JFK shows human side in 1961 letter to girl

An American woman who as a little girl wrote to President John F Kennedy worried that bomb testing in the North Pole might kill Santa Claus has spoken to JFK’s daughter about her feelings at the time.

Over the years, Caroline Kennedy had sometimes wondered about the girl, but they finally met during a TV interview.

In the feature on 'Good Morning America' airing today, Ms Kennedy spoke about her recent best-selling book 'A Family Christmas'.

The book includes the 1961 letter from an eight-year-old Michelle Rochon.

That girl, now Michelle Rochon Phillips, recounted what prompted her to write.

She said she decided to take action after hearing her parents talking at the dinner table about nuclear testing at the North Pole.

“I thought well, Santa Claus,” she said. “And so I ran, sat down at the footstool and wrote the letter.”

Then living in Marine City, Michigan, she wrote: “Please stop the Russians from bombing the North Pole because they will kill Santa Claus.”

President Kennedy wrote back, and closed his note by saying: “You must not worry about Santa Claus, I talked with him yesterday and he is fine.”

He added: “He will be making his rounds this Christmas.”

Ms Kennedy said that for her father, as one of nine children, “Christmas was huge” and he appreciated the girl’s fears.

She said the letters capture how the anxiety of the Cold War and nuclear testing permeated everyday life.

“There’s just so much about Christmas, and I think the history of Christmas and how it intersects with American history, George Washington, all the way up to President Kennedy,” she said. “I think this is kind of the human side of Christmas, and how it’s kind of become also a patriotic holiday and it’s all wrapped up together.”

Ms Phillips, of Pensacola, Florida, told ABC’s Claire Shipman that she was not trying to make a statement about nuclear testing when she wrote the letter.

“I was just worried about Santa Claus,” she said. “Worried about my Christmas.”