"Frank the Mank" on Historical Research

[wpbinzel]

Yesterday, I witnessed first-hand how history is invented. While, with your indulgence, it is not related to Lincoln's assassination, it was a lesson for all who engage in historical research.

The occasion was the funeral service for Frank Mankiewicz. Frank was a true Washington political and media insider. He was Press Secretary for Senator Robert F. Kennedy and, in 1968, the task fell to him to announce to world that the Senator had died from his wounds. Four years later, Frank was senior political adviser to the ill-fated presidential campaign of George McGovern. From there he went on to head National Public Radio and to a career in public relations. His wit was legendary. Some of the best stories in Washington are either ones that he told, or ones told about him. While his politics were not my cup of tea, he was a kind and generous mentor in the careers of many who crossed his path, including my wife, who called him "Uncle Frank."

Frank passed away on October 23rd at the age of 90. At his funeral, in a very touching and humorous tribute to his father, Ben Mankiewicz (the host of Turner Classic Movies) noted that according to the obituary in The Washington Post, friends had dubbed his father as "Frank the Mank." That was news to Ben as he had never heard anyone refer to his father by that moniker. Ben asked for a show of hands from the room packed with 350 of Mr. Mankiewciz's friends from those who called him "Frank the Mank." There was laughter when not a single hand was raised. But, no doubt, in the next century, after everyone in that room is gone, some historian writing a biography of Frank Mankiewicz will read The Post's article and be inspired to entitle the work "Frank the Mank" with the appropriate footnote, and everyone will accept it as historical fact.

On my desk, I have a quote from 1864, which I found on the Internet, from Abraham Lincoln saying that not everything you read on the Internet is true. To it, I am going to add another quote: "Not everything you read printed on old yellowed paper is true either." -- Frank the Mank

[L Verge]

(10-29-2014 05:49 PM)wpbinzel Wrote:  Yesterday, I witnessed first-hand how history is invented. While, with your indulgence, it is not related to Lincoln's assassination, it was a lesson for all who engage in historical research.

The occasion was the funeral service for Frank Mankiewicz. Frank was a true Washington political and media insider. He was Press Secretary for Senator Robert F. Kennedy and, in 1968, the task fell to him to announce to world that the Senator had died from his wounds. Four years later, Frank was senior political adviser to the ill-fated presidential campaign of George McGovern. From there he went on to head National Public Radio and to a career in public relations. His wit was legendary. Some of the best stories in Washington are either ones that he told, or ones told about him. While his politics were not my cup of tea, he was a kind and generous mentor in the careers of many who crossed his path, including my wife, who called him "Uncle Frank."

Frank passed away on October 23rd at the age of 90. At his funeral, in a very touching and humorous tribute to his father, Ben Mankiewicz (the host of Turner Classic Movies) noted that according to the obituary in The Washington Post, friends had dubbed his father as "Frank the Mank." That was news to Ben as he had never heard anyone refer to his father by that moniker. Ben asked for a show of hands from the room packed with 350 of Mr. Mankiewciz's friends from those who called him "Frank the Mank." There was laughter when not a single hand was raised. But, no doubt, in the next century, after everyone in that room is gone, some historian writing a biography of Frank Mankiewicz will read The Post's article and be inspired to entitle the work "Frank the Mank" with the appropriate footnote, and everyone will accept it as historical fact.

On my desk, I have a quote from 1864, which I found on the Internet, from Abraham Lincoln saying that not everything you read on the Internet is true. To it, I am going to add another quote: "Not everything you read printed on old yellowed paper is true either." -- Frank the Mank

And if they can mess up an obituary, think what else the media can do...

[BettyO]

Thanks so much for a very pertinent "truth!" The challenge of research is the actual sifting through various media to get to truth!

Indeed, "Not everything you read printed on old yellowed paper is true either." Better words were never spoken!

[Anita]

There are a number of documented sources going back decades in which Frank Mankiewicz was referred to as "Frank the Mank". The quote below is from a Clip From December 9, 2004 Frank Mankiewicz Roast

" THE SECRET OF FRANK'S SUCCESS IS ACTUALLY VERY SIMPLE: NOT EVEN KARL ROVE CAN SPELL HIS NAME. THAT'S WHY A LOT OF US SIMPLY CALL HIM "FRANK THE MANK."
http://www.c-span.org/video/?c2291389/cl...ewicz-roas

Here's one from 1983.

"Since then Frank the Mank, as he is sometimes called, has made a name for himself apart from his family celebrity: ..."
http://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0224/022437.htm

[wpbinzel]

(10-29-2014 09:22 PM)Anita Wrote:  There are a number of documented sources going back decades in which Frank Mankiewicz was referred to as "Frank the Mank". The quote below is from a Clip From December 9, 2004 Frank Mankiewicz Roast

" THE SECRET OF FRANK'S SUCCESS IS ACTUALLY VERY SIMPLE: NOT EVEN KARL ROVE CAN SPELL HIS NAME. THAT'S WHY A LOT OF US SIMPLY CALL HIM "FRANK THE MANK."
http://www.c-span.org/video/?c2291389/cl...ewicz-roas

Here's one from 1983.

"Since then Frank the Mank, as he is sometimes called, has made a name for himself apart from his family celebrity: ..."
http://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0224/022437.htm

You may have proved my point. I am not sure that a joke about his name during a roast, or a 30 year-old "as he is sometimes called" reference, is sufficient justification for the statement in The Post's obituary: "In a city where the politically ambitious often let power brokers have the last laugh, “Frank the Mank,” as friends dubbed him, was comfortable one-upping them."

Frankly (and no pun intended), I have no desire or interest in engaging in a debate over, whether in jest or a flippant comment, someone referred to Mr. Mankiewizc as "Frank the Mank" and it happen to catch the ear of a reporter. I don't know. If pressed, I will take Ben at his word, supported by the reaction of 350 of Frank's friends.

The point of my post is that just because someone wrote something about someone -- whether it was last week or 150 years ago -- it does not necessarily mean that it was true. That is the challenge of historical research.

[STS Lincolnite]

(10-29-2014 10:34 PM)wpbinzel Wrote:  The point of my post is that just because someone wrote something about someone -- whether it was last week or 150 years ago -- it does not necessarily mean that it was true. That is the challenge of historical research.

Very true. I have been trying to come up with a way that works for me to weight sources. One of the important criteria is corroboration. The hard part, as you said, is to determine whether a statement is actually corroborated or if a bad source has just been repeated again and again without examination.

[Linda Anderson]

I've been trying to think of a way to reconcile wpbinzel and Anita's posts and the only thing that makes sense to me is that friends indeed called Mankiwitz "Frank the Mank" (it was Ted Kennedy who mentioned that in the 2004 roast), and that Ben knew it but he was joking that he didn't so as to bring fond laughter into his memories of his father.

What's even worse about repeating wrong information is when researchers ignore excellent sources. For example, I've read in some books that Fanny Seward made a mistake when she opened the door to her father's bedroom thereby letting Powell know where Seward's bedroom was located. Besides what Fanny wrote in her diary, both George Robinson and William H. Bell testified that it was Fred Seward who first opened the door to Seward's bedroom.

It matters to me because it makes Fanny the scapegoat for Powell finding Seward when it was really Fred who was responsible (if Powell didn't know where the room was already).