This Day in the 1960s

February 9, 1961: Kennedy Calls for School Integration, Supports NATO, Awaits Data on 'Missile Gap' and Confers on Laos; Brit Wants Red China in UN

2007-02-09T10:16:00.000-05:00

"President Kennedy said today that both the Constitution and public opinion demanded the admission of children to public schools 'regardless of their race,'" the New York Times reports on this day in 1961.

"President Kennedy pledged the United States today to unstinting and expanding support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization," the New York Times reports.

"The Administration has come to no conclusion on the 'missile gap,' President Kennedy said today," the New York Times reports.

"Britain's Foreign Secretary declared today that the facts of international life required Communist China's entry into the United Nations," the Times reports.

"Possible steps to meet the crisis in Laos were studied today at a two-hour conference of President Kennedy and his top advisers," the Times reports.

February 8, 1961: White House Backs Missile Gap, Soviet Spy in London, $1 Minimum Wage May Get Boost

2007-02-09T10:04:00.000-05:00

"The White House branded as inaccurate today reports that the Kennedy Administration had tentatively concluded that there was no 'missile gap' favoring the Soviet Union," the New York Times reports on this day in 1961.

"Britain's Attorney General charged today that the Soviet spy system had sent secrets of anti-submarine devices from a bungalow in a suburb of London to Moscow," the New York Times reports.

"President Kennedy called on Congress today for prompt action to increase the national minimum wage from $1 to $1.25 an hour and to extend the protection to 4,300,000 workers," the Times reports.

February 7, 1961: No Missile Gap, US To Help Latin American Nations, Safe Cigarettes Proposed

2007-02-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

"Studies made by the Kennedy Administration since Inauguration Day show tentatively that no 'missile gap' exists in favor of the Soviet Union," the New York Times reports on this day in 1961.

"The conclusion appeared to back the views of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who told Congress last month that the missile gap 'shows every sign' of being a fiction."

"Secretary of State Dean Rusk said today that the United States was ready to cooperate with other American states in ending tyranny in the hemisphere, whether that tyranny is of the Left or Right," the Times reports.

"A new theory on how cigarette smoking may be associated with lung cancer has been proposed by a General Electric Research Laboratory physicist. According to an article in the Jan. 21 issue of Nature, a British scientific journal, the glowing tip of a cigarette generates a cloud of electrically charged particles. The particles, when inhaled, may be the materials that change normal tissues to cancerous tissues. If this is true, it was suggested by Dr. Kenneth H. Kingdon, the author, the effect could be 'completely suppressed' by smoking cigarettes that were enclosed in a metallic screen," the New York Times reports.

February 6, 1961: Rioting in Angola, Cuba Controls Water for US Base, No 'Super-Cabinet' for White House

2007-02-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

"Rioting broke out today in Luanda, capital of Angola, and four persons were killed and seven wounded, the Portuguese press agency Lusitania reported," the New York Times reports on this day in 1961.

"The Cuban Government seized yesterday the aqueduct that supplies water to the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay. So far the water supply is said to be normal," the Times reports.

"The President needs more help formulating security policy, a Senate sub-ccommittee said today. But he will not get it by creating 'super-Cabinet' positions in the White House, the Senators said," the Times reports.

February 5, 1961: Soviets Put 'Huge Earth Satellite' Into Orbit, Warn US

2007-02-06T22:52:00.000-05:00

February 5, 1961: Soviets Put 'Huge Earth Satellite' Into Orbit, Warn US

"The Soviet Union has accepted the United States request for a six-week postponement
"The Soviet Union announced today it had put into orbit a huge earth satellite weighing more than seven tons. An 'improved, multi-stage rocket' hurled the satellite into space, the announcement said. There was no indication that anything living was aboard the satellite, the heaviest object man has ever put into orbit," the Times reports.

"The Soviet Union warned President Kennedy today that he had taken the first steps toward an expansion of the arms race," the Times reports.

"In an abrupt departure from the circumspect attitude heretofore maintained publicly toward the Kennedy Administration, Moscow complained that the United States President had evoked 'irksome echoes of the cold war' in his State of the Union Message."

"American auto manufacturers are getting ready to offer the public new economy cars for 1962 with more zip, greater comfort and higher styling than the current crop of compacts," the Times reports.

February 4, 1961: Kennedy Confers on Laos, Wants 'Federalized' Laos; Ted Kennedy Launches Career

2007-02-06T22:35:00.000-05:00

"President Kennedy received a first-hand report today on the situation in Laos from Ambassador Winthrop G. Brown," the New York Times reports on this day in 1961.

