One day during the Kennedy administration Dad was in the Library of Congress doing research in U.S. Census reports for a story he was writing for the Washington Post. He had columns of figures he needed to add together, so he walked over to a librarian behind her counter, a gray-haired elderly lady, and asked if he could borrow an adding machine. "We are not in the habit of lending business machines to gentlemen of the press," she replied frostily.

Dad went to the lobby of the building and on a pay phone called an acquaintance of his, Pierre Salinger, who was then JFK's press secretary. Dad described the problem and asked Salinger whether he could do anything about it. Dad returned to his table and resumed his census research.

About a half-hour later the gray-haired librarian walked over with an adding machine and set it on his table. She said, "Sir, you can use this while you're here. The President wants you to have it!"