheese sandwich and George took a forkful of chili con carne. Larry said: ‘So, Khrushchev got what he wanted in Berlin.’
George sensed that this was the real subject of the lunch. ‘Thank God we don’t have to go to war with the Soviets,’ he said.
‘Kennedy chickened out,’ Larry said. ‘The East German regime was close to collapse. There might have been a counter-revolution, if the President had taken a tougher line. But the Wall has stopped the flood of refugees to the West, and now the Soviets can do anything they like in East Berlin. Our West German allies are mad as hell about it.’
George bristled. ‘The President avoided World War Three!’
‘At the cost of letting the Soviets tighten their grip. It’s not exactly a triumph.’
‘Is that the Pentagon’s view?’
‘Pretty much.’
Of course it was, George thought irritably. He now understood: Mawhinney was here to argue the Pentagon’s line, in the hope of winning George as a supporter. I should be flattered, he told himself: it shows that people now see me as part of Bobby’s inner circle.
But he was not going to listen to an attack on President Kennedy without hitting back. ‘I suppose I should expect nothing less of General LeMay. Don’t they call him “Bombs Away” LeMay?’
Mawhinney frowned. If he found his boss’s nickname funny, he was not going to show it.
George thought the overbearing, cigar-chewing LeMay deserved mockery. ‘I believe he once said that if there’s a nuclear war, and at the end of it there are two Americans and one Russian left, then we’ve won.’
‘I never heard him say anything like that.’
‘Apparently President Kennedy told him: “You better hope the Americans are a man and a woman.” ’
‘We have to be strong!’ Mawhinney said, beginning to get riled. ‘We’ve lost Cuba and Laos and East Berlin, and we’re in danger of losing Vietnam.’
‘What do you imagine we can do about Vietnam?’
‘Send in the army,’ Larry said promptly.
‘Don’t we already have thousands of military advisors there?’
‘It’s not enough. The Pentagon has asked the President again and again to send in ground-combat troops. It seems he doesn’t have the guts.’
This annoyed George because it was so unfair. ‘President Kennedy does not lack courage,’ he snapped.
‘Then why won’t he attack the Communists in Vietnam?’
‘He doesn’t believe we can win.’
‘He should listen to experienced and knowledgeable generals.’
‘Should he? They told him to back the stupid Bay of Pigs invasion. If the Joint Chiefs are experienced and knowledgeable, how come they didn’t tell the President that an invasion by Cuban exiles was bound to fail?’
‘We told him to send air cover—’
‘Excuse me, Larry, but the whole idea was to avoid involving Americans. Yet as soon as it went wrong, the Pentagon wanted to send in the Marines. The Kennedy brothers suspect you people of a sucker punch. You led him into a doomed invasion by exiles because you wanted to force him to send in US troops.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘Maybe, but he thinks that now you’re trying to lure him into Vietnam by the same method. And he’s determined not to be fooled a second time.’
‘Okay, so he’s got a grudge against us because of the Bay of Pigs. Seriously, George, is that a good enough reason to let Vietnam go Communist?’
‘We’ll have to agree to disagree.’
Mawhinney put down his knife and fork. ‘Do you want dessert?’ He had realized he was wasting his time: George was never going to be a Pentagon ally.
‘No dessert, thanks,’ George said. He was in Bobby’s office to fight for justice, so that his children could grow up as American citizens with equal rights. Someone else would have to fight Communism in Asia.
Mawhinney’s face changed and he waved across the restaurant. George glanced back over his own shoulder and got a shock.
The person Mawhinney was waving at was Maria Summers.
She did not see him. She was already turning back to her companion, a white girl of about the same age.
‘Is that Maria Summers?’ he said incredulously.
‘Yeah.’
‘You know her.’
‘Sure. We were at Chicago Law together.’
‘What’s she doing in Washington?’
‘Funny story. She was originally turned down for a job in the White House press office. Then the person they appointed didn’t work out, and she was the second choice.’
George was thrilled. Maria was in Washington – permanently! He made up his mind to speak to her before leaving the restaurant.
It occurred to him that he might find out more about her from Mawhinney. ‘Did you date her at law school?’
‘No. She only went out with coloured guys, and not many of them. She was known as an iceberg.’
George did not take that remark at face value. Any girl who said ‘No’ was an iceberg, to some men. ‘Did she have anyone special?’
‘There was one guy she was seeing for about a year, but he dumped her because she wouldn’t put out.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ George said. ‘She comes from a strict family.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘We were on the first Freedom Ride together. I talked to her a bit.’
‘She’s pretty.’
‘That’s the truth.’
They got the check and split it. On the way out George stopped at Maria’s table. ‘Welcome to Washington,’ he said.
She smiled warmly. ‘Hello, George. I’ve been wondering how soon I’d run into you.’
Larry said: ‘Hi, Maria. I was just telling George how you were known as an iceberg at Chicago Law.’ Larry laughed.
It was a typical male jibe, nothing unusual, but Maria flushed.
Larry walked out of the restaurant, but George stayed behind. ‘I’m sorry he said that, Maria. And I’m embarrassed that I heard it. It was really crass.’
‘Thank you.’ She gestured towards the other woman. ‘This is Antonia Capel. She’s a lawyer, too.’
Antonia was a thin, intense woman with hair severely drawn back. ‘Good to know you,’ George said.
Maria said to Antonia: ‘George got a broken arm protecting me from an Alabama segregationist with a crowbar.’
Antonia was impressed. ‘George, you’re a real gentleman,’ she said.
George saw that the girls were ready to leave: their check was on the table in a saucer, covered with a few bills. He said to Maria: ‘Can I walk you back to the White House?’
‘Sure,’ she said.
Antonia said: ‘I have to run to the drugstore.’
They stepped out into the mild air of a Washington autumn. Antonia waved goodbye. George and Maria headed for the White House.
George studied her out of the corner of his eye as they crossed Pennsylvania Avenue. She wore a smart black raincoat over a white turtleneck, clothing for a serious political operator, but she could not cover up her warm smile. She was pretty, with a small nose and chin, and her big brown eyes and soft lips were sexy.
‘I was arguing with Mawhinney about Vietnam,’ George said. ‘I think he hoped to persuade me as a way of indirectly getting to Bobby.’
‘I’m sure of it,’ said Maria. ‘But the President isn’t going to give in to the Pentagon on this.’
‘How do you know?’