Every U.S. President in recent years has dutifully urged more strenuous efforts to prevent and treat mental illness. But to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, whose own oldest sister, Rosemary, is mentally retarded, the problem is particularly poignant. Last week he sent Congress the first presidential message in history that dealt solely with the twin blights of mental illness and mental retardation.
Wary of opposition from budget-conscious Congressmen, Kennedy argued that the states and the nation are now indulging in the worst kind of false economy. There are 600,000 Americans in institutions for the mentally ill, and more than 200,000 in those for...
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