NFL Quiz: Who holds the record for most receptions in a season?
Answer below.
JFK
In my mind there are three major stories that evolve out of the
presidential election of 1960: JFK and his Catholicism, the
debates, and the vote itself.which was actually Richard
Nixon”s shining moment.
I will go into the latter two, in depth, this coming October. For
now, with the nomination of Joseph Lieberman to be Al Gore”s
running mate, everyone is taking a second look at JFK. I might
as well throw in my bit, for posterity.
JFK was the first Roman Catholic elected president. And he was
the second Catholic to run for the office, the first being New
York Governor Al Smith in 1928. Smith was crushed by Herbert
Hoover and was the subject of hateful attacks throughout the
campaign because of his faith.
So when JFK was running, it was commonly thought that religion
would play a major role. It did, but Kennedy was able to turn it
into a positive. And, as Theodore White wrote in his classic,
“The Making of the President,” it also didn”t hurt that the media
had an overwhelming bias in favor of JFK.
The question that everyone asked during the campaign was,
“Would Kennedy be loyal to the Constitution of the United States
or Rome?”
JFK, a World War II hero, had once stated, “No one asked me
my religion in the South Pacific.”
On September 12, 1960, Kennedy gave a powerful speech to 300
Protestant ministers in Houston.
“If the time should ever come – and I do not concede any conflict
to be remotely possible – when my office would require me to
either violate my conscience or violate the national interests then I
would resign the office.””
On another occasion in Texas, JFK listed the names of those who
died at The Alamo. “…Fuertes and McCafferty and Bailey and
Bedillo and Carey – but no knows whether they were Catholics or
not. For there was no religious test there.”
But there was another side to the campaign and the whole issue
of Catholicism. Cardinal Cushing of Boston was a kind of house-
chaplain for the Kennedy clan. He later admitted that he and Joe
Kennedy had decided which Protestant ministers would receive
“contributions” of $100-$500 to play down the religious issue.
Historian Paul Johnson writes.
“The money raised for outright bribes came from the Kennedy
coffers and partly from the Mafia, following a secret meeting
between Jack Kennedy and Sam Giancana, the Chicago
godfather.”
For his part, Nixon deliberately chose to keep Catholicism out of
the campaign, and succeeded in doing so. Paul Johnson relates a
conversation that Nixon had with aide Peter Flanigan, the day
following the election.
“Pete, here”s one thing we can be satisfied about. This campaign
has laid to rest forever the issue of a candidate”s religion in
presidential politics. Bad for me, perhaps, but good for
America.”
JFK won in an incredibly close race. 34,227,496 to 34,107,646.
In the electoral college, the vote was 303 to 219. But if Nixon
had just captured 4,500 votes in Illinois and 23,500 in Texas, he
would have won. There was massive fraud in these states, in
particular, which we will examine in October.
As for the Catholic vote itself, Nixon received only 22% of it,
compared to the 60% that Eisenhower had captured. Nixon”s
percentage was the smallest of any Republican candidate in the
20th century. The swing of the Catholic vote to a Catholic
candidate made all the difference in the northern industrial states.
Another take on the impact of religion on the 1960 race is
provided by Carl Brauer.
“Religion was the single most important factor in determining the
closeness of the election. Kennedy”s church membership won
back many disaffected Catholic Democrats, but it lost him a
substantially larger number of Protestant Democrats, who
apparently were not reassured either by his unequivocal
endorsement of the principle of church-state separation.
Kennedy”s adherence to that principle as president – indeed, he
was decidedly less prone to mix religion and government than
were several recent Protestant presidents – appeared to quiet anti-
Catholic fears. Because no Catholic has received a major-party
nomination for president since JFK, it is impossible to know how
much voting behavior has changed in this regard.”
And just a few other tidbits…
On at least 4 occasions, JFK received the last rites of the Catholic
Church due to his many serious illnesses which were kept secret.
These included his chronic bouts with venereal disease and
Addison”s disease, for which he was dependent on steroid
shots…the shots, though, having also helped to give JFK that
athletic look which had the women swooning.
