plz help me out...T_T?

Question

Hi...i'm an english learner~~
Let me ask a question...:)

[John F. Kennedy's affairs would have resulted in a presidential resignation had people know about it at the time.
So, John Kennedy was very lucky that the press corps did have the rules it had in the early 1960s.]

the press corps did have the rules it had ....

I can understand what "have the rules" means
I think that press didn't say about president's privacy...(affairs), right? (writer called that as a rule...??)

I don't know why writer put "it had".
What is the role of that phrase???

p.s I'm sorry that my expression doesn't make sense;; cause, i'm foreigner;; ^^;;

Answer 1

In this case, the phrase "it had" would refer to something in their possession or rules the press corps had to follow because they could be sued for LIBEL (this means you call someone a bad name and put it in writing so everyone can read it. Its opposite is SLANDER, where you say it to them face to face). For instance, another way would be to say something like, "If I did not have the early education I HAD, I would not be able to attend college now."

Answer 2

it's saying the whole situation would have been different if there wasn't the rules in place that were to protect the privacy (affairs), maybe there were some new privacy ones brought in which protected peoples rights more than in previous years.
"have the rules" means nothing...... you can try and put it into words but i wont make sense
you have to read more of it to understand. i will try to give you an example,
The sweet shop did have rules of customers not being able to buy more than 3 chocolate bars a day.

"it basically just states that there is specific terms to you being able to do something, or not being allowed to do something".
hope i helped you a little.

Answer 3

The phrase is "had the rules" because it's in the past tense. It indicates that those rules are no longer in place (which they're not). If you were to talk about present day, then you would say "They HAVE the rules." This was back in the 60s, so "They HAD the rules" is correct.

Answer 4

...very lucky that the press corps did have the rules it had in the early 1960s.

another easier way to say this:

...very lucky that the press corps had those rules in the early 1960s.