The Pledge of Allegiance Issue in the Presidential Campaign
In 1934 I was a senior at Amundsen High School in Chicago. Col. Robert McCormick’s Chicago Tribune was served with breakfast each morning. He was in full swing those days, fighting the New Deal and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Suddenly his front page exploded with the grim news that communists had been seen lurking around high school campuses, handing out subversive literature.
Well, our school knew how to combat that menace. They moved all three home-room senior classes into the school auditorium where we all pledged allegiance to the flag and sang the “Star Spangled Banner.”
For over 50 years I have laughed when I repeated that silly story of “How I was saved from communism at the age of 17.”
I’m not laughing anymore. Every day when I read The Times there is some reference to Michael Dukakis and his stand on the Pledge of Allegiance, pro and con.
It is incredible to me that at a time when our country is in such need of new leadership, when issues of global importance should be the topic of discussion, the only thing that seems to be of any importance is whether Dukakis should have signed a bill supporting the Pledge of Allegiance in schools.
ELIZABETH JANE HOYT
Los Angeles
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