Also, Kennedy”s inauguration was on a Friday. The pope gave
Roman Catholics in the Washington area a special dispensation
from the Church”s stricture against eating meat on this day. JFK
celebrated with 3 strips of bacon that morning.
Sources: “The History of the American People,” Paul Johnson;
“The American Century,” Harold Evans; “The Presidents,” Henry
Graff…with Carl Brauer.
*Needless to say, I may have pricked your curiosity with the ”last
rites” comment. Which means I may also have to do a special Bar
Chat to go over Kennedy”s many illnesses…oh, what the
heck…how about Friday?
Rain
Now here at Bar Chat, we love talking about wildlife and the
weather. Did you see that tiger attack in Idaho this weekend? It
seems that the local zoo society was having a fundraiser for the
zoo”s tigers when one of them slipped the lock on his cage and
attacked a woman. She suffered a broken leg and puncture
wounds.
But the tiger was saved when a policeman shot over the animal,
on purpose, because he was afraid he would hit the woman. [A
late report on Sunday said she was actually hit with a bullet,
nonetheless.] The tiger was coaxed back into the cage.
Anyway…lost my train of thought. Oh yeah, the weather. Here
in New Jersey, we aren”t used to freakish meteorological events.
A rainstorm of two inches is a big deal.
But in the last 10 months, New Jersey suffered through Hurricane
Floyd (our state had the second most damage, next to North
Carolina) and then, without warning, an area about 20 miles from
where I live was the victim of a catastrophic event this Saturday.
14 inches in 6 hours!! My town received less than an inch from
this same particular storm. So, recognizing that maybe only one
or two of you really care how this weird event occurred, the
official explanation is as follows.
There weren”t any upper atmosphere winds to push it away. Said
the national weather service, “There is a certain updraft in storms
that raises moisture and creates rainfall. The storm was stuck in
one place and sending moisture up the chimney, so to speak,
stoking the fire.” Amazingly, even with dams bursting ( literally
emptying whole lakes), no one was hurt.
Beware the Wetsuits
Recently, there was a classic murder in Sydney. A former KGB
colonel was shot dead near his Gold Coast home and the police
think he may have been killed by gunmen wearing diving gear.
The former officer, a millionaire businessman, was shot several
times as he put out his garbage. The victim, Geunnaid Bernovski,
was being investigated by the Sydney police for possible money
laundering for the Russian Mafia as part of an immigration scam
and his death was seen to be some sort of payback.
Two men wearing wetsuits were seen walking about the town
around the time of the murder. There was a nearby canal and
police theorize that they swam across to a waiting getaway
vehicle. Cause for another safety tip from your friends at
StocksandNews. Don”t trust anyone wearing a wetsuit at the
mall or grocery store. [Source: Reuters]
Ticket Prices
George Vecsey writes in the Sunday Times of skyrocketing ticket
prices in New York for various events. This week, City Council
President Peter Vallone raised the issue, using the New York
Knicks as one example.
Since 1995, the top ticket at a Knicks game has gone from $45 to
$220.
“Who in the world can afford that?” Vallone said. “The fans are
the ones who made the Knicks, but now they can”t see the Knicks
in person.” Yet, it depends on your definition of fan, because
someone is watching them…they have sold out 347 straight
games.
Vallone is probably running for mayor some day so he has a
vested interest in this populist movement. But there are some
interesting comparisons.
Cost of a ticket in New York City, April ”95 to April ”00:
Movie Ticket – $8 to $9.50
Knicks highest – $45 to $220
Mets highest – $15 to $37
U.S. Open highest – $18 to $42
“Phantom of the Opera” (orch.) – $67.50 to $80
Metropolitan Museum of Art – $7 to $10
Monthly cable service (standard) – $27 to $36
Top 3 songs for the week of 8/15/64: #1 “Everybody Loves
Somebody” (Dean Martin) #2 “Where Did Our Love Go” (The
Supremes) #3 “A Hard Day”s Night” (The Beatles). Old Dino,
beating out the kids. Ya gotta love it!
Quiz Answer: Herman Moore, 123. Detroit, 1995.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday…Potpourri for $20.
