BEFORE JFK DEBATED NIXON, HE TOOK ON LYNDON
Los Angeles (JFK+50) On July 12, 1960, two candidates for the Democratic nomination for POTUS, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas squared off against each other in a nationally televised debate.
The hour-long debate was conducted without a moderator before the combined delegations of Massachusetts and Texas at the Biltmore Hotel ballroom. It began at 5 p.m. local time.
Senator Johnson had challenged Senator Kennedy to the debate, held the day before the balloting, after JFK had offered to meet with any delegation that invited him. LBJ introduced JFK who gave an opening statement lasting 10 minutes. Kennedy acknowledged that many of the Texas delegates, who outnumbered the Massachusetts delegates by a large margin, would not support his civil rights proposals.
Johnson followed with a 20 minute opening statement in which he pointed to his efforts on the floor of the United States Senate "while some men who would be president" were absent. He, of course, was making reference to JFK being out campaigning in the primaries instead of taking care of his Senate responsibilities.
JFK closed the debate by complimenting LBJ on his work in the Senate and saying that he supported the Texas senator's decision not to enter the primaries. JFK also expressed his hope that LBJ would continue in his role as majority leader.
After JFK won the nomination, he selected LBJ as his running mate. A man who had not campaigned in any of the 16 primaries.
SOURCES
"Kennedy-Johnson Debate," Our Campaigns, www.ourcampaigns.com/
"The Great Debate, JFK's legacy: The party's over," by Kathryn Cramer Brownell and Bruce J. Schulman, November 22, 2013, www.blogs.reuters.com/
LBJ at Biltmore Hotel
July 10, 1960
Library of Congress Photo
