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President Kennedy Reassures a Little Girl that Santa Claus Will Be Safe

Dec 21 2019

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Letter dated October 28, 1961. Dear Michelle, I was glad to get your letter about trying to stop the Russian from bombing the North Pole and risking the life of Santa Claus. I share your concern about the atmospheric testing of the Soviet Union, not only for the North Pole but for countries throughout the world; not only for Santa Claus but for people throughout the world. However, you must not worry about Santa Claus. I talked with him yesterday and he is fine. He will be making his rounds again this Christmas. Sincerely, John Kennedy

In 1961, immediately after overhearing her parents discuss the possibility of Soviet nuclear tests at the North Pole, 8-year-old Michelle Rochon grabbed a pencil and wrote a letter to U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in which she asked him to prevent the tests for one particular reason. Her letter, and the reply she soon received from Kennedy, can be read below.

(Source: The Letters of John F. Kennedy, published by Bloomsbury Press on October 29, 2013; Photo above: 8-year-old Michelle holding Kennedy’s letter.)

Dear Mr. Kennedy,

Please stop the Russians from bombing the North Pole because they will kill Santa Claus. I am 8 years old. I am in the third grade at Holy Cross School.

Yours truly,

Michelle Rochon

————————–

THE WHITE HOUSE

October 28, 1961

Dear Michelle:

I was glad to get your letter about trying to stop the Russians from bombing the North Pole and risking the life of Santa Claus.

I share your concern about the atmospheric testing of the Soviet Union, not only for the North Pole but for countries throughout the world; not only for Santa Claus but for people throughout the world.

However, you must not worry about Santa Claus. I talked with him yesterday and he is fine. He will be making his rounds again this Christmas.

Sincerely,

(Signed, ‘John Kennedy’)

Miss Michelle Rochon
Marine City, Michigan

____________________________________________________________________ President Kennedy in 1963 and world leaders gave an early Christmas present to Michelle and all the children in the world so there would be no more worries about the safety of Santa Claus.

“Nuclear Test–Ban Treaty, formally Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water, treaty signed in Moscow on August 5, 1963, by the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom that banned all tests of nuclear weapons except those conducted underground.” https://www.britannica.com/event/Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty

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