"The President accepts the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education as the law of the land. However, he also accepts that the signatories to the Southern Manifesto have legitimate concerns regarding their various states and districts, and does not wish to make any sort of statement against them or the Manifesto at this time."
-White House Press Secretary James Dodd, 3/18/56
"Now I'm going to tell you about an exciting opportunity for all of the Mickey Mouse Club chapters out there. Roy Disney has teamed up with J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, and your local police force to create the Disney Defenders! Yes, the Disney Defenders will work with local law enforcement authorities to keep our streets safe from the criminals who prey on helpless Americans. Only the top level of our Mouseketeers will be accepted into this group, but you can all play your part by obeying the law, and by reporting those who don't!
"Now it's time for the New Adventures of Spin and Marty. When last we left off, Spin had uncovered a Communist agent at the R and R Ranch, and was rushing off to tell Marty about this new danger...."
-Ronald Reagan on The Mickey Mouse Club, 3/30/56
ELVIS SNUBBED BY TELEVISION, GOES GOLD ANYWAY
-Music Maker Magazine, 4/12/56
I couldn't believe the incompetence of Disney's people when I first took over the COS job. I mean, my God, I was tempted to check for signs of Red infiltration at first, but I slowly came to realize that the man had buffons working for him. Oh, the old crowd like Dulles, they weren't too bad. But the staff? Jimmy Dodd? Who the hell puts an actor out front as press agent? And poor Walt was actually taking this clown into his confidence! Yeah, yeah, I know that Dodd did okay during the campaign, and that he didn't sign up for the press agent job so much as he had it thrust on him, but really...you gotta know your limits.
Anyway, word from State had it that Nasser was thinking of recognizing Red China. Ouch. Last thing we needed was a Red-leaning government in the area, what with the Soviets already sniffing around. So I took Disney aside. He was letting the office get to him, so it was just a matter of stroking his ego at first, then laying the groundwork.
"Look, Mr. President," I said to him. "You have a choice here. You can listen to Dulles spout off his threats and take it as advice, and you'll have a nice little crisis on your hands. Or you can get Nasser on the phone, talk to him man-to-man, and see what the hell he wants. If I learned anything working for the Senator, it's that there's a time to attack, and a time for sweet talk. The Senator didn't know how to sweet talk the people who mattered. You're smarter than that, sir."
He looked annoyed by me, but I guess he took my advice, 'cause he was on the phone to Egypt for a couple of hours after that, and he walked out smiling. Disney says "Well, Roy, looks like we might be okay. It cost us some money, but nothing we can't afford."
"How so, Mr. President?" I say back.
"We're picking up the price tag on the Aswan Dam, or at least more of it than we were. It's a bribe, but hell, I don't mind greasing the skids if it gets us where we need to go to. Push this one through Congress. Tell them that it's vital to our national interests and to stability in the region. Drop a word to our friends at the Big Three car companies, and let 'em know that without oil, no one's buying their machines. They'll put pressure on the right people to fall into line."
For the first time since I'd set foot in that godforsaken place, I understood just how Disney had managed to make it to the top.
-Retired Senator Roy Cohn (D-N.Y.), quoted in Magic Kingdom: America In The 50s, by Studs Terkel
DISNEY DEFENDERS STORM POOL HALL, MAKE CITIZENS' ARRESTS OF LOCAL HOODLUMS
DOWNTOWN-A number of badly bruised and bleeding members of a local street gang were brought before a local judge today after having been placed under citizens' arrest by members of the Disney Defenders, an offshot of the popular Mickey Mouse Club. Facing charges ranging from possession of an illegal switchblade knife to narcotics use, most of the arrested youths were released into the custody of their parents....
-St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 4/20/56
"Hey, hey, LBJ! Beat the mouse and show the way!"
-Campaign slogan, 1956 Presidential race
"It's bad no matter where we go or what we do, dig? With the mouse in the house, this man's on the lam. Ginsberg and I, we tried going down south across the border, but the cops are crazy, and we spent more than a couple of nights in jail with some mean characters before skipping town across the ocean. So Ginsberg, he gets this Hemingway/Gertrude Stein thing going and decides that we have to go to Paris. But, see, they don't like Americans in France anymore, since we're barbarians to them, which is sad, because you should see what they're doing with movies nowadays. So we try the Netherlands, and Italy, and we skip Spain of course, and here we are now in Berlin, where believe it or not, it's all hip. There's a new scene developing here, and I think it would be cool if you could find your way over. Bring a thousand or two of our nearest and dearest. America is dead. Berlin is the future of art, literature, reefer, and all the other things that make life worth living."
-Personal correspondence of "Beano" to Wally Hedrick
INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION BILL SIGNED: Federal Highway System To Be Built Alongside Expanded Commuter Rails.
