Termination Quotes
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 general’s view was that if the Secretary found something unacceptable in one of his direct subordinates, then there was something unacceptable about him as he supervised the man and approved of his work. Rumsfeld backed down.