I was barely old enough to be dimly aware that Presidents are elected and that there is a difference between a democracy and a democratic republic. But I was old enough to be entranced by the candidate.
As the years since have become decades, and decades have become measurable as generations, John F. Kennedy has remained a sort of standard, for me, by which others are to be measured.
Democrat John Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon were not antagonists in the couple of years during which they were both in Congress. Some accounts had them as friends who enjoyed each other’s company. Nixon was elected Senator from California in 1950 after an extraordinarily vicious campaign against incumbent Helen Gahagan Douglas. If Douglas was not a communist, the Nixon campaign held, she was at least a fellow traveler. “Pink right down to her underwear” became part of that year’s ugly narrative.
In private, Kennedy defended Nixon when most observers held the new Senator in distain for his dirty tactics. The friendship continued through most of the 1950s as Richard Nixon became Eisenhower’s Vice President and John F. Kennedy was elected the junior Senator from Massachusetts.
Somewhere along the line things soured. It may have been in 1960 as both won party nominations for President and campaigned against each other.
A steady pattern of small incidents seemed to demonstrate a lack of Nixon class. The candidates held the first televised debates in American history. They talked with each other casually as television preparations occurred around them. Kennedy noticed that, at odd moments, Nixon’s demeanor would suddenly change for a few seconds. He would scowl and point his finger at Kennedy’s face while talking about some personal triviality. The pattern became clear. It happened whenever Nixon noticed some photographer about to snap a picture. He wanted to look tougher than his opponent.
Continue reading “60 Years and No Class Ago –
Compared to Today”