Kennedy’s Triumph 50 Years Ago
If, in the history of the United States, there has ever been someone capable of decisively influencing their own destiny and the collective mentality of an entire generation, a ground-breaker of such magnitude that he continues to be spoken of even today in terms of "before and after," it is without a doubt John F. Kennedy. Fifty years ago he won the United States presidential election against Richard Nixon by only 118,000 votes and wrote one of the most outstanding pages in contemporary history.
Kennedy's symbolic power remains, and interest in his personality and way of doing politics has endured with time. He was a figure of such great historical importance that, way beyond his political pragmatism, he was able to pervade an entire generation, in addition to a great number of the social, ethical, political, literary and even aesthetic behaviors and manifestations of an entire era and of a generation which found in Kennedy, as Kennedy himself pointed out: "A change in the system of traditional values, a new path for the American people that is worth being traveled, an unprecedented personal commitment to the destiny of a nation."* In short, a new way of seeing and understanding life.
This short period of time, from January 20, 1961, when he took the presidency, until his assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963 — exactly 1,000 days — was enough to deeply mark the collective memory of a people and of a global generation that found in Kennedy what they passionately needed to find. Even today, when, with a certain air of longing, people want to find in Barack Obama a "Kennedian" style of overcoming moments of adversity — like what happened to JFK in the 1962 primaries — the political memory and dynamic that assumed the search for something new has not been lost and is still a point of interest for ongoing debate.
Kennedy's political career, like his personality, was atypical of what had, up until that moment, been customary in the path of a president. A member of a brilliant family of European tradition and great social and economic power, an attractive young man with an even younger and more attractive wife, a Harvard accent, as Irish and Catholic as Al Smith in "The Streets of New York" but two generations separated from the Irish ghettos of South and East Boston.
In the elections of November 8, 1960, the Democrats were convinced that defeating Nixon would be a difficult trial. Kennedy's candidacy started off with a sure advantage: He was the most successful candidate in terms of number of votes in the last years, and in the Democratic primaries he came out on top in seven states far separated from his rivals, winning in all of them. The results of the primaries had opened the gates for one of the most unprecedented ideas in Kennedy's political career: the possibility that a Catholic could be president of the United States.
The above points highlighted the need for modernization and progress and turned most of the election campaign into an attempt to give a fresh impetus to the country's vitality. Political objectives gradually came into clear focus when he wielded various arguments, but they all gave rise to the same idea: Every effort must be made to re-launch the country.
This idea, referring to the new vitality of the United States, was always accompanied by another, which expressed the necessity of defining the real problems in order to tackle them. "New ideas will necessarily lead us to new solutions,"* he said. In short, "a new domestic and global covenant,"* a "New Frontier." Kennedy's ideas drew attention to a renewal of American leadership, the internal revival which was the foundation needed to take the lead in world events.
In the final weeks before the election, polls showed a clear balance between the two candidates. Nixon's experience as a trusted man and an effective manager in Eisenhower's administration, plus the support that had gathered in most western and southern states, had been more than enough to place him ahead of any other candidate. But Kennedy's innovative campaign and the last televised debates did tip the scales in favor of Democrats.
The active participation of younger voters, among whom 76 percent supported Kennedy, gave the 1960 elections the highest rate of voter participation in contemporary history, reaching 64 percent of the total census, which was a higher figure than previous elections, even higher than subsequent elections: 61 percent in 1964, 60 percent in 1968, 55.7 percent in 1972, 56.70 percent in 2004 and even higher than the 57.37 percent stake in the 2008 presidential elections, with the Obama phenomenon and right in the middle of the global information age.
That morning 50 years ago, Kennedy's small group of advisers, among whom were his brothers Bobby and Ted, along with his most trusted man, Ted Sorensen, found late in the morning that victory was tight. Of the total votes cast, Nixon got 49.55 percent, and Kennedy 49.77 percent. This small difference and the distribution of electoral votes for those who had not voted for either candidate translated to 303 electoral votes for Kennedy and 209 for Nixon.
In this way, JFK became the 35th president of the United States, and he made a reality out of what first lady and mother of America for many years, Eleanor Roosevelt, said: "No one in our politics since Franklin has had the same vital relationship with the crowd as Kennedy."* That night, half a century ago, a legendary figure was born for generations of Americans and hundreds of millions of people around the world.
