"THE ONLY POLITICAL CONTEST JFK EVER LOST"

JFK LOSES VP NOMINATION TO TENNESSEE'S KEFAUVER

Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) On August 17, 1956, John Fitzgerald Kennedy lost his first and only political contest to Senator Estes Kefauver* of Tennessee.
The Massachusetts senator was defeated in the balloting for the Vice-Presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention here in Chicago.

Senator Kefauver won the nomination on the second ballot after his colleague, Tennessee Senator Albert Gore, Sr. bowed out of the race and threw his support to Mr. Kefauver.

Senator Kennedy gave a gracious concession speech after the balloting in which he asked the convention to make Kefauver's nomination unanimous.

The defeat proved to be advantageous for Senator Kennedy as the Stevenson-Kefauver ticket was soundly defeated by Eisenhower-Nixon in November.

JFK's stock in the Democratic ranks grew rapidly after the general election and he would win his party's presidential nomination four years later.

*Carey Estes Kefauver (1903-1963) was born in Madisonville, TN & earned his BA at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  He played tackle & guard for the Vols.  CEK earned his law degree at Yale before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives 1939-1949.  CEK served in the U.S. Senate 1949-1963.  

Senator Estes Kefauver

Tennessee (D)

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

TENNESSEE'S KEFAUVER DEFEATS JFK FOR VP NOMINATION

Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) On August 17, 1956, John Fitzgerald Kennedy lost his first and only political contest to Senator Estes Kefauver* of Tennessee in the balloting at the Democratic National Convention here in Chicago to become the party's nominee for Vice-President of the United States.

Kefauver won the nomination on the second ballot after his colleague, Tennessee Senator Albert Gore, Sr. bowed out of the race and threw his support to Mr. Kefauver.

Senator Kennedy gave a gracious concession speech after the balloting in which he asked the convention to make Kefauver's nomination unanimous.  The defeat proved, however, to be advantageous for JFK as the Stevenson-Kefauver ticket went on to be soundly defeated by Eisenhower-Nixon in November.

JFK's stock in the Democratic ranks grew rapidly after the general election and he would win his party's presidential nomination four years later.

*Estes Kefauver (1903-1963) was born in Madisonville, TN & graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1924.  EK graduated from Yale Law School in 1927.  After practicing law in Chattanooga, he was elected to the US House of Representatives where he served from 1939 to 1949.

In 1948, EK was elected to the US Senate where he would serve until his death. In 1950, he headed a Senate committee investigating organized crime.  The hearings of the Kefauver Committee were televised nationally which helped EK to become a national figure.

JFK+50 NOTE

I had the opportunity to meet Senator Kefauver in his office in the summer of 1962.  It was my first trip to Washington, D.C. and at the age of 14, I did not know about the adversarial relationship between Kefauver & JFK at the 1956 convention.

Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy

Knoxville, Tennessee

Photos by John White (2009)

STEVENSON-KENNEDY TICKET NOT TO BE

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 2042

JFK LOST VP BID 60 YEARS AGO TODAY

Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) Sixty years ago today, August 17, 1956, John Fitzgerald Kennedy lost his first and only political contest, a bid to win the Democratic Party's nomination for Vice-President.

In an unprecedented move, Presidential nominee Adlai E. Stevenson decided to turn the selection of his running-mate over to the delegates of the convention. Although JFK's father counseled him otherwise, Senator Kennedy put his name into contention.

Having come close to victory in the balloting, Senator Estes Kefauver* of Tennessee narrowly defeated Senator to become the party's nominee for Vice-President of the United States.

At one point JFK had a lead of 648 to 551.5, but the Tennessee delegation asked the chair for recognition.  Senator Albert Gore, Sr. announced he was dropping out of the race in deference to his colleague Senator Kefauver.  From that point on, Kefauver soon overtook JFK's lead.

Jack Kennedy gave a gracious concession speech after the balloting in which he asked the convention to make Kefauver's nomination unanimous.

