Politics on my mind

It all started with the presidential debate, moved on to the attempted assassination, and culminated in the announced resignation of the current president who will not run for re-election. But it hasn’t culminated. The president has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take over but nothing is settled until the convention delegates vote. That’s really not in doubt but who will be the candidate for vice president on the Democratic ticket is. Meanwhile, the former president, now the opposing candidate, is campaigning full throated against his expected new opponent. Confused?     

My introduction to politics came at an early age. My parents never ever argued in front of me. Except when Franklin Roosevelt was running for an unheard of third term against a Republican, Wendell Willkie of Indiana. My father was a small businessman who inherited his father’s store and registered Republican. My mother, a Democrat, ran away from home to live with her older sister after her mother died when my mother was 8 years old. A young child doesn’t understand death, especially when it is sudden. When her father remarried soon after, according to custom (Who was going to take care of the 10 children?) my mother couldn’t tolerate a stepmother and abruptly left home.

I believe she finished elementary school and then went to secretarial school instead of a traditional high school. At 16, she went out into the world to find a job. She pinned her hair up in a bun to look older and probably lied about her age. Luck was on her side. She found a secretarial job at a small Broadway producer’s office, Dorothy and Joseph Fields. They became very successful. They loved and looked after my mother, including trying to arrange interesting dates with some of their undiscovered but talented clients. One was George Gershwin. But nothing came of that first date.

My mother loved the theater and musical and dance performances. Most of her friends were struggling young artists or as my dad called them, the “Bohemian crowd.” He was definitely not one of them. I don’t know if she had a serious boyfriend but she had many dates. Eventually she found a job selling French perfume at Saks Fifth Avenue, on Fifth Avenue and 35th Street opposite Rockefeller Center. It opened in 1924 and was known for its high-ceiling, dark lush interior and its very expensive products.

My father’s father was exasperated that his favorite son had become a playboy. He slept most of the day and played most of the night. It was time he found a nice girl and settled down. He had one such woman in mind. She was not rich, just the opposite, but she came from a good family. He knew her father. And she was young and supposedly good looking. On that very day, my mother had used her lunch hour to get a haircut and styling. She looked beautiful when she returned to work. Waiting for her at the counter were two men, father and son. And the rest was history.

My parents spent their honeymoon in Europe. My father was a millionaire when they sailed from New York. When they returned in September 1929, the stock market crashed. He had nothing but a successful and smart father who preferred real estate investments to stocks. And he owned a small men’s clothing store. My father was never cut out to be a businessman. He should have attended college. He was good in math. He could have become an accountant or something like that. Instead he was stuck selling suits for most of his life. And he remained a loyal Republican for his entire life. My mother always identified with the poor and downtrodden. She always voted Democratic. She volunteered at a school for young blind children. She was not interested in being a society lady and attending teas and raising funds for well-funded entities. Of course she was for Roosevelt. Of course my father was for Willkie.

But despite their political differences they loved each other. I wonder how my father who outlived my mother by 10 years would feel about former President Trump. He would not like him, but he would vote for him.  

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Steve Okamoto will not be running for the Foster City Council.  He previously served on the Council from 2011-2015. He was part of the last surviving generation of Japanese American internees.

Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs on Mondays. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.