September 24, 1960: The 'Big Lie', Nuclear Carrier is Biggest Ship Ever, Texas GOP Figure Backs Nixon, Candidates Run Even, 'Gain for Reds in Berlin'

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's use of the "the Big Lie technique" in his UN address "had a breathtaking impudence which made it a special insult to the intelligence of all mankind," according to the lead editorial in the New York Times on this day in 1960. "The head of the greatest colonial empire of the present day told the people of the world he has no colonies, and spoke sanctimoniously as the enemy of colonialism. The man who ordered the Hungarian Revolution throttled in blood dared weep crocodile tears over the fate of the many states now members of the United Nations who have been given their freedom with no struggle of any kind in recent years. It was a a shameless performance."

In Newport News, Virginia, the US Navy launched the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The Enterprise is the largest ship ever built.

Vice President Richard Nixon won the support of another Democrat today in his bid for the presidency, former Texas Governor Allan Shivers. "A great number of Texas Democrats have told me they cannot support the Democratic national platform or ticket of 1960," Shivers said.

With final preparations underway for the first televised debate between the candidates, neither has a clear lead in the race, according to a new poll.

A New York Times news analysis with a September 24 dateline runs under the headline, "Gain for Reds in Berlin." The reporter, Sydney Gruson, writes that the Soviet Union has given the East German government free reign "so long as they do not force a showdown that could directly involve Soviet power and prestige with the West." The article describes how the Soviets and East Germany have gradually tightened their control over the city and concludes, "The Allies can hardly threaten to go to war each time the Communists chip a little bit off the Western conception of Berlin's status, especially when the Communists are certain to let the brunt of their measures fall on the West Germans."