The main concern Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. had with his son's presence on the ticket was the likely prospect that President Dwight D. Eisenhower would win election in a landslide and Stevenson-Kennedy would be considered a loser.

As it turned out, the defeat proved to be advantageous for Senator Kennedy as the Election of 1956 turned out just as Joe Kennedy had predicted.  JFK's stock in the Democratic ranks grew rapidly after the general election and he would win his party's presidential nomination four years later.

*Estes Kefauver (1903-1963) was born in Madisonville, TN & graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1924.  EK graduated from Yale Law School in 1927.  After practicing law in Chattanooga, he was elected to the US House of Representatives where he served from 1939 to 1949.

In 1948, EK was elected to the US Senate where he would serve until his death. In 1950, he headed a Senate committee investigating organized crime.  The hearings of the Kefauver Committee were televised nationally which helped EK to become a national figure.

After his death of a heart attack, President Kennedy appointed Nancy Kefauver to head the Art Embassies Program.  It was JFK's last appointment.

JFK+50 NOTE

My father, uncle & myself visited with Senator Kefauver during our trip to Washington, D.C. in July 1962.  My dad & uncle did most of the talking....I was only 14 years old....but I did manage to say that I would very much like to meet President Kennedy.  I don't remember if Senator Kefauver responded to my statement, but I sure to remember his expression which was not one of great joy.  I didn't know then that JFK & Kefauver, although members of the same political party, had been adversaries.

JFK nominates Adlai Stevenson

1956 Democratic National Convention

Chicago, Illinois

August 16, 1956

UPI Photo

Senator Estes Kefauver

Tennessee (D)

KEFAUVER DEFEATS JFK

JFK LOSES FIRST AND ONLY POLITICAL RACE

Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) Fifty-eight years ago today, August 17, 1956, John Fitzgerald Kennedy lost his first and only political contest.

Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee defeated Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts in the balloting at the Democratic National Convention here in Chicago to become the party's nominee for Vice-President of the United States.

Senator Kefauver won the nomination on the second ballot after his colleague, Tennessee Senator Albert Gore, Sr. bowed out of the race and threw his support to Mr. Kefauver.

Senator Kennedy gave a gracious concession speech after the balloting in which he asked the convention to make Kefauver's nomination unanimous.

The defeat proved to be advantageous for Senator Kennedy as the Stevenson-Kefauver ticket was soundly defeated by Eisenhower-Nixon in November.

JFK's stock in the Democratic ranks grew rapidly after the general election and he would win his party's presidential nomination four years later.

Senator Estes Kefauver

Tennessee (D)

OSWALD DID RADIO INTERVIEW 51 YEARS AGO

New Orleans, Louisiana (JFK+50) Lee Harvey Oswald, self-proclaimed secretary of the New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, was interviewed fifty-one years ago today, August 17, 1963, on a local radio program broadcast here in New Orleans.

Mr. Oswald appeared on WDSU-AM's Latin Listening Post and was questioned by moderator William K. Stuckey.*

Just a few days later Oswald appeared on WDSU's Conversation Carte Blanche in a debate with Ed Butler of the Information Council of the Americas and Carlos Bringuier, a Cuban refugee.

OSWALD FILES FOR MARINE DISCHARGE

El Toro, California (JFK+50) Private First Class Lee Harvey Oswald applied for a hardship discharge from the United States Marine Corps fifty-five years ago today, August 17, 1959.

Private Oswald stated that his mother had suffered an injury and needed his support.

Oswald was released from active duty in the USMC on September 11, 1959.

According to Robert J. Groden's "The Search for Lee Harvey Oswald" (1995), Lee's mother, Marguerite Oswald, was injured on December 5, 1958 when a box of glass jars fell on her head while she was working at a department store in Fort Worth, Texas. 

According to Groden,  she had "completely recovered months before Lee applied for the early discharge".

