Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-11-22
By FLETCHER KNEBEL
Contributing Writer

UN Ii WIEN LAANLDEA
Contributing Writer
The Kennedys always have
spent money on the Democrat
ic Party, and President Kenne-
dy has done his part in financ-
ing political campaigns.
But the charge that Mr.. Ken
nedy bought" the 1860 victory
over Richard NJ. Nixon with
family money is patiently alb
surd. A presidential campaign
can cost tens of millions of
dollars and even a Rockefeller
would be hard pressed to fl
nance one with his own money.
Congressional Quarterly, in
a reorganization of spending by
political committees in TIL e
1860 general election, failed to
find any contributions by mem
bers of the Kennedy family.
The c. @. findings are "ac-
curate to the best Of my recol-
lection" says Stephen E. Smith,
the family financial manager
and the Presidents brother
in-law. Mr.. Smith handled fl
nances during the 1860 cam
paign.
Family Contributed Plane
The major Kennedy family
contribution to the Kennedy
Nixon campaign was the air.
plane, Caroline" a twin-en-
CINE transport used by then
Senator Kennedy throughout
the primaries and fall cam
paign. The Kennedys fromed
the Kenair Corp. to buy the
plane for $685., 900.
until recently, for use of JAG
queline Kennedy, brother = in =
law Sargent Shriver and other
members Of the family in
Washington. In October the
Kennedys put the plane up for
sale for $375,00O but later it
was withdrawn from the mar
ket. President Kennedy and At
torney General Robert Kenne-
dy had withdrawn as stock
holders Of the plane after the
1860 election.
The Kennedys footed some of
the bills for the planes oper-
alton during the campaign, but
Mr.. Smith says that ION the
occasions when the Senator
made use of the Caroline for
campaign purposes, the COM
mittee sponsoring his candida
cy was billed so much per mile
for the use Of the airplane."
Primary Expenses
The Kennedys put ore
money proportionately into
the primary campaigns when
Senator Kennedy was driving
for the Democratic nomination.
In addition to the airplane, Mr..
Kennedy himself contributed
$4,000 to the primary fund,
Father Joseph P. Kennedy $24,-
900 and the other brothers and
sisters $4,000, according to
Edward F. Woods of the st.
Louis Post-Dispatch, who in
spected the primary books
shortly after Mr.. Kennedy wor
the nomination. He set the tot
al primary cost at 1912, 500
most Of it gathered in con-
tributions from supporters OF
John Kennedy.
In his 1852 campaign for the
Senate against Henry Cabot
Lodge, Kennedy committees re-
ported campaign expenses of
1862, of which he put up
$15,866 and other members of
his family $4,000. Their ex-
penditures in time and effort
carried no price tag.
One aspect of this campaign
figured in a House investigation
six years later. John Fox, owner
of the now defunct Boston
Post, switched editorial back
ing from Senator Lodge to Mr..
Kennedy. He said he did so
without ANY knowledge of any
body in the Kennedy family"
The night after the indorse-
ment, Joseph P. Kennedy called
on Mr.. Fox and after the elec-I
ton, the elder Kennedy loaned
Fox 100000. The Kennedy
financial office said the loan
was a purely commercial tran
saction with full collateral and
interest and that Mr.. Fox re-
paid the loan in full on time.
The elder Kennedy has been
contributing to Democratic
campaign pots for many years.
In 1882. when Franklin Roose-
welt ran against Herbert Hoo
yer, Joe Kennedy gave $4,000
to the Roosevelt campaign fund
and then loaned the Democrats
another $4,000, big money in
those deep depression days.
Politics Expensive
President Kennedy's biogra-
pher, James MacGregor Burns,
records that Senator Jack Ken
nedy found that "big-time pol
itics was expensive.
Giving a banquet at the
mayors conference at Miami
Beach," wrote Burns, cost
Kennedy over $4,000. Every
Christmas he sent out over
several thousand greeting
cards. During the first seven
months Of 1856, when the Dem
ocratic convention and nation
al campaign were in the offing,
Kennedy spent $72,206 outside