JFK+50: Volume 6, No. 2121
JFK SPEAKS IN CONNECTICUT TWO DAYS BEFORE ELECTION OF 1960Waterbury, Connecticut (JFK+50) Fifty-six years ago today, November 6, 1960 the Democratic nominee for President of the United States, Senator John F. Kennedy, speaking to a crowd of supporters from a balcony of the Roger Smith Hotel here in Waterbury, said that New England had not had a Democratic president since Franklin Pierce.*
JFK, reminding the crowd that was 104 years ago, added...
"I think it is about time."
With Election Day just two days away, JFK spoke at 2:45 a.m. local time. He said....
"On Tuesday night, the 1st state of the union to vote & have its results is the state of Connecticut. This state is important. You can have an effect here & across the country."**
Senator Kennedy quoted FDR, who said in 1936...
'Governments can err, presidents do make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that Divine Justice weighs the sins of the coldblooded & the sins of the warmhearted in a different scale. Better the occasional faults of a government living in the spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.'
JFK concluded his speech with words spoken by President Abraham Lincoln...
'I know there is a God, & I know He hates injustice. We see the storm coming, & we know His hand is in it. But if He has a place & a part for me, I believe that we are ready.'
*Waterbury is located 33 miles SW of Hartford, Connecticut. The city, known for manufacturing brassware, is called 'Brass City.' The Knights of Columbus was founded in the city in 1881 & the Waterbury Clock Company manufactured the Mickey Mouse watch.
**JFK won Connecticut (8 electoral votes) along with Rhode Island (4) and Massachusetts (16). Nixon won Maine (5), New Hampshire (4) and Vermont (3). So the President-elect won New England 28-12.
JFK Bumper Sticker 1960
JFK Library Image
The Elton Hotel
The Roger Smith Hotel in 1960
West Main Street
Waterbury, Connecticut
