Here’s the story about the Irish Shamrock in America!!
It was a balmy March day
in Washington as the Irish ambassador to the U.S. headed to the White House. He
carried a small gift for the president: a box of Irish shamrock in honor of St.
Patrick's Day.
The year was 1952. The president, Harry
Truman, was out of town. So the ambassador, John Joseph Hearne, dropped off the
shamrock and went on his way. By doing this one act, Hearne notched the notion
of Irish-America to all of America.
By 1953, with Dwight Eisenhower in the
White House, the low-key shamrock presentation of the previous year began to
resemble the ceremony we know today.
A gift that had been
dropped off was now presented to the president in person. The small box
containing a few sprigs of shamrock evolved into a custom-made Waterford
crystal bowl full of sprouts, specially flown in for the event.
When John F. Kennedy,
himself an Irish-American, the media event was full-blown. Interest diminished
after his death, but his successor, Lyndon Johnson, gamely kept the tradition
alive.
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| President Eisenhower |
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President Truman
|
In the 1970s, the occasion settled into
a more routine, minor event on the schedule for Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.
Carter even delegated the task to his vice president one year. Ronald Reagan,
however, was fond of extolling his Irish roots, so his arrival in the White
House helped transform St. Patrick's Day in Washington into a jovial,
celebratory, all-day affair.
By then, the nation's capital was
hosting its own parade, and the shamrock ceremony was soon joined on the
schedule by an annual congressional St. Patrick's Day luncheon in the U.S.
Capitol, hosted by House Speaker Tip O'Neill.
After Reagan, George H.W.
Bush accepted the shamrock for four years. Clinton set a precedent by meeting only with Irish
prime ministers. George W. Bush deliberately toned down the
celebration as a way of signaling his intention to limit his administration's
involvement with Northern Ireland.
President Obama made clear his commitment
to continuing the ritual, calling it "an affirmation of one of the
strongest bonds between peoples that exist in the world."
Ireland, too, is committed to sustaining
the custom. A 2009 official government report on U.S.-Ireland relations cited
the importance of the shamrock ceremony: After nearly 60 years
of St. Patrick's Day ceremonies, what's actually become of all those bowls of
shamrock?
Ronald Reagan used one of his
Waterford bowls to hold jelly beans. Bill Clinton displayed his glassware in
the White House.
White
House security regulations dictate that any food, drink or plant presented to
the president be "handled pursuant to Secret Service policy." That's
Secret Service-speak for destroyed -- an unceremonious fate, for an enduring
symbol of a long friendship.
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| President Clinton |
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President Kennedy
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