Washington Post, 5/29/56
-White House Press Secretary James Dodd, 3/18/56
"Now I'm going to tell you about an exciting opportunity for all of the Mickey Mouse Club chapters out there. Roy Disney has teamed up with J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, and your local police force to create the Disney Defenders! Yes, the Disney Defenders will work with local law enforcement authorities to keep our streets safe from the criminals who prey on helpless Americans. Only the top level of our Mouseketeers will be accepted into this group, but you can all play your part by obeying the law, and by reporting those who don't!
"Now it's time for the New Adventures of Spin and Marty. When last we left off, Spin had uncovered a Communist agent at the R and R Ranch, and was rushing off to tell Marty about this new danger...."
-Ronald Reagan on The Mickey Mouse Club, 3/30/56
ELVIS SNUBBED BY TELEVISION, GOES GOLD ANYWAY
-Music Maker Magazine, 4/12/56
I couldn't believe the incompetence of Disney's people when I first took over the COS job. I mean, my God, I was tempted to check for signs of Red infiltration at first, but I slowly came to realize that the man had buffons working for him. Oh, the old crowd like Dulles, they weren't too bad. But the staff? Jimmy Dodd? Who the hell puts an actor out front as press agent? And poor Walt was actually taking this clown into his confidence! Yeah, yeah, I know that Dodd did okay during the campaign, and that he didn't sign up for the press agent job so much as he had it thrust on him, but really...you gotta know your limits.
Anyway, word from State had it that Nasser was thinking of recognizing Red China. Ouch. Last thing we needed was a Red-leaning government in the area, what with the Soviets already sniffing around. So I took Disney aside. He was letting the office get to him, so it was just a matter of stroking his ego at first, then laying the groundwork.
"Look, Mr. President," I said to him. "You have a choice here. You can listen to Dulles spout off his threats and take it as advice, and you'll have a nice little crisis on your hands. Or you can get Nasser on the phone, talk to him man-to-man, and see what the hell he wants. If I learned anything working for the Senator, it's that there's a time to attack, and a time for sweet talk. The Senator didn't know how to sweet talk the people who mattered. You're smarter than that, sir."
He looked annoyed by me, but I guess he took my advice, 'cause he was on the phone to Egypt for a couple of hours after that, and he walked out smiling. Disney says "Well, Roy, looks like we might be okay. It cost us some money, but nothing we can't afford."
"How so, Mr. President?" I say back.
"We're picking up the price tag on the Aswan Dam, or at least more of it than we were. It's a bribe, but hell, I don't mind greasing the skids if it gets us where we need to go to. Push this one through Congress. Tell them that it's vital to our national interests and to stability in the region. Drop a word to our friends at the Big Three car companies, and let 'em know that without oil, no one's buying their machines. They'll put pressure on the right people to fall into line."
For the first time since I'd set foot in that godforsaken place, I understood just how Disney had managed to make it to the top.
-Retired Senator Roy Cohn (D-N.Y.), quoted in Magic Kingdom: America In The 50s, by Studs Terkel
DISNEY DEFENDERS STORM POOL HALL, MAKE CITIZENS' ARRESTS OF LOCAL HOODLUMS
DOWNTOWN-A number of badly bruised and bleeding members of a local street gang were brought before a local judge today after having been placed under citizens' arrest by members of the Disney Defenders, an offshot of the popular Mickey Mouse Club. Facing charges ranging from possession of an illegal switchblade knife to narcotics use, most of the arrested youths were released into the custody of their parents....
-St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 4/20/56
"Hey, hey, LBJ! Beat the mouse and show the way!"
-Campaign slogan, 1956 Presidential race
"It's bad no matter where we go or what we do, dig? With the mouse in the house, this man's on the lam. Ginsberg and I, we tried going down south across the border, but the cops are crazy, and we spent more than a couple of nights in jail with some mean characters before skipping town across the ocean. So Ginsberg, he gets this Hemingway/Gertrude Stein thing going and decides that we have to go to Paris. But, see, they don't like Americans in France anymore, since we're barbarians to them, which is sad, because you should see what they're doing with movies nowadays. So we try the Netherlands, and Italy, and we skip Spain of course, and here we are now in Berlin, where believe it or not, it's all hip. There's a new scene developing here, and I think it would be cool if you could find your way over. Bring a thousand or two of our nearest and dearest. America is dead. Berlin is the future of art, literature, reefer, and all the other things that make life worth living."
-Personal correspondence of "Beano" to Wally Hedrick
INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION BILL SIGNED: Federal Highway System To Be Built Alongside Expanded Commuter Rails.
Washington Post, 5/29/56
