Leland J. Kennedy Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

his wife's sister. Of course they were just six and seven or five and seven. And they went
to the post office to pick up that money order and the postmaster threw it on the ground
and Mrs. Hall, his mother-in-law, had to kneel down to pick it up.
Q: I'll be darned.
A: Now those are things that - those are stories that come - and not all whites are that
way though. Not to condemn them of civilization, it's just passing off interesting bits that
you've heard from minority groups.
But I never had that trouble. I mean I always laugh at Jaffe - he looked at me, and I
says, "Jaffe, I don't have any ethnic problems," and he said, "Well you don't," and we just
went on. But that's just another story of the career in the General Assembly.
Q: Who was Jaffe?
A: Jaffe. Representative Jaffe. He's in the house now. He's a very liberal Jewish
member. He's the guy that introduced the original legislation and got it passed to cut the
drinking age I think to eighteen. Didn't we have that on the books for a couple of years
and they took it off?
Q: Yes.
A: That was Jaffe's bill. I said, "Jaffe, you're going to get in trouble." But he got it
passed. But it didn't work out, and I think it's up to twenty now. Is it, or is it back up
to twenty-one?
Q: I don't know. I haven't . . .
A: It's - it's been changed. I think it may be beer for twenty and hard liquor for
twenty-one. Of course it's violated I'm sure, and some fellows - but most of them I guess
that have legitimate stores make kids show their driver's license or their draft card or something
like that you know.
Q: Yes.
A: But Jaffe - oh, Jaffe, he's - Aaron Jaffe. IIe - he'd - I always called him Pope Aaron
the First of the Skokie.
Q: Because he was Jewish? (chuckles)
A: He was. Oh, I guess there was a bloc of Catholics that supported him, or some guy called
him Pope. He was telling me about it, and I busted out laughing at him, and I said, "Okay,
Pope Aaron the First," and he'd just laugh and go on, you know. And I got to know him
pretty well though, Jaffe. His office was near mine in the closing legislative career. We
got along fine. But he was a great liberal and an attorney and a very sensible man.
Q: Speaking of another Jewish person that was there while you were there, in the other
house of course, Senator Saltiel. Ilid you know him pretty well?
A: Not too well. But he stayed at the Lincoln the year I did. I've eaten with him. Ile was
a short fellow. He was a very energetic person and I used to like to converse with him. 1
had conversations with him, not maybe just over legislation, not in any general terms of
ideological things or anything like that. I knew him and he was - did he get - did he
run for state office? That name rings a bell. Did he . . .
Q: No I don't - don't believe that he did, no. He was in the senate.