Existing comment:
Kennedy speaking in Wisconsin during the Democratic primary race:
In 1960 John Kennedy's only way to the presidential nomination was by winning primaries, convincing the party's bosses of his electoral strength. The first test was in Wisconsin, on April 5, where Kennedy faced Hubert Humphrey from neighboring Minnesota. Kennedy won, but not by the margin predicted. When asked by one of his sisters what it meant, he responded bitterly, "we have to do it all over again . . . win every one of them-West Virginia . . . Maryland . . . Indiana, and Oregon." Humphrey viewed his close finish as a "moral victory" and readied himself for West Virginia. Democratic leaders, however, saw Humphrey's inability to win in a neighboring state as fatal. Ironically, it was Humphrey's decision to enter the West Virginia primary, and Kennedy's decisive victory over him there, that convinced "the big Eastern bosses," in reporter Theodore White's view, to support Kennedy, ensuring him the nomination.
George Tames, 1960 |