Wherever she goes in her appointed rounds of play, Caroline Kennedy is trailed by at least one stern, watchful nurse and an equally stern, watchful Secret Service man—plenty of protection, it would seem, for any well-mannered little girl. But as any well-worn parent knows, care and caution are never quite equal to the heart-stopping hazards that occasionally complicate the existence of a cheerful, mischief-minded three-year-old. Last week Washington Star Society Columnist Betty Beale uncovered just such an incident in the life of the President’s daughter.
With her nurse and her federal guard in tow, Caroline attended a birthday party fortnight ago for three-year-old Ivan Steers, son of Jackie Kennedy’s stepsister, Nina Auchincloss Steers. It was a bright, sunny day in suburban Bethesda, Md., and the party was outdoors, beside the Steers’s swimming pool. While Caroline’s nurse was changing, the other nurses and mothers helped Ivan’s guests into their bathing suits; Caroline got suited up faster than anyone else. She slipped into the pool at the shallow end, grabbed a kiddie-sized surfboard and began to paddle.
Before long, Mrs. William Saltonstall, daughter-in-law of Massachusetts’ Republican Senator Leverett Saltonstall, noted that Nonswimmer Caroline had splashed her way out to the 4½ ft. mark, where the water was over her head. “Is she all right?” asked another watchful mother—just as the board slipped away and Caroline sank. Mrs. Saltonstal’s answer was action: although fully dressed (and seven months pregnant), she jumped into the water, dragged Caroline to safety.
Modestly, Heroine Saltonstall claimed that “any of the mothers standing around could have done the thing I did.” As for Caroline, she was totally unharmed and totally unconcerned about the brief, horrified adult fuss. All she wanted was to get back into the swim—and to get an answer to a perfectly obvious question: What was that nice lady doing in the pool with all her clothes on?
More Must-Reads from TIME
- L.A. Fires Show Reality of 1.5°C of Warming
- How Canada Fell Out of Love With Trudeau
- Trump Is Treating the Globe Like a Monopoly Board
- Bad Bunny On Heartbreak and New Album
- 10 Boundaries Therapists Want You to Set in the New Year
- The Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise Harder
- Nicole Kidman Is a Pure Pleasure to Watch in Babygirl
- Column: Jimmy Carter’s Global Legacy Was Moral Clarity
Contact us at letters@time.com