DAVY CROCKETT BORN 227 YEARS AGO

August 17, 2013

DAVY CROCKETT BORN 227 YEARS AGO 

Limestone, Tennessee (JFK+50) The song goes...

 "Born on a mountain top in Tennessee, greenest state in the land of the free, raised in the woods so's he knew every tree, killed him a bear when he was only three,"  

but while Limestone is not exactly on a mountaintop and it is highly doubtful that David Crockett was just a toddler when he killed his first bear, it is true that he was born here in East Tennessee on Thursday, August 27, 1786, 227 years ago today.

David Crockett, according to Michael Wallis, was born "in a snug frontier log house on the banks of the Nolichucky River, near its confluence with Limestone Creek."

         Birthplace Cabin Replica
         Davy Crockett State Park
           Greenville, Tennessee
Photo by Brian Stansberry (2008)

Davy's parents were John and Rebecca Crockett and they lived at this place until 1792 when they moved five miles northwest to be closer to Rebecca's brother and sister-in-law.

Their next move was to Jefferson County where they operated a tavern on the road from Knoxville to Abingdon, Virginia.

Crockett, who represented the Volunteer State in the United States Congress and died fighting for liberty at the Alamo, became a legend in his own time.

Davy wrote in his famous autobiography...

"I stood no chance to become great in any other way than by accident."

Michael Wallis writes that while Davy died in Texas, he spent most of his life in Tennessee and more than half in the eastern part of the state where he was born.

But in 1786, Tennessee was part of North Carolina and 8 counties of upper East Tennessee, including Greene where Davy was born, were part of a territory called "The State of Franklin."*

            Map of the State of Franklin
                   by Iamvered (2006)

*The State of Franklin existed from August 1784 to December 1788.  Organizers of the territory intended it to become the 14th state but it was never recognized by the US Congress and reverted back to being part of North Carolina.  Tennessee became the 16th state in 1796.

Davy Crockett was so popular during his own lifetime that a play titled "Lion of the West" was performed in Philadelphia featuring James Hackett as "Colonel Nimrod Wildfire" a character based on Davy's life.

And Crockett enhanced his own legend with the publication of "Sketches and Eccentricities of Colonel David Crockett of West Tennessee".

     Portrait of Colonel David Crockett
           by John Gadsby Chapman
         University of Texas at Austin


JFK+50 COMMENT

I grew up with a special fascination for Davy Crockett enhanced by Walt Disney's "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" starring Fess Parker. 

When Fess came to Knoxville on tour, my Dad took me to see and shake hands with him at the old Miller's Department Store on Gay Street. 

        Fess Parker as Davy Crockett
       ABC TV Press Release (c. 1955)


SOURCE

"David Crockett: The Lion of the West," by Michael Wallis, W.W. Norton and Company, New York, 2011.

JFK LOST VP BID 57 YEARS AGO 

Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) Estes Kefauver defeated John F. Kennedy in the balloting for the party's vice-presidential nomination at the 1956 Democratic National Convention meeting here in the Windy City 57 years ago today, August 17, 1956.

Senator Kefauver of Tennessee won the vice-presidential nomination on the second ballot after his colleague, Tennessee Senator Al Gore, Sr. bowed out of the race and threw his support to Kefauver.

Presidential nominee, Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, instead of following the long established tradition of choosing his own running mate had turned the task over to the convention delegates.

Senator Kennedy, representing the state of Massachusetts, gave a gracious concession speech after the balloting in which he asked the convention to make Kefauver's nomination unanimous.

This was the only political contest JFK would ever lose.

                   Senator Estes Kefauver


OSWALD ON RADIO 50 YEARS AGO TODAY

New Orleans, Louisiana (JFK+50) Lee Harvey Oswald, secretary of the New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, was interviewed 50 years ago today, August 17, 1963, on a local radio program here in the city.

Mr. Oswald appeared on WDSU-AM's "Latin Listening Post" and was questioned by William K. Stuckey. 

