In response to my Saturday column on past conventions in the Wall Street Journal, I received the following email from James J. Stamos of Chicago, regarding the 1968 Democratic convention there. I think it's worth reprinting part of it as a footnote to history and with his permission I do so:
My father was a delegate to the 1968 Democratic convention. He was the state's attorney of Cook County at the time. (He later went to serve on the Illinois appellate and supreme courts). He was seated close to Mayor [Richard J.] Daley during [Sen. Abraham] Ribicoff’s [D-Conn.] speech. While the convention was still going on, he reported to my mother that the news reports had it wrong. The mayor had not said the F-word. He called Ribicoff "faker." My father has repeated that to me every time the story runs. I called him again this morning to confirm his recollection and he confirms it.
He also confirmed that he never heard the Mayor swear and that he became quite uncomfortable if others swore around him. But to Daley, “faker" was a great insult.
