Political Quotes

“last week, on February 23, a man died, who was in many ways more of a significant historical figure in Washington than those of us who hold public office. I am speaking of my good friend, George Tames, who for many years was the chief photographer for The New York Times. George Tames was 75 when he died while undergoing heart surgery here in Washington. He was a close and dear friend. When my wife Marcelle and I were at his funeral on Saturday, I could not help but think back over the years that I had known him, both as a law student here in Washington and as a reader of the the New York Times. I had seen his photographs, many taken before I was born, and others taken when I was a child, of Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. During that funeral, my mind kept moving from past to present to the night before George died. He was at the hospital being prepared for open heart surgery the next day. It was surgery that he was concerned about, surgery that he feared. I knew that, and I had called to talk with him. We talked for quite a time. I remember saying two or three times--it was quite late at night--I said, "George, do you not want to go to sleep and get some rest?" He said, no, he just wanted to talk, because he worried about the next day.…”