Nation: The Gentleman from Virginia

The meeting was cordial. And after it was all over, President Kennedy escorted the senior Senator from Virginia out of the White House oval office. Said Kennedy good-naturedly: "Senator Byrd and I have agreed on everything." Everybody within earshot knew, of course, that the complete opposite was true.

In the outer office, Harry Byrd ran into Presidential Aide Lawrence O'Brien. Only a few weeks before, O'Brien had attended one of Byrd's superb spring parties at Rosemont, his estate in Berryville, Va. Now, Byrd shook O'Brien's hand: "It was certainly nice of you to come down to my place the other day. We...