The Bootblack Stand
Plunkitt, George Washington
by George Washington Plunkitt The Bootblack Stand Dear Dr. Plunkitt: We've got trouble. Time made me the cover story of its May 10 issue. It described me as humorless, ambitious,...
...ordially, Mr...
...Take these individuals up on the offers...
...If we don't act soon the press won't have Jimmy Carter to kick around anymore...
...Now I hear that the Committee to Reelect the President is buying prime time TV so "America's greatest living ex-Presidentcan make known the name of the man who most closely approximates his political philosophy and style...
...It mentioned that when angered I become cold and methodical and more ambitious...
...Plunkitt: Since the Watergate hearings I have received many polite inquiries from budding politicians and celebrities wishing toknow if it is possible that I might hav overlooked them when I revealed th White House enemies list...
...But then came the real trouble...
...they even used that P.R...
...In the years I come you may be able to make som boodle by publishing yearly lists of pron ising pols whom you would certainly ha` included on your enemies list back in ti salad days of the Nixon Administration Don't let the grass grow under yoi feet...
...It told of how I fixed my political ambitions years ago, and divulged that three years ago my advisers and I laid out a "careful, detailed, meticulous" plan to capture the Presidency...
...On some conferred the modern equivalent of sain hood...
...On May 8 Ziegler is calling and saying the announcement will come any day...
...stuff about my listening to Shostakovich, reading Faulkner, and meditating on Kierkegaard...
...Can they keep him quiet until the election...
...Have you ever considered simply stonewalling it...
...incerel) John Dea Dear Mr...
...Announce that you have disco, ered an especially hot list behind sour old CREEP memorabilia...
...Dean: A gold mine, my boy...
...Carter: It is a riveting commentary on the horrible perils of American political life when an outsider who has devoted much of his public life to the single-minded, pragmatic pursuit of the Presidency can be blown out of the water by the possible endorsement of an outsider whose single-minded, pragmatic pursuit of the Presidency won him just that...
...by George Washington Plunkitt The Bootblack Stand Dear Dr...
...I know they thought it was a favorable job for they think of me as the next JFK...
...Your White How enemies list conferred instant celebril on many mediocre nobodies...
...How much will it cost us...
...What do yo make of these letters...
...Several hav let it be known that it might be financial...
...Jimmy Carter Dear Mr...
...It described me as humorless, ambitious, religious—but in favor of drink on the Sabbath—single-minded, ambitious, guilty of "occasional self-righteousness," ambitious, rigid, and possessing a sharply intelligent and ambitious mind...
...worth my while were I to discover the] names on a special list that I overlooke in all of the excitement...
...What can I do to prevent this catastrophe...
...28 The Alternative: An American Spectator June/July 19...
...WP Dear Dr...
...On May 7 Rabbi Korff appears at my campaign headquarters, and announces that I am about to "receive the public endorsement of someone really big...
Vol. 9 • June 1976 • No. 9
