Amid growing popularity in the southern states in the early 1960s, Goldwater had been anticipating and looking forward to an "issue-oriented" campaign against Democrat John F. Kennedy, a personal friend of his. Goldwater, who was an aviator by hobby, wished to fly about the country in an attempt to revive whistle stop train tour-style debates. Kennedy's assassination in November 1963 dashed Goldwater's hopes of an election contest between himself and his friend and political rival. Nevertheless, Goldwater officially announced his candidacy for the presidency in January 1964 from the patio of his Arizona home. Following a battle with moderate and liberal Republicans in the Republican primary, such as Nelson Rockefeller and with moderate conservatives such as William Scranton among others, Goldwater won the party's nomination for president.