*Editor's Note: These quotes, though accurately translated, could not be verified.
Kennedy's symbolic power remains, and interest in his personality and way of doing politics has endured with time. He was a figure of such great historical importance that, way beyond his political pragmatism, he was able to pervade an entire generation, in addition to a great number of the social, ethical, political, literary and even aesthetic behaviors and manifestations of an entire era and of a generation which found in Kennedy, as Kennedy himself pointed out: "A change in the system of traditional values, a new path for the American people that is worth being traveled, an unprecedented personal commitment to the destiny of a nation."* In short, a new way of seeing and understanding life.
This short period of time, from January 20, 1961, when he took the presidency, until his assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963 — exactly 1,000 days — was enough to deeply mark the collective memory of a people and of a global generation that found in Kennedy what they passionately needed to find. Even today, when, with a certain air of longing, people want to find in Barack Obama a "Kennedian" style of overcoming moments of adversity — like what happened to JFK in the 1962 primaries — the political memory and dynamic that assumed the search for something new has not been lost and is still a point of interest for ongoing debate.
Kennedy's political career, like his personality, was atypical of what had, up until that moment, been customary in the path of a president. A member of a brilliant family of European tradition and great social and economic power, an attractive young man with an even younger and more attractive wife, a Harvard accent, as Irish and Catholic as Al Smith in "The Streets of New York" but two generations separated from the Irish ghettos of South and East Boston.
In the elections of November 8, 1960, the Democrats were convinced that defeating Nixon would be a difficult trial. Kennedy's candidacy started off with a sure advantage: He was the most successful candidate in terms of number of votes in the last years, and in the Democratic primaries he came out on top in seven states far separated from his rivals, winning in all of them. The results of the primaries had opened the gates for one of the most unprecedented ideas in Kennedy's political career: the possibility that a Catholic could be president of the United States.
The above points highlighted the need for modernization and progress and turned most of the election campaign into an attempt to give a fresh impetus to the country's vitality. Political objectives gradually came into clear focus when he wielded various arguments, but they all gave rise to the same idea: Every effort must be made to re-launch the country.
This idea, referring to the new vitality of the United States, was always accompanied by another, which expressed the necessity of defining the real problems in order to tackle them. "New ideas will necessarily lead us to new solutions,"* he said. In short, "a new domestic and global covenant,"* a "New Frontier." Kennedy's ideas drew attention to a renewal of American leadership, the internal revival which was the foundation needed to take the lead in world events.
In the final weeks before the election, polls showed a clear balance between the two candidates. Nixon's experience as a trusted man and an effective manager in Eisenhower's administration, plus the support that had gathered in most western and southern states, had been more than enough to place him ahead of any other candidate. But Kennedy's innovative campaign and the last televised debates did tip the scales in favor of Democrats.
The active participation of younger voters, among whom 76 percent supported Kennedy, gave the 1960 elections the highest rate of voter participation in contemporary history, reaching 64 percent of the total census, which was a higher figure than previous elections, even higher than subsequent elections: 61 percent in 1964, 60 percent in 1968, 55.7 percent in 1972, 56.70 percent in 2004 and even higher than the 57.37 percent stake in the 2008 presidential elections, with the Obama phenomenon and right in the middle of the global information age.
That morning 50 years ago, Kennedy's small group of advisers, among whom were his brothers Bobby and Ted, along with his most trusted man, Ted Sorensen, found late in the morning that victory was tight. Of the total votes cast, Nixon got 49.55 percent, and Kennedy 49.77 percent. This small difference and the distribution of electoral votes for those who had not voted for either candidate translated to 303 electoral votes for Kennedy and 209 for Nixon.
In this way, JFK became the 35th president of the United States, and he made a reality out of what first lady and mother of America for many years, Eleanor Roosevelt, said: "No one in our politics since Franklin has had the same vital relationship with the crowd as Kennedy."* That night, half a century ago, a legendary figure was born for generations of Americans and hundreds of millions of people around the world.
*Editor's Note: These quotes, though accurately translated, could not be verified.