Politics & Power Quote by Pierre Salinger

There is a particular kind of Washington candor that only sounds candid because it’s wrapped in discretion, and Salinger nails it. He doesn’t accuse Kennedy outright; he lets Kennedy’s alleged advice do the dirty work. “Encouraged me to take a lover” is framed as almost avuncular, even collegial, the way an older hand might induct a younger staffer into the real rules of the town. Then comes the pivot: “an obvious sign he also had some himself.” The phrase “obvious sign” is doing heavy lifting. It offers the thrill of revelation while pretending it’s merely common sense, a knowing shrug rather than a scandal sheet.

The intent reads less like confession and more like calibration. Salinger, Kennedy’s press secretary, spent years managing the gap between image and reality. This line manages that gap again: it normalizes adultery as a kind of elite habit, a shared vice that bonds powerful men. The subtext is transactional. If the president is inviting you into his private ethos, he’s also signaling trust, complicity, and the expectation that you’ll protect the brand.

Context matters: mid-century American politics ran on a public morality play and a private boys’ club. Kennedy’s sexual behavior was an open secret in certain circles and largely insulated from press scrutiny. Salinger’s formulation preserves that old code while puncturing it. He doesn’t moralize; he exposes the machinery of permission. The sting is in how casual it all sounds - not a fall from virtue, but a perk of proximity to power.