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Wednesday, July 13, 2016

A BIG MOMENT FOR THE PRIMARY SYSTEM

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 2008

JFK NOMINATED ON 1ST BALLOT 56 YEARS AGO 

Los Angeles, California (JFK+50) Fifty-six years ago tonight, July 13, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts was selected as the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.  JFK won the nomination on the first ballot.

Senator Kennedy, who defeated his closest rival, Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, by a 2 to 1 margin, became the first United States Senator since Warren G. Harding to be nominated by either major party for president.

According to Constitution Daily, JFK's nomination "was a big moment for the primary system" because the Massachusetts senator was able to "leverage...the system...as a new factor in presidential campaigning."

It was Senator Kennedy's victory in the West Virginia primary which proved crucial because JFK, a Catholic, proved his ability to win in a predominantly Protestant state.

It was the state of Wyoming, however, which put JFK over the top 56 years ago tonight.  The spokesman for the delegation said...

"Mr. Chairman, Wyoming's vote will make a majority for Senator Kennedy."

The TOP FOUR final delegate vote tally was...

Kennedy     806
Johnson     409
Symington   86
Stevenson    80

SOURCE

"Kennedy's nomination was a big moment for the primary system," Constitutional Daily, www.blog.constitutioncenter.org/



On the Floor of the Convention