JFK+50: Volume 6, No. 1769
JFK DECLARED PRESIDENT-ELECT 55 YEARS AGOHyannisport, Massachusetts (JFK+50) Fifty-five years ago today, Senator John F. Kennedy was declared the winner of the Presidential Election of 1960. It was one of the closest elections in history.
The Senator turned in just before 4 a.m. having worked through the night at his campaign headquarters at the home of his brother and campaign manger, Robert F. Kennedy.
JFK learned of the outcome when his three year old daughter, Caroline, came running into his bedroom with the news. He would be inaugurated on January 20, 1961 as the 35th President. At age 43, John F. Kennedy became the youngest elected Chief Executive in American history.
According to Chris Matthews, a detail from the Secret Service showed up in Hyannis at 5:45 a.m. and the agents already "knew the names, faces and roles of each of Kennedy's people." When JFK "greeted and thanked his top political aides (Kenny) O'Donnell and (Larry) O'Brien" that morning, (the President-elect)...struck them both as a different man."
The President-elect made his first public statement on November 9, 1960 at the Armory here in Hyannisport. Accompanied by his family, Mr. Kennedy received an unprecedented standing ovation from the press corps as he stepped up onto the stage.After reading the text of telegrams from both Vice-President Richard M. Nixon and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, JFK said...
"To all Americans I say that the next 4 years are going to be difficult and challenging years for all of us.
The election may have been a close one, but I think that there is general agreement by all of our citizens that a supreme national effort will be needed in the years ahead to move this country safely through the 1960s.
I ask your help in this effort and I can assure you that every degree of mind and spirit that I possess will be devoted to the long-range interests of the United States and the cause of freedom around the world.
So now my wife and I prepare for a new administration and for a new baby."
SOURCE
"Jack Kennedy, Elusive Hero," by Chris Matthews, Simon and Shuster, New York, 2011.
JFK+50 BEGINS SIXTH YEAR
Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) Five years ago today, November 9, 2010, we began writing this JFK+50 blog. We have considered it an honor and blessing to be able to share our interest in President John F. Kennedy and as we begin our sixth year would like to thank all of you who have visited and particularly those who have done so on a regular basis.
