IT'S OFFICIAL: JFK WILL RUN
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) It was hardly a surprise but on the second of January 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts officially announced his candidacy for President of the United States.
The announcement was made in the Senate Caucus Room* of the Old Senate Office Building, now known as the Russell Senate Office Building, here in the Nation's Capital.
Senator Kennedy said...
"I am announcing today my candidacy for the Presidency of the United States. The Presidency is the most powerful office in the Free World. Through its leadership can come a more vital life for our people.
In the past 40 months I have toured every state and I have talked to Democrats in all walks of life (and) in the last 20 years I have traveled in nearly every continent and country.
From all of this, I have developed an image of America as fulfilling a noble and historic role as the defender of freedom in a time of maximum peril and of the American people as confident, courageous and persevering. It is with this image that I begin this campaign."
JFK did not have a lock on winning the 1960 Democratic nomination. Jessica McElrath writes that at the time of his announcement Senator Kennedy placed fourth behind Lyndon B. Johnson, Adlai Stevenson and Stuart Symington in a poll of congressional Democrats. She adds, however, that JFK was more popular with the rank and file Democrats.
*The Senate Caucus Room was renamed the Kennedy Caucus Room in 2009 in honor of the 3 Kennedy brothers, John, Robert and Ted, who served in the Senate and announced their presidential candidacies from this room.
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) proposed the name change "in the spirit of compassion & compromise, the fierce advocacy and tender friendship that Teddy and his brothers brought to the body."
SOURCES
"Announcing Candidacy for President," by Jessica McElrath, www.netplaces.com/
"JFK's Echoes Still Heard in U.S. Senate," by John T. Shaw, November 20, 2013, www.huffingtonpost.com/
Russell Senate Office Building
View from Capitol Dome
Washington, D.C.
July 12, 2007
Photo by RebelAt
at English Wikipedia
