Evening star., 1960-07-14
INTERPRETIVE REPORT


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tors in this way is relevant. but
it does not really explain why
he was able to overcome his
initial disadvantages while all
the others failed.
Ambition Traced
To understand fully the force
that carried Senator Kennedy
to this nomination one would
have to define the peculiar
type Of talent and ambition
that propelled his people-the
Kennedys and Fitzgeralds-
from the lower levels of Irish
immigrant society in Boston to
the top ranks of Americas
business and political worlds.
He would have to know how
the sharp intelligence of Sem
ator Kennedy's father, Joseph
p. Kennedy, blends with the
fabled charm of Grandfather
Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald-the
legendary Mayor of Boston-in
the Senator's makeup. They are
all part of the Kennedy sue
cess story.
But a more specific chronicle
Of Senator Kennedy's climb
to the presidential nomination
can be given a specific start
ing point. 1t began at AIS
pm, Central daylight time,
Friday, August II. 1856, at the
international Amphitheater in
Chicago, when a calm and
smiling Sen tor Kennedy
stepped before the television
cameras to concede the vice
presidential nomination to
Senator Kefauver, who had
bested him in a dramatic two
hour battle.
First Taste Of Fame
Senator Kefauver won Sec
on place on a losing ticket.
Senator Kennedy won fame.
He quickly parlayed his new
role of celebrity into political
capital. National magazines
found pictures and articles
about this youthful. handsome
lawmaker and his exotically
beautiful wife Jacqueline end
lessly interesting. Much of
it was standard movie maga-
zine fare: Four color layouts
of Kennedys entertaining in
Georgetown, Kennedys sailing
of Cape Cod, Kennedys vaea-
tioning in Palm Beach.
But some Of this publicity
gave the young Senator a forum
that none of his senior COLI
leagues could command. A gift
ed writer, he had won a Pulitzer
Prize and genuine intellectual
respect for his anecdotal his.
tory of past Senators, PRO
files in Courage"
Now, one magazine published
his views on 1.-THE Future Of
the Democratic Party" another
commissioned an article on
THE Qualities Of Political
Leadership" and so on and so
on.
Eggheads Gather
Some Of the country's leading
eggheads-men who never stray
far from a man with an audi
ence - soon found their way
from Adlai Stevenson to Sena-
tor Kennedy and were warmly
received. 1t was not long before
Washington lie armed to its
astonishment that a genuine
braintrust had gathered around
this Senator, barely in his 40s.
From him, the intellectuals
gained a sense of participation
in great events and to him they
gave useful suggestions on for
eign policy and domestic well
fare.
There came from Senator
Kennedy with increasing fire.
quency addresses on military
affairs, on economic growth, on
all areas of foreign policy-each
marked by a freshness of ap-
proach and a carefulness of
preparation that commanded
respect.
In the end, it was this un-
stintingly serious attention to
the major questions of the era
that proved Senator Kennedy'S
most effective answer to the
charge that he was immature.
There was nothing frivolous
about what he had been saying
for the past four years. So seri-
Gus was his tone, in fact, that
his advisers had to remind him
repeatedly to tell a joke or two
at the beginning of each talk.
Removes Barriers
AS the files of clippings out
grew the confines of his Senate
suite, the prospective nominee,
not yet identified by many as
a serious contender for the
honor, took decisive steps to
remove some of the other bar
riers in his way.
His support Of the Repub-
lican administrations flexible
farm price support policy had
been at least as big a factor in
his losing the 1856 vice presi-
dental nomination as his reli-
gion. So in 1857 Senator Ken
nedy flatly reversed his posi-
tion. The man from Massachu-
sets became as strong an ad-
ivocate of high price supports
as the most outspoken wheat
State legislator. Though his
own State had not a single
public power cooperative, he
became 4h eloquent defender
of the REA.
He also moved to broaden his
base of political support by
touring far and wide. He took
every moment he could spare
from his Senate duties - and
some, his critics said, he could