Dismissal Quotes
He was distressed that “civilized” England had no way to get rid of an incompetent Prime Minister or other political leader, much less as incompetent king. (The King still held some power and influence then.
Cromwell to the Rump Parliament: These same words were used by Tory insurgent Leopold Amery in 1940 calling for the resignation of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
Kennedy (the father of JFK) was U.S. Ambassador of Britain at a critical time in history—the rise of Nazism. To Roosevelt and most other’s surprise, Kennedy turned out to be a Nazi sympathizer. He was complimentary towards Hitler and Mussolini, an advocate for fascism. He had been a producer of films and he tried to pressure American film-makers not to make films depicting Hitler and Nazi Germany in a less than favorable light. He supported Charles Lindbergh and American Fascists and conspired with the English upper class supporters of Hitler and Fascism. He had publicly and privately argued against Lend Lease and military aid to England. Roosevelt, an incredibly persuasive leader, had invited him to Hyde Park to straighten out what he thought was a misunderstanding. The two men were in a room alone for 10 minutes when Roosevelt sought his wife and made the statement. Kennedy of course resigned. FDR never spoke to him again.
The Parliament was paralyzed by the issue of wartime leadership when PM Neville Chamberlain failed so miserably in standing up to the Germans at Munich. The speech urging the termination of the Prime Minister’s government reminded all of the famous speech whereby Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell dismissed Parliament in 1655 (see related quote). In this case Amery had no power, but much influence as the Government fell a few days later and Winston Churchill assumed British leadership.
Responding to a columnist's criticism of a Defense Department project, JFK wrote across the bottom of the article:
The only soldier ever so honored
