Chapter Nine
Congressman
J. Hardin Peterson
By A.
C. Altvater
It has been my privilege to have met quite a few important
and interesting people - some intimately, some friendly and some casually and
some just in passing.
In all probability, my experiences in this direction have
been no different from those of others.
At first, I was awed or overwhelmed when I met a person of special note
but Congressman J. Hardin Peterson cured this, in a great degree, by the
application of the following prescription;
I had occasion to go to
When Mr. Peterson arrived at the office the next day, I was
there waiting but my heart sank when he told me that he had to be on the floor
of the House that morning and could not go with me to meet Mr. Dow. I was almost panic-stricken and I suggested
that we postpone the meeting but Mr. Peterson assured me that Mr. Dow would
treat me just as cordially as he would if the congressman were there to
introduce me, but I told him that I was “scared to death,” as I had never met
the head of a department of the government of the entire United States.
“Nonsense,” he said.
“Look at it this way. You walk
into his office and there he sits behind a huge desk with not a paper on it;
leaning back in his chair; his hands
folded over a well-rounded abdomen; a
jovial smile and a pleasant manner. He
is eager to make a good impression on you.
“Now, you mentally close your eyes and imagine him at home,
rushing around the house, trying to get ready for breakfast; his wife fussing
with the children who are raising a racket and he trying to find the morning
paper but getting no help from the rest of the family. Under these conditions, he will look like any
other man that you know.
I went - alone - found everything just as described by Mr.
Peterson - and met Mr. Dow who was “just like any other man I know.”
We talked for quite a while in a warm, friendly and
unrestrained atmosphere on several subjects of mutual interest (except
immigration). I regretted it when he
ended the conversation by directing me to the office of a man who had been
advised of my problems and who would give me some help. Mr. Dow smilingly told me to look for a sign
over the door, down the hall, marked “Harry Cryme,
Assistant to the Assistant Director.”
Mr. Cryme was also a very willing
and cooperative bureaucrat with a great sense of humor. My lesson in meeting people in power was
successful.
- - - - -
There could be no finer teacher than Congressman
Peterson. He had every desirable
attribute for a man in politics or private life. When I first met him, he immediately commanded
my respect. As I knew him better, a
profound admiration developed and to this was soon added a genuine love for the
man.
His prowess as a politician was definitely proven by the
fact that, after he was first elected to Congress, he was only contested a
couple times for as long as he chose to stay in Congress.
“Mr. Pete” as many of his friends knew him, had many
qualities that insured his claim to his seat.
One was his almost uncanny memory.
If he met a person and learned his name and if they discussed even a
trivial subject, even though they didn’t meet again for years, Mr. Pete would
call the person by his first name and would recall the subject they had
previously discussed.
I learned of this unbelievable quality soon after I came
home from my stint in the Service. My
friend called and asked if I would like to go with him the following day (which
was a holiday) and act as his secretary.
You may believe that I was on time to get him to the first date he had
to fill at a well-attended affair at
We left
On to Oldsmar, later in the afternoon, where we met Senator
Holland and, together, they participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony and
speeches to a good-sized audience. I
made more notes.
After a late dinner in
To prove my value as a secretary, I produced my well-filled
and voluminous note book and asked into what form I should put the items for
his use. Here, he proved that he had two
salient political qualities. First,
diplomacy. He complemented me on their
completeness and then very diplomatically (so as not to hurt my feelings) told
me that he would not need my notes; that he could remember all the details of
the day. This proved to be true and also
the second qualification - an infallible memory.
Sometime later, I had an opportunity to ask the congressman
whether his memory was a gift or the product of study and effort. He explained that it was the sum of both -
one must have a natural gift and then he must develop it. But he modestly protested that, compared to his
father’s ability, he was a rank amateur.
The father was a conductor on a freight train and he could walk the
length of an ordinary train and go to the desk in the caboose and write down
the numbers of the cars in their order in the train.
- - - - -
As a political figure in
In
I was in the congressman’s office one day at lunch time
when a couple with two children, from
But he wouldn’t willingly receive similar favors. In fact, he had rigid rules against accepting
anything of value under any pretext, including contributions to a “campaign
fund.” One of his office personnel once
told me that Mr. Pete had found a legal source of sugar which was in short
supply after the war which was critically needed by the maker of candy
bars. The businessman was so delighted
that he wanted to make a substantial contribution to Mr. Pete’s campaign fund.
“No way,” was the answer.
“If you want to do something for me, put your next new office or factory
in my district, when you expand your business.”
- - - - -
On another occasion, I as
invited to take a trip to
For some
years, Congressman Peterson had been the chairman of the House Public Lands
Committee and, as such, was a strong power in the affairs of forming the
governing body of the
We arrived in
One Tuesday morning, we all four started for
Later in the week, in a special ceremony in
- - - - -
The National Park Service was one of the bureaus which were
under the Public Lands Committee of the House of Representatives and, at one
time, Mr. Conrad Wirth was the Director of the NPS. As such, he became a very close friend of
Congressman Peterson and, on one of his trips to
While we were all comfortably sitting on the wide veranda
of the Peterson home and were leading the conversation toward the final
farewells, Mr. Pete dropped a bombshell. To Mr. Wirth, he said, “Connie, if you have
any important legislation in mind, shape it up and be ready for its
introduction as soon as congress convenes.
This will be my last year in
We were all stunned by the statement but, at that point,
Miss Iris June Hart, Mr. Pete’s secretary, came out of the house and called him
to the phone. After he left, Mr. Wirth
asked Mrs. Peterson if he was serious and determined.
She replied, “He’d better be or else get a new
family.” And, pointing to the citrus
grove on the adjoining hillsides she continued, “When we first went to
The next was his last year as Congressman Peterson of the First
Congressional District of Florida, of which he was so proud.
He was a truly remarkable man!