1960 US Campaign - The Stage is Set

Author David Pietrusza describes the 1960 campaign as "The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies", JFK, LBJ, and Nixon.   Considering the continuation of the Nixon presidency under Gerald Ford, the 1960 campaign would influence the next 16 years of presidential leadership.

This is indeed a pivotal time in American politics.  A new era of leadership is emerging and a new generation is stepping up.  Nixon and Kennedy are both younger and have recruited older, seasoned running mates to bolster the appearance of experience on their respective tickets.  The choices made by these three men, JFK, LBJ, and Nixon, in the course of their presidencies would determine the course of the nuclear arms build-up, the cold war, the Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, the space race, and a score of other issues which would define both the 60's and the 70's.

Rebuilding the Republican Right
This would also signal a time of rebuilding the "Republican Right",  as alluded to in Barry Goldwater's 1960 convention speech...    "...let's grow up conservative's.  Let's, if we want to take this party back someday, and I think we can, let's get to work!"  Goldwater would be back as the Republican Presidential nominee in 1964, but it would not be until the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 that the Republican Right would finally find their muscle.  They have been flexing it ever since.

Lodge-Kennedy Dynamics
Another significant element of this campaign is the nomination of Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. as the Republican Vice Presidential nominee.  The Lodge's were long-time Kennedy rivals from Massachusetts, with Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. narrowly losing his senate seat to JFK in 1952.  Lodge's son George would lose a bid for the same seat, vacated by JFK when he was elected President, to Ted Kennedy in 1962.  (I still have a Kennedy '62 tie-clip to commemorate that Senate race!) Despite the historic rivalry, Kennedy would appoint Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. as his ambassador to Vietnam at a crucial moment in the history of US involvement there.  One wonders if the two weren't working at cross purposes then, but that is another story.

Remembering and Reflecting... Rob; in Vancouver

"Few presidential elections have been quite as close, 

as dramatic or as controversial as the 1960 election 

between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy turned out to be."

Isaac McPhee

1960 Republican Convention

The Republican Party met in Chicago from July 25 - 28, 1960 to nominate Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge as their President and Vice President candidates for the 1960 election.  The following videos highlight the convention with speeches from Nixon, Goldwater, Lodge, and a brief clip from Martin Luther King Jr.

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Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

 1960 SUMMER FUN:  Brian Hyland

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JFK Acceptance Speech: July 15, 1960

The New Frontier

50 Years ago today John F. Kennedy accepted the Democratic Party nomination with this rousing speech on the New Frontier.  It is filled with a sense of optimism about the future that I remember as a child growing up in Michigan.  In spite of all the threats of the Cold War; the nuclear arms race, and the Vietnam War, there was an abounding optimism and faith that our new found technological prowess would help us to eradicate hunger, cure diseases, and usher in a golden age of peace and prosperity for all.  Alas!

Ella Fitzgerald: "Mack the Knife" 1960

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1960 Democratic National Convention

The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles from July 11-15, 1960.  The central work of the convention was the nomination of a ticket for the 1960 Presidential Election.  John F. Kennedy was in the lead coming out of the primaries but was challenged by two significant rivals at the convention.  Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson and former Democratic Presidential Candidate Adlai Stevenson entered the race in the week before the convention.

Kennedy went on to win the nomination on the first ballot.  In a move to unite the party and bring Southern Democrats aboard he chose LBJ to be his running mate.  Ballot results were as follows:

John F. Kennedy 806 (52.89%)
Lyndon Johnson 409 (26.84%)
Stuart Symington 86 (5.64%)
Adlai Stevenson 79.5 (5.25%)
Robert B. Meyner 43 (2.82%)
Hubert Humphrey 41 (2.76%)

The following post includes a couple of videos that highlight the convention.

Bye for now... Rob

"The world has been close to war before–but now man, who has survived all previous threats to his existence, has taken into his mortal hands the power to exterminate the entire species some seven times over."   JFK  July 15, 1960

1960 DNC: July 11-15, 1960

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July 11, 1960 - A Snapshot in TIME

TIME Magazine featured a picture of the Kennedy's on their July 11th cover as the 1960 Democratic National Convention got underway in Los Angeles. Much of the edition was focused on U.S. politics in the lead-up to the 1960 general election.



AFRICA:  The Independence Movement

World stories focused on Africa which was in the midst of a continent-wide independence movement.  The Congo,  Somalia, and Ghana were each featured in stories which both celebrated their independence and analyzed their challenges.  The Congo was already on the brink of a civil war with the mineral-rich Katanga Province threatening to secede.  

SOUTH VIET NAM: Problem of One Man

Vietnam is just beginning to emerge in the News.  This particular story looks at the challenges faced by the unpopular South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. 

"...he is an aristocrat by birth, has no real contact with ordinary citizens or confidence in their judgments. Since an assassination attempt three years ago, Diem is constantly surrounded by police; he has neither the desire nor the ability to be a folksy man of the people. The peasants, who blame the government for a one-third fall in the price of rice this year, view Diem as a remote and austere figure, while they must contend with nightly raids by Red terrorists. To the city intellectuals, Diem's one-man rule is increasingly galling. They argue that his administration could be more liberal without impeding economic progress or exposing itself to Communist infiltration." Read more

CANADA: Acadian Winner

TIME had a small story on the Liberal win in the Provincial election in New Brunswick which saw Louis Robichaud elected as Premier.

"The decision surprised nearly everyone. In Ottawa, Liberal Chief Lester Pearson, who leads the Opposition to Diefenbaker's Tory government, confessed: "I didn't think we would win." Apprehensive shudders ran through the government benches in Ottawa's House of Commons; defeats for federal governments are customarily heralded by provincial defeats." TIME Magazine



More to follow this week on the historic 1960 Democratic Convention.

Remembering and reflecting... Rob; in Vancouver

"Elmer Gantry" - July 7, 1960

"Elmer Gantry", starring Burt Lancaster and Jean Simmons was released on July 7, 1960.   It went on to be one of the big hits for the year with Lancaster winning an Oscar for Best Actor.

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"House of the Rising Sun" - Joan Baez - 1960

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