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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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December 27, 1963 -- Interview No. 26 -- New York City

Lasker:

Late in June, after I had returned to New York, Bill Blair and Stevenson came to New York and I had a small dinner for them. Then we all went to see My Fair Lady, which was the great hit of the season. Stevenson seemed tired but the show was so entrancing that he said, “It raises my spirits.” It raised everybody's spirits; there's been no such thing like it since.

About the middle of July there was a large Democratic dinner in Washington to which I went with Florence Mahoney and Senator and Mrs. Hill and others. Senator Humphrey introduced all the candidates for the Democratic nomination.

Q:

Was this a National Committee dinner?

Lasker:

Yes, it was a fund-raising dinner for the National Committee, as I recall it.

Humphrey introduced them with extreme tact and liveliness. They all spoke but Stevenson outclassed them all as a speaker. He was infinitely more effective. As you recall, Harriman was a contender or thought of himself as one. I remember that after that dinner Stevenson and Blair intended to come to Florence's house afterward and we waited for them for a long time, but finally they phoned to say that Humphrey was there and that Stevenson couldn't leave. It seems to me, as I recall it, that it







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