Free Republic

Sixty years ago today, with a presidential election looming, John F. Kennedy embarked on a brutal, 18-hour campaign tour of eastern Pennsylvania. The state, then possessing 32 Electoral College votes, was crucial for Kennedy to win against Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee. In the industrial cities and towns that Kennedy’s campaign targeted, it was an exuberant season—and would prove more so after his subsequent victory, especially for those Catholics who viewed the Democratic candidate’s triumph as a kind of cultural enfranchisement. Decades later, in 2016, descendants of those Kennedy supporters were pivotal to Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania victory. As it happens,...

In a quip destined to be one of the most memorable of Thursday night's vice presidential debate, Joe Biden jabbed Paul Ryan for seemingly comparing his political chops to those of the late President John F. Kennedy. Ryan was in the process of arguing that it's possible to cut tax rates while keeping in place tax preferences for middle class Americans and growing the economy — something he said has been done before — when Biden cut him off. "You can cut tax rates by 20% and still preserve these important preferences for middle class taxpayers," said Ryan, who was...

in August 1960, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a resolution, S.RES. 334, “Expressing the sense of the Senate that the president should not make recess appointments to the Supreme Court, except to prevent or end a breakdown in the administration of the Court’s business.” Each of President Eisenhower’s SCOTUS appointments had initially been a recess appointment who was later confirmed by the Senate, and the Democrats were apparently concerned that Ike would try to fill any last-minute vacancy that might arise with a recess appointment. Not surprisingly, the Republicans objected, insisting that the Court should have a full complement of Justices...

Mitt Romney’s not running for President again, telling supporters that it’s time for the Republican Party to look to other leaders for its future. Democrats may wonder whether they have to tell Hillary Clinton the same thing. In a PPP poll taken this week, Hillary Clinton can’t get to 50% against any Republican challenger paired against her, even Romney: The automated poll of nearly 900 registered voters, conducted last week by Public Policy Polling, found that 48 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Clinton, compared to 43 percent who viewed the former secretary of State favorably.While Clinton...

On November 8, 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States in a bitter contest against the incumbent Vice President, Richard Nixon. It was one of the closest elections in American history, and some people still doubt its outcome. The New York Times called the election for then-Senator Kennedy just before midnight. NBC News didn’t call the race until 7 a.m. the following morning. All night, the newly empowered national television networks had forecast that Kennedy was leading, but in a race that was too close to call. In 1990, the late John Chancellor recalled the chaos...

Mitt Romney was 13 years old and Barack Obama had not been born when an energetic-looking John Kennedy, 43, and a tired-looking Richard Nixon, 47, walked into the WBBM-TV studio in Chicago for the first general election debate between presidential candidates. It is generally held that television viewers felt Kennedy won the first debate, while those listening on radio, unaware of Nixon's improvised makeup, felt Nixon won. That's probably overstated. Contemporary accounts suggest most viewers felt both candidates did well, while the single poll of radio listeners had a small sample possibly tilted toward pro-Nixon rural areas lacking TV reception....

Clearing up Matter of Sinatra and JFK

There are likely more than 10 things you don’t know about the Rat Pack, but the History Channel has whittled the list to a mere 10-pack and this week aired a special episode of the series “10 Things You Don’t Know About” centering on the fabled performers who first instilled swagger in Vegas. Several weeks ago, I was asked to contribute to this project to elaborate on the 10 pieces of triviata unearthed by History Channel producers. David G. Schwartz, director of UNLV's Center for Gaming Research, also was interviewed, and you can catch the full episode on the History...

As this year’s campaign moves toward the final stretch, the frenetic media-driven discussion about whether or not Sarah Palin is prepared for the presidency continues.  Apparently, few have noticed that she is not actually running for that office.  But how does she compare to others who have sought the nation’s number two job since World War II? Once upon a time, the choice of a running mate was made in cloak-and-dagger secrecy - as little more than a political afterthought.  Those who ran, and even those who eventually served as vice presidents, became for all practical purposes historical footnotes.  Of...

"The Republicans have allowed a communist dictatorship to flourish eight jet minutes from our borders! We must support anti-Castro fighters. So far these freedom fighters have received no help from our government." -- Democratic presidential candidate, Oct. 1960 "George Bush and the Republicans in Washington have run the most inept foreign policy in the modern history of this country! It has been a failure!" -- Democratic presidential Candidate, April 2004. No, friends, it didn't start with this campaign. Indeed, Kerry apes his idol (JFK) faithfully. Problem was, during the '60 presidential campaign Kennedy left out the sly smile, the shifty...