JFK once sent a brilliant letter to a girl worried about Santa

Christmas in 1961 took place at a worrying time for the planet.

The two world superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union were firmly at each other's throats with the Berlin Wall having been built earlier that year.

The Cuban Missile Crisis - the closest the planet has ever come to a Third World War - would take place the following October.

Both sides were building up formidable arsenals of nuclear weapons, and one eight-year-old girl from Michigan was worried about the impact all of this would have on one man in particular: a Mr Santa Claus.

So much so that young Michelle Rochon of Michigan wrote a letter to the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, to express her concerns about the Russians bombing the North Pole, taking out Santa and his elf factories.

A letter revealed by the JFK library shows that John was moved to reply, and calm her fears, assuring her that Santa would be just fine, as he had "talked with him yesterday".

Never mind having a hotline to the major world political leaders, imagine having Santa's number to call when you fancied a chat.

What a hero.

(Images: Rex/JFK library)