"The Ambassador was called to Washington from his post in Vientiane to participate in a comprehensive high-level review of major problems facing the United States in Asia," the paper reports.

"The Kennedy Administration is convinced that a new 'federalized' government in the Congo, embracing the leaders of all the factions, offers the only hope of preventing that nation from sliding from chaos into civil war," the Times reports.

"The youngest of the Kennedy brothers, Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy, is expected to launch his own political career Monday as an assistant district attorney here [Boston]," the Times reports. "But everyone concerned, including the 28-year-old Ted, as he is best known, is keeping official silence."

February 3, 1961: Pentagon Prepares to Meet Limited-War Scenarios

2007-02-06T22:26:00.000-05:00

"The Pentagon has placed orders for fifty-three military cargo and troop transport planes for a speedy build-up of the long-range airlift. The purpose is to give the United States forces mobility to meet limited-war situations anywhere in the world," the New York Times reports on this day in 1961.

February 2, 1961: Kennedy Agrees to 1964 Debate, Hammarskjold Wants New Powers, Minuteman 'Spectacular Success'

2007-02-06T22:22:00.000-05:00

"President Kennedy declared today his willingness to engage in a televised debate with a contender for his office in 1964," the New York Times reported on this day in 1961.

"President Kennedy said today that the United States' position in critical world trouble spots 'is less satisfactory than it was last fall," the Times reported today.

United Nations "Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold asked the Security Council today to widen his powers in the Congo so that he might stop factional fighting among politically motivated groups of the Congolese Army," the Times reports.

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb. 1 -- The three-stage Minuteman, intended to become the Air Force's No. 1 weapon, was fired for the first time here today and scored a spectacular success. The test shot of the intercontinental ballistic missile was probably the most ambitious in the nation's missile program."

"A gap in the nation's satellite-detection fence will be plugged this year by the construction of one of the world's largest radio transmitters," the Times reports.

February 1, 1961: Chimp and Spy Satellite in Space

2007-02-06T22:09:00.000-05:00

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Jan. 31 -- A male chimpanzee nicknamed "Ham" was rocketed 420 miles over the Caribbean today in a test of the Mercury capsule that is scheduled to carry a human astronaut into orbit," the New York Times reported on this day in 1961. "The thirty-seven pound ape was in good condition when a helicopter pulled the capsule from the water almost three hours after the launching."

"POINT ARGUELLO, Calif., Jan 31 -- The United States fired a Samos reconnaissance satellite into polar orbit today. The vehicle, an experimental version called Samos II, is designed to perform photographic missions once done by U-2 aircraft," the New York Times reported today. "Samos II is not a full-fledged substitute for the U-2, but within two years the United States plans to have a network of such satellites photographing parts of the globe."

January 31, 1961: Kennedy Wants More for Defense, Computers 'Come of Age'

2007-02-03T12:27:00.000-05:00

"President Kennedy challenged Congress and the nation today to face up to grave perils abroad and a worsening economic recession at home. In his first State of the Union Message, given before a joint session of Congress, he called for executive and legislative actions to strengthen the national defenses to avert big and little wars and to spur the lagging economy," the New York Times reported on this day in 1961.

"President Kennedy's State of the Union Message today pictured the problems of the United States and the world as much more ominous and urgent than did former President Dwight D. Eisenhower's message to Congress eighteen days ago," the Times reports in another story.

"Mr. Eisenhower said grave problems lay ahead and there was no room for complacency. But the tenor of his message was that he was leaving the country in sound shape. He said: 'We have carried America to unprecedented heights.'

"But Mr. Kennedy said the American economy was in trouble and needed bolstering immediately. As for the Communist threat, he said, there will be worse news before there is better news, the tide is running now against this country and the free world, 'but turn it we must.' He said he spoke in an 'hour of national peril and national opportunity.'"

In another story, the Times reports, "Digital computers, the so-called electronic brains, have 'come of age' in masterminding industrial production processes, according to a report given yesterday at the winter meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Last year saw a rapid expansion of the use of digital computers in industrial process control, Gerhard L. Hollander said in giving a report on '1960 Computer Progress' compiled by a unit of the institute."

January 30, 1961: Congo Policy Examined, JFK Urged to Cut Funds for Schools That Discriminate

2007-02-03T12:11:00.000-05:00

"President Kennedy has ordered the State Department to re-examine United States policies in the Congo and to recommend changes," the New York Times reports on this day in 1961

"A week-long pursuit of the rebel-held Portuguese liner Santa Maria will come to a conclusion later today when a United States admiral boards her near this port to negotiate the removal of the more than 560 passengers," the Times reports.

"Ruanda, northern half of the territory of Ruanda-Urundi, which Belgium operates as a United Nations Trusteeship, has declared itself an independent republic," the Times reports.

"The Southern Regional Council has urged President Kennedy to adopt a sweeping program of executive action in the civil-rights field," the Times reports.

"Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr. demanded last night that his long-pending proposal to bar Federal funds to schools discriminating against Negroes be adopted now either through legislation or 'Executive order of the White House,'" the Times reports.

January 29, 1961: Communes in China, Peace Corps Tested, Oval Office Fix-up and Sit-ins Spread

2007-02-03T12:09:00.000-05:00

"Communist China has substantially modified its system of 'peoples' communes' and slowed down its 'great leap forward' in industry in the wake of severe agricultural reverses last year," the New York Times reports on this day in 1961.

"The Government announced today it planned to send 150 young teachers to Africa this year. The plan is regarded as an experiment to test the practicality of the Administration's proposed 'peace corps' program. This program would send young Americans, primarily teachers and technicians, into under-developed countries to help them attack their most pressing economic, educational and health problems," the New York Times reports.

"White House maintenance crews moved into President Kennedy's Executive Office today for a quick weekend painting and renovation job. When it is reassembled next week, the oval=shaped office will resemble more of a New England sitting room, a warmer and more hospitable atmosphere than the austere formality of the office as it was furnished previously," the New York Times reports.

"The Negro lunch-counter demonstrations that began a year ago next Wednesday have grown into a national protest movement against many forms of discrimination. The sit-ins continue today in cities like Atlanta, where merchants have refused to desegregate eating facilities. But the lowering of racial barriers at lunch counters in more than 125 Southern communities has led the students and their adult supporters to turn to other fields of protest," the Times reports.

January 28, 1961: Navy to Free Ship Captives, Kennedy Tones Down Military's Rhetoric

2007-01-30T19:07:00.000-05:00

"The United States Navy has apparently persuaded the captors of the Portuguese liner Santa Maria to release the 560 passengers on this side of the Atlantic, probably at a South American port," the New York Times reported today.

"The Kennedy Administration indicated today that it was not irrevocably opposed to summit meetings," the Times reported today.

"Two United States Air Force officers, held prisoner without trial by the Soviet Union for nearly seven months, came home today and were greeted by President Kennedy."

"The Kennedy Administration has ordered stiff controls on 'tough' policy speeches or other 'inadvisable' statements by generals and admirals. The first to be affected is Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, Chief of Naval Operations," the New York Times reported today.

January 27, 1961: Downed Airmen to be Welcomed, Hammarskjold Warning on Congo

2007-01-30T18:55:00.000-05:00

"President Kennedy will welcome the two American airmen just released from a Soviet prison when they return to the United States tomorrow," the New York Times reported today.

"[U.N.] Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold told the Security Council today that it might be necessary to remove the United Nations force from the Congo because of the withdrawal of some Asian and African military contingents," the Times reported today.

January 26, 1961: Moscow Releases US Fliers, Captured Ship Found

2007-01-30T18:54:00.000-05:00

"President Kennedy announced tonight that the Soviet Union had released two United States airmen shot down in an RB-47 reconnaissance plane over the Barents Sea and held prisoner since July 1," the New York Times reported today.

"The captured Portuguese passenger liner Santa Maria was found far out in the Atlantic yesterday by a United States Navy patrol plane. Her captors told the Navy pilot by radio that she was bound for the Portuguese West African colony of Angola," the Times reports.

January 25, 1961: Search for Portuguese Ship Continues, Woman is White House Doc

2007-01-30T18:47:00.000-05:00

"An intense search by sea and air continued early today along the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies for the seized Portuguese liner Santa Maria. The United States and British vessels and planes engaged had been concentrating their search along the Windward Islands above and below St. Lucia, where the Santa Maria last was sighted at 10 A.M. Monday," the New York Times reported today.

"President Picks Woman Doctor, First to Serve the White House," according to a front page headline in today's New York Times.

January 24, 1961: Portuguese Ship Siezed

2007-01-30T18:41:00.000-05:00

"A group of passengers seized control of a large Portuguese cruise ship in a gun and grenade battle in the Caribbean yesterday morning," The New York Times reported today. "Responding to pleas from the Protuguese Government, United States and British warships immediately began a search for the captured vessel. Led allegedly by a prominent political foe of Portugal's Premier Antonio de Oliverio