Chapter 1; The Campaigns
Hope and Strife;
A Cold War political timeline;
By Jimmy_Carter_76
Kind credit for this image goes to PBS; an excellent and trusted institution From; “A history of American politics, Volume Four; 1952-1992, by Newt Gingrich
The election of 1960 was a chaotic one, one could say. And while they would be right, the statement would almost certainly be an understatement. The Presidency of Dwight David Eisenhower, the first Republican since Hoover and a generally popular Chief executive, was coming to a close. While Eisenhower had paved America over and overseen the growth of the American Middle Class while keeping many of the more popular aspects of the Democratic Party’s New Deal intact, the American people began to divide themselves on whether years more of Republican administration was really what America needed.
Of course, Vice President Richard Nixon, the practically coronated successor of Eisenhower had his supporters, but it seemed that he would be facing off against a growing Democratic Party with the benefits of party fatigue and the underlying desire for something new pushing them along, along with the fact of Cold War fears and conflicts in Indochina, Cuba, and South America and the so-called “missile gap” certainly helping the Party of Jefferson and Jackson as well.
The first real notable aspect of the campaign was the overall lack of any real challenge to Nixon in the Republican primaries. No one, not even powerful men like Henry Cabot Lodge. Only a few favorite suns ran in South Dakota, West Virginia, and Ohio; things were smooth. Only one real challenge would present itself to Nixon; in the form of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, yet even that was paltry and largely aimed at un-elected Delegates at the Convention. It appeared more-or-less that Rockefeller was simply testing the waters for a possible future run. Nixon would face a massive issue however, that of picking a Vice President.
Nixon would ultimately come down to three main choices: Henry Cabot Lodge. Jr, Ambassador to the United Nations, and former Senator from Massachusetts. Lodge was a natural choice, being from a northeastern state and a Liberal, compared to Nixon, who was seen by many as Conservative. However, Lodge was disliked by the Conservative wing of the Party, who’s ideal candidate was Walter Judd of Minnesota, another man Nixon would consider. While many other candidates were debated over, Nixon would find himself leaning on choosing Lodge. Yet, an impassioned plea for a more Conservative pick by Senator Barry Goldwater and a few other prominent Conservatives led Nixon to instead choose Senator Thurston Morten of Kentucky; A more moderate option that pleased some Conservatives while keeping the Liberals in line. (1)
Meanwhile, the Democrats would be divided between two candidates: Senator Hubert Horatio Humphrey of Minnesota and Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy of Massachusetts. Kennedy and Humphrey represented two worlds. Humphrey, the New Deal Democrat, the Union man, the Buffalo Democrat which seemed to dominate since Franklin Delano Roosevelt first set off the tide and created the New Deal Coalition. He was a man who had deeply held ideals, among them his commitment to Negro Civil Rights, yet he was also the ultimate Party hack, a man who would vote with his Party almost every time.
The Democrat's primary was, to say it politely, a mudslinging war that would cast the party in a battle for its future between two new groups, of course aided with old prejudices and ideas. The first battle between the two ways in Wisconsin; Kennedy thought he could take the state while Humphrey thought of it as the Wall in which Kennedy's momentum would crash. Kennedy’s family practically invaded the state, combing for voters and finding many receptive ones, while Humphrey did his classic Depression style folksy Democrat Schtick. Kennedy would visit communities in Wisconsin along with his campaign manager brother, most notably Milwaukee, where he would stay for a week, away from his wife and children. Ultimately, Kennedy, almost entirely off the backs of the Roman Catholic population of the state, would triumph. Humphrey was reduced to square one, yet, Humphrey would find something, something…excellent.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s Sexual proclivities were infamous. It was said by some close family friends and staff that if he did not have sex with a woman every day, he appeared ailed and depressed the next, thus, when Hubert Humphrey’s campaign staff happened upon a Milwaukee Prostitutes drunken bar tail of a long night with that handsome man from Massachusetts as the results came in for Wisconsin; the Humphrey team knew that they had struck gold. Humphrey Theorized that the Protestant people of West Virginia would hate to vote for a womanizing Catholic; but Humphrey did not want to cloud his image, so he merely allowed certain pro-Humphrey West Virginia Newspapers to discover the story, and then report it helpfully. (2).
The scandal would do much to hurt Kennedy, who four weeks out now trailed Humphrey by 28 points on average. And yet Kennedy would persevere, and would enter into a campaign to beat Humphrey, primarily asking voters if they really would deny him the presidency for his religion and questioning his opponent's tolerance. Coupled with a little bit of charm and in person campaigning, Kennedy would begin to find fertile ground for his message in West Virginia. All in all, Kennedy would narrowly triumph, gaining 51.4% of the vote. Yet in the process, he had shown himself as vulnerable, and the old financial backers of the New Deal rallied behind Humphrey. The battle appeared to be going to the convention.
1; Unlike OTL Conservatives decide to push a little harder for a more acceptable nominee.
2; Didn't happen IOTL, but I'd imagine that Kennedy felt a little less secure in Wisconsin, mandating solitary campaigning and... "de-stress time'".