The Good-Looking Fellow in the White Linen Suit

THE JOHN O'HARA SOCIETY

Summer of 1928. Republican convention, which nominated  Herbert Hoover for President. Mike Slattery and Joe Chapin (Ten North Frederick) were there:

   Mike was responsible, wholly responsible, for Joe's designation as an alternate delegate to the convention in Kansas City . . . He saw to it that Joe met them all, and he saw to it that the important men realized the good-looking fellow in the white linen suit was a Slattery man. There were so many pot-bellied men with their pants hanging below their waistlines and their shirts creeping out and their collars soaked with perspiration - that Mike was delighted to make a claim on Joe, who at least looked cool.
. . .
   Coming back on the train Joe sat up most of the night with Mike . . . They were tired, but they could not sleep in the hot, dirty train. Every once in a while a half-drunken delegate would stumble into the smoking room. The porter was nowhere to be seen. Joe and Mike were in their shirt sleeves, and Mike could not remember ever having seen Joe without a jacket except on the golf course.

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