Burnham meant well and he was fun

Feb 26, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,
I read the recent ‘semi-ode’ to the late President L.F.S. Burnham. I agree he was a man for all seasons – and for all reasons. He was unassuming and at ease with himself. I remember him for his sense of humour, his sense of fun, from my days as a typist in the Government Probation Service, when, in between cases, he would sit at the side of my desk and chat with me, and it helped to make my day. Once, when I mentioned a “sparring partner” of his describing himself as an “intellectual giant”, he said “I believe him too”, then referring to the chap’s initials, he followed up with “He looks like an “F.L. in truth”. I was in stitches.
As a Town Councillor, when the councillors were discussing arrangements for the Queen’s proposed visit to the Council, and mention was made of ‘dressing up” the entrance, he objected to stringing balloons and fairy lights along the way.
“Why,” he asked, “Is she Christmas”? Years later, he seemed to be more ‘indulgent’. I was in London, and on the train one afternoon after work, some colleagues and I were discussing the visit, and I told them about the ‘then and now’ in regard to that, and Mr. Burnham’s seeming change of heart, a politician’s ploy. When we looked around everybody was smirking – it was the same in the UK!
When in power, I was so happy and proud when Mrs. Thatcher gave thanks to him for explaining the term “consensus decision”, as what you have when full agreement is not possible”. She was able to use the term later on during a visit to an industrialised country.
I once saw a TV interview he gave while in the UK, and the look of admiration on the face of the male interviewer was something to behold.
Mr. Burnham meant well, but the people to see his dream to fruition were all too young to cope with so great a burden. MY husband and I knew most of those chaps, and we were shocked as they died trying to cope with so much stress. The world of politics chews us up and spits us out.
Geralda D.

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