page_title: New Hampshire Institute of Politics
section_title: Barack Obama and former presidents
hierarchical_section_title: New Hampshire Institute of Politics / Programs and activities / Barack Obama and former presidents
caption_attribution_description: English: This is an image taken by me, a private / college photographer to photograph the debate held at Saint Anselm College.
context_page_description: The New Hampshire Institute of Politics is an academic institute at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 2001, the institute has hosted hundreds of potential candidates for the presidency.
context_section_description: The institute has attracted notable speakers, including then-presidential candidate Barack Obama and former presidents of the United States George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, and John F. Kennedy.
  
  President John F. Kennedy gave a historic speech at Saint Anselm College on March 5, 1960, regarding America's conduct in the new realities of the emerging Cold War. The speech was the first time that Kennedy detailed how American foreign policy should be conducted towards African nations, noting a hint of support for modern African nationalism by saying, "for we, too, founded a new nation on revolt from colonial rule." According to a Time magazine article from February 8, 1960, 
  "...a motorcade of students from St. Anselm's College gave him an earsplitting welcome from 35 automobile horns, then mobbed him with such enthusiasm that Jack had to climb into an open convertible in order to be seen. Afterward, the college kids dragged out a reluctant donkey (rented for $20 by the efficient Kennedy organization), then followed Kennedy into a supermarket, waving homemade college-humor signs (PUT JACK IN THE WHITE SHACK, PUT A NEW JOHN IN THE WHITE HOUSE)."
   While at the college, Kennedy said the famous line, "I forgot my Nixon button."
  The day after declaring his candidacy for the 1968 election, President Richard Nixon's first stop was at Saint Anselm College where a reception was held. At the college, on February 3, 1968, Nixon unveiled his campaign strategy regarding the Vietnam War by saying, "let's help them fight the war, and not fight the war for them." The ramifications of this policy, first voiced at the college had a profound effect on the 1968 presidential campaign and the war in Vietnam.
caption: Saint Anselm College President Fr. Jonathan DeFelice shakes hands with then U.S. Senator Barack Obama.
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