Jerry Summers
A fellow senior citizen in 2023 sent me a new treasure trove of the faculties of some historical or famous individuals alleged to be possessors of superior intellect but who also had forgetful memories.
Author Tom Friedman wrote “1,000 Unforgettable Senior Moments” (2006- Workman Publishing Company, Inc.- New York City) and the following four have been chosen for forgetful examples of well-known Americans:
1. Richard Nixon: When Richard Nixon arrived in Paris for the funeral of French President Georges Pompidou in April 1974, his mind must have been elsewhere. At the airport he declared, "This is a great day for France!"
2. Jimmy Carter: Since the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962, every U.S. president has been accompanied at all times by an armed military officer carrying an impenetrable titanium briefcase known as the "nuclear football." The briefcase contains the codes needed to launch a missile strike. The president also carries an "authenticator ID" that must be used in conjunction with the codes unless, of course, he's forgotten where he put it. President Jimmy Carter did. He left it in the pocket of one of his suits, which was then sent to the dry cleaners.
3. Howard Baker: Tennessee senator Howard Baker was once walking from the Senate floor to his office when a group of tourists stopped him. One man said, "Say, I know who you are. Don't tell me. Let me remember. I'll get it in a minute." Baker waited patiently for the man's memory to return. Finally the senator said, "Howard Baker." The tourist shook his head, still in the grip of his senior moment: "No, that's not it."
4. Mark Twain: Mark Twain, as he did so often, has perhaps the final word on senior moments: "When I was younger," he said toward the end of his life, "I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened."
(I had intended to immediately write an article about the 246 examples listed in the Friedman publication but laid the book down and couldn’t remember where I had placed it!)
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