'Unsung hero' advised JFK

South Philadelphia native Myer "Mike" Feldman, 92, a key adviser to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson who had a knack for avoiding personal publicity, died of heart disease Thursday at Suburban Hospital in Washington.

"Mike is an unsung hero. He never sought headlines," said Theodore C. Sorensen, who was special White House counsel for Kennedy, on Friday.

Mr. Feldman, who was known as a smart, tough policy and legal adviser, prepped Kennedy for the televised debates with Richard Nixon.

"In addition to many other duties, Mike was head of research for the president's speeches and statements. He wrote Kennedy's famous Berlin Wall speech and the one the president gave in Houston before Protestant ministers which answered comprehensively every attack ever made on him regarding his religion," Sorensen said. "Mike was thorough, smart and detailed."

Mr. Feldman was in Hyannisport, Mass., on election night in 1960 when Kennedy went to bed not knowing the outcome of the close race. The next morning, Mr. Feldman was one of the first people to greet him with, "Good morning, Mr. President."

During the Cuban missile crisis, Mr. Feldman, who held the title of presidential counsel, was also responsible for all White House domestic policies; "he had to make plans for each of us in case of a nuclear attack," Sorensen said. "After the president added agricultural policies to Mike's duties, JFK was fond of calling him 'my Philadelphia farmer.' "

Mr. Feldman was one of three children of Ukrainian immigrants. His father died during Philadelphia's influenza epidemic in 1918. Times were tough for his family, and Mr. Feldman was sent to Girard College, where he graduated in 1930. (Later in life, Mr. Feldman gave generously to Girard and fought for the college to admit African American students.)

He earned a bachelor's degree in business in 1935 from the Wharton School and a law degree in 1938 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was book editor of the Law Review.

He married fellow Penn student Silva "Jackie" Moskovitz in 1941, and they had two children. The marriage ended in divorce in 1979.

Mr. Feldman taught law at Penn before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He served Stateside until the end of World War II.

Mr. Feldman's career in Washington began after the war. He was assistant to the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman during an investigation of a stock market scandal and counsel to the Senate committee looking into President Harry Truman's discharge of Gen. Douglas McArthur. In the late 1950s, he became legislative adviser to Kennedy.

When Kennedy asked Mr. Feldman to join his presidential campaign staff, Mr. Feldman said, "it didn't seem like he had much of a chance. A junior senator from Massachusetts, a Catholic, no history of major accomplishments. But I said it will be exciting."

"Mike focused all his energy on studying issues - he was remarkably talented," diamond mogul Maurice Templesman, a longtime friend, said on Friday. "The world is a better place because of Mike. He combined idealism, optimism, compassion, and obligation to society. He did what it takes to get things done. And he had a strong moral compass."

Mr. Feldman left the White House in 1965 to start a successful Washington law firm that once employed 130 lawyers. While practicing real estate and radio law, he bought scores of unprofitable radio stations, turned them around, and then sold them.

In 1980, Mr. Feldman married Washington lawyer and businesswoman Adrienne Arsht, who was 28 years his junior.

He joined the board of the Special Olympics in 1983, and worked tirelessly with longtime friend Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

"I spoke with Mike a few hours before he died. He told me to call back later," Shriver said Friday. "Now there are no tomorrows with Mike. He has been my friend for 55 years. We spoke every day. He was loyal, creative, and a little flirtatious. I will miss him so very much."

In addition to his wife, Mr. Feldman is survived by a son, James; a daughter, Jane Walker; two grandchildren; a sister; and his former wife.

A funeral service will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at Danzansky Memorial Chapel, 1170 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. Burial will follow in Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Adelphi, Md.

Donations may be sent to Special Olympics, 1133 19th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.

Listen to President Lyndon B. Johnson's conversations with Myer Feldman via http://go.philly.com/feldmanEndText