While it was to become an open secret that U.S. President John F. Kennedy and John Diefenbaker came to despise the other, these feelings weren’t evident on this date in 1961. Dief had flown to Washington for his first face-to-face talks with Kennedy at the White House. Diefenbaker, for example, described for Kennedy the challenges the Commonwealth faced because of South Africa’s odious apartheid policies. “He said that this question of its readmission would cause great difficulty with the (black) members of the Commonwealth and that it placed him in a very difficult position. He indicated his view that the Commonwealth could only prosper if its members pursued enlightened racial policies.

Source: CBC News February 20, 2023 21:49 UTC