OSWALD FILES FOR DISCHARGE FROM USMC 

El Toro, California (JFK+50) Private First Class Lee Harvey Oswald filed  for a hardship discharge from the United States Marine Corps 54 years ago today, August 17, 1959.

Oswald stated in the application that his mother had suffered an injury and needed his support.

Oswald's application for discharge was accepted and he was released from active duty in the USMC on September 11, 1959.

ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESS SIGNED IN URUGUAY

August 17, 1961


ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESS SIGNED IN URUGUAY


Punta Del Este, Uruguay (JFK+50) The Alliance For Progress was signed here today by representatives of the United States & 19 Latin American countries.


President John F. Kennedy proposed the Alliance in March of this year.


By the terms of the Alliance, the United States will provide financial assistance to Latin America over the next 10 years that will be used to promote economic development, social progress & political freedom.


President Kennedy has expressed the desire to help the people of the region to rise out of poverty but he also hopes to stem the spread of communism there.*


*When JFK visited Colombia, he was greeted by wildly cheering crowds.  Alberto Lleras Camargo, President of Colombia, told him: "Its because they believe you are on their side."

August 17, 1961


JFK RECOGNIZES IMPORTANCE OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy, on the 25th anniversary of the 1st unemployment insurance fund, wrote a letter to Secretary of Labor Arthur J. Goldberg today expressing appreciation for the role of unemployment insurance in helping to "ease the financial burden of many millions of workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own."

                      Arthur J. Goldberg
                        Official Portrait
                  Department of Labor


August 17, 1962


JFK BEGINS CONSERVATION TRIP TO THE WEST


Pierre, South Dakota (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy attended the dedication today of the Oahe Dam near Pierre, South Dakota.


The Oahe Dam is the world's largest rolled-earth dam.


The Presidential visit marks the beginning of a trip to conservation centers in the Western United States.


JFK also traveled today to Pueblo, Colorado & the Castle Air Force Base in California.

                  Oahe Dam Flooding
                        June 15, 2011
           Photo by Travisleehardin


August 17, 1963


LEE HARVEY OSWALD GIVES RADIO INTERVIEW


New Orleans, Louisiana (JFK+50) Lee Harvey Oswald, secretary of the New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, was interviewed today on a local radio program.


Mr. Oswald appeared on WDSU-AM's "Latin Listening Post" & was questioned by William K. Stuckey.*


*Just a few days later Oswald appears on WDSU's "Conversation Carte Blanche" in a debate with Ed Butler of the Information Council of the Americas & Carlos Bringuier, a Cuban refugee. (The radio interview of August 17th 1963 can be heard on You Tube.)

 August 17, 1959


LEE HARVEY OSWALD FILES FOR DISCHARGE


El Toro, California (JFK+50) Private First Class Lee Harvey Oswald applied today for a hardship discharge from the United States Marine Corps.


Private Oswald states that his mother has suffered an injury & needs his support.*


*Oswald was released from active duty in the USMC on September 11, 1959.


According to Robert J. Groden's "The Search for Lee Harvey Oswald" (1995), Lee's mother, Marguerite Oswald, was injured on December 5, 1958 when a box of glass jars fell on her head while she was working at a department store in Fort Worth, Texas. 


According to Groden,  she had "completely recovered months before Lee applied for the early discharge".

August 17, 1956


KEFAUVER DEFEATS JFK FOR DEMOCRATIC VP


Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee defeated Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts in the balloting at the Democratic National Convention to become the party's nominee for Vice-President.


Senator Kefauver won the nomination on the 2nd ballot after his colleague, Tennessee Senator Al Gore, Sr. bowed out of the race & threw his support to Kefauver.


Senator Kennedy gave a gracious concession speech after the balloting in which he asked the convention to make Kefauver's nomination unanimous.*


*This was the only political race JFK ever lost.  In July 1962 my Dad & Uncle took me to Senator Kefauver's office in Washington & we had the opportunity to meet him & shake his hand.

                   Senator Estes Kefauver