Sept. 6, 1963 - The Air Force brought President Kennedy and one of his severest critics, Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), together today. When Mr. Kennedy saw Sen. Goldwater at a White House ceremony honoring Gen. Emmett O’Donnell of the Air Force, he summoned him to share the limelight. Mr. Goldwater was among those invited to the ceremony, presumably because he is a major general in the Air Force Reserve. When Mr. Kennedy saw several Senators standing together, he asked them to come up and stand on the White House steps with him. They included Sen. George Smathers (D-Fla.), Sen. Stuart Symington (D-Mo.), and Sen. Kenneth Keating (R-NY). Mr. Kennedy called these Senators by their last names. But when he came to Mr. Goldwater, he called him “Barry.” There was some laughter, and the President hastened to say: “We are all friends.” After the ceremony, Mr. Goldwater chatted briefly with Mr. Kennedy, and their conversation ended in laughter over some private joke. Mr. Goldwater is a leading contender for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1964.
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