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Friday, October 27, 2006

October 27, 1960: Congo Government of 'College Men', Nixon Would Summit, El Salvador Coup, Khrushchev Has Tape, Civil Rights in Presidential Race

From Leopoldville, the Congo, the New York Times reports on this day in 1960 that, "The Congo's military regime promised the United Nations today t hat it would bring its unruly army under control. Col. Joseph D. Mobutu, the army chief of staff, and Justin Bomboko, head of the army-backed caretaker government of college men and graduates accepted the United Nations demand to withdraw Congolese soldiers from the streets of Leopoldville tomorrow morning and to confine them to their barracks."

"Vice President Nixon pledged himself tonight to a summit conference with Premier Khrushchev if an East-West nuclear test agreement could be brought 'in sight' by Feb. 1.," the Times reports.

"Three army officers and three civilian professional men took over the government of El Salvador at dawn today in a bloodless coup," the Times reports.

"Premier Khrushchev says he has a tape recording of his recent discussions with Prime Minister Macmillian in New York about a summit conference for next year," the Times reports, citing reliable sources. "This information, according to these sources, was recently given to West German officials with the implication that Mr. Khrushchev would produce the tape recording if the British leader challenged his version of their talks."

"Both sides in the 1960 campaign are devoting substantial amounts of time, money and worry to an issue that comes down, in essence, to one blunt question: Which man and which party can be counted on to do more to achieve equal rights for the Negro in American life?" Anthony Lewis writes in a news analysis piece in today's New York Times.

"During the campaign Senator John F. Kennedy on the whole has emphasized civil rights more than Vice President Nixon has. The Democratic candidate made a major speech in Los Angeles on the subject and then held a two-day conference on it in New York. Mr. Nixon has not made a full-dress civil rights address. His running mate, Henry Cabot Lodge, did add a novel element with his 'prediction' that a Negro would be in a Nixon Cabinet. The Democrats called this statement racism, and Mr. Nixon gave it no support."

"A newspaper column by Drew Pearson connecting the name of Vice President Nixon to a possible conflict of interest brought a 'smear' charge today from the Nixon camp. ... Mr. Pearson wrote that 'the family of Richard M. Nixon, had received a $205,000 loan Dec. 10, 1956 from the Hughes Tool Company, owned by Howard Hughes. He said that Mr. Hughes' problems with various government agencies had improved after this."