MILLER SAYS GOLDWATER WILL WIN SOUTH SOLIDLY IN '64
Charleston, South Carolina (JFK+50) On November 10, 1963, Republican national chairman William E. Miller*, attending a two-day workshop for 135 party leaders from the South here in Charleston, said...
"Southern Republican organizations (will) deliver all Southern states to Senator Barry Goldwater** (R-Arizona)" if he wins the 1964 presidential nomination.
JFK+50 NOTE
Goldwater won the Republican nomination in 1964 and carried South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, & Louisiana but the only other state he carried in the election was his home state of Arizona. LBJ won in a landslide.
The South had been controlled by the Democrats so dominantly over the years that it was referred to as "The Solid South." In the Election of 1960, Nixon won only 4 Southern states, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky & Virginia. After LBJ's landslide in 1964 & passage of the Civil Rights Act, the South turned Republican.
*William Edward Miller (1914-1983) was born in Lockport, NY & earned his BA at Notre Dame & LLB at Albany Law School. WEM served in the US Army in WWII & the US House of Representatives 1951-1965. He was Goldwater's running-mate in the Election of 1964.
**Barry Goldwater & JFK served together in the U.S. Senate & became close friends. They had a "warm, light-hearted friendship." They shared a strong sense of humor and distrust of Vice-President Nixon.
On a visit to the White House, BG brought along his camera & took a close-up of the President. He sent JFK a copy of the photo which was inscribed..."To Barry Goldwater whom I urge to follow the career for which he has shown such talent--photography. From his friend, John Kennedy."
SOURCES
"Goldwater and Kennedy: An Unlikely Friendship & What Might Have Been," Camelot: One Brief Shining Moment, Word Press, www.pastprettie.wordpress.com/
"Miller Is Sure South Is Solid For Goldwater; Region Is Strongly Anti-Kennedy, GOP Says," by David S. Broder, The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., November 10, 1963, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
