Tough Campaign
The Democratic nominee for president stood on the steps of the Butler County courthouse and advocated for raising the minimum wage, critiqued the contemporaneous Republican administration and called for the American economy to match the year-over-year growth of other industrialized nations.
When then-Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy visited Butler 60 years ago this month, on Oct. 15, 1960, he became just the second presidential candidate in history to stump in the city, after the 1898 visit of William Jennings Bryan during his failed campaigns.
It was the 43-year-old Kennedy's fourth speech of the day during his eight-city trip in Western Pennsylvania that began in Sharon and ended with a night rally in Johnstown.
During his speech, the candidate touched on many issues seemingly pulled right from modern-day political issues: raising the minimum wage, aiding the ailing coal and steel industries, and addressing the rising unemployment.
“If you take the view which I take, and I take it as a dedicated citizen of this country, that the balance of power is not shifting in our direction, that our economy is not growing as fast as it must, that we are not catching the imagination of the people around the world, that we do not give the appearance of a society on the move, then I ask your help in this campaign,” Kennedy said to conclude his speech.
And for the crowd there that day — the Oct. 17, 1960, edition of the Butler Eagle called it “one of the largest crowds ever assembled in Butler” — it wasn't the future president's words that they remember now, more than a half-century later, but rather the crowd's exuberance and size.
“I do remember being there, and I remember the size of that crowd. Standing close to my father, being little, people pressing in on me from all sides, just trying to see and hear what this guy was saying,” Tom Menchyk of Butler said. “I don't remember anything that he said. I don't even remembering being able to hear very well. But it was an exciting atmosphere to be in, for sure, just with so many people coming out for something. It said, to me, something important is happening today.”
With nearby streets closed to accommodate the throng, people were “practically standing on each other,” Bonnie Shaffer Wehr of Butler said, something she was able to see from atop her father's shoulders.
Mark Welchley of Aliquippa, formerly of Butler, said the crowd “filled the area” in front of the courthouse, along Main Street and in Diamond Park.
The Eagle that Monday said the soon-to-be president was met with a “wild reception.”One thing beyond the crowd, which was estimated to be roughly 8,000 people, that many remember was Kennedy's ironic appearance near the old Nixon Hotel, which at the time was hanging a “Nixon Lodge” banner, a play on words on the Republican ticket — then Vice President Richard Nixon and his running mate, Henry Cabot Lodge — and the hotel's business.“I shouldn't make a Democratic speech outside of that wonderful hotel,” the candidate said to laughter, a copy of the speech in the Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum's archives reads.Culturally, Kennedy's visit was important to Butler Catholics, as he was the first “serious” Catholic candidate for president, Welchley said, noting that many in the area were “excited” by the prospect. Kennedy is to this day the only Catholic to serve as the country's chief executive.“Being a Catholic myself I can remember some of my Baptist friends telling me their preacher was preaching that Catholics worshipped statues and they shouldn't vote for Kennedy because he would make decisions after he cleared it with the pope,” Larry Ottolini of Virginia, formerly of Butler, added.While many don't remember Kennedy's relatively brief speech, some recalled other details about the man. He rode by in a convertible, Denise Smith of Butler recalled.Kennedy was “very tanned and handsome,” Sue Murphy said.And, given that Kennedy is credited with ushering in the end of the dress hat-wearing era, David Hape of Florida, formerly of Butler, remembered the Massachusetts senator wasn't wearing a hat.While many recall the reception to Kennedy's Butler visit to be positive, or that a number of supporters came out to watch, Smith remembered the large number of “Nixon/Lodge” signs.In the election, held three and a half weeks later, Nixon won Butler city by a 200-vote margin, and Kennedy received less than 40% of the vote in the county.He did receive more votes than Nixon in six Butler County municipalities — Clearfield, Donegal, Marion, Oakland and Summit townships, as well as East Butler, where he won by the impossibly small margin of six votes.In the closely contested election, Pennsylvania went for Kennedy, who won the White House with Lyndon Johnson as his running mate.
