Why Did John F. Kennedy's Primaries?
In 1956, John F. Kennedy decided to run for the 1960 presidency. Party leaders did nott want to nominate Kennedy. His nomination therefore relied on convincing party bosses that the American people really wanted him to become president.
“Senator Kennedy concluded that he could be nominated only by winning primaries. Although winning the dozen or so open primaries would gain some delegates, it would still not be enough to get the nomination. The purpose of running in the primaries, then, was not so much to gain delegates as to demonstrate electability. Kennedy had to prove to the party bosses who would control the convention that he would be able to run the best race of any Democrat” (Rorabaugh, 2009, p.45).
Joseph used his connections to …show more content…
“Kennedy’s campaign in Wisconsin in the spring of 1960 resembled Allied saturation bombing in World War II” (Rorabaugh, 2009, p. 47). Kennedy did not have enough time. So in his support, at least one member of the Kennedy family visited every single village, town and city in Wisconsin; provided it had more than 300 inhabitants, which Rorabaugh suggests is a prime example for Robert Kennedy’s superb organisational skills. The Kennedy’s built up John’s image more to that of a Hollywood star than an ideologically profound …show more content…
Although one also should not underestimate the benefit of having $150,000 ($1.1 million today (Inflation Calculator, 2015)) more at your disposal than your contender. Subsequently, the newspapers ignored Kennedy’s shortcomings like his playboy image or his very limited senate career and instead idolized his every deed; while Humphrey, if he got any press at all, was mostly confined to the bare wire service reports. An angry Humphrey once wrote: “Does he own all the newspapers or does he have something on every publisher?” (Rorabaugh, 2009, p. 49). This was not very far from the truth; according to Rorabaugh some journalists enjoyed paid vacations or in some instances even blatant bribes to accolade the family in articles and
“Senator Kennedy concluded that he could be nominated only by winning primaries. Although winning the dozen or so open primaries would gain some delegates, it would still not be enough to get the nomination. The purpose of running in the primaries, then, was not so much to gain delegates as to demonstrate electability. Kennedy had to prove to the party bosses who would control the convention that he would be able to run the best race of any Democrat” (Rorabaugh, 2009, p.45).
Joseph used his connections to …show more content…
“Kennedy’s campaign in Wisconsin in the spring of 1960 resembled Allied saturation bombing in World War II” (Rorabaugh, 2009, p. 47). Kennedy did not have enough time. So in his support, at least one member of the Kennedy family visited every single village, town and city in Wisconsin; provided it had more than 300 inhabitants, which Rorabaugh suggests is a prime example for Robert Kennedy’s superb organisational skills. The Kennedy’s built up John’s image more to that of a Hollywood star than an ideologically profound …show more content…
Although one also should not underestimate the benefit of having $150,000 ($1.1 million today (Inflation Calculator, 2015)) more at your disposal than your contender. Subsequently, the newspapers ignored Kennedy’s shortcomings like his playboy image or his very limited senate career and instead idolized his every deed; while Humphrey, if he got any press at all, was mostly confined to the bare wire service reports. An angry Humphrey once wrote: “Does he own all the newspapers or does he have something on every publisher?” (Rorabaugh, 2009, p. 49). This was not very far from the truth; according to Rorabaugh some journalists enjoyed paid vacations or in some instances even blatant bribes to accolade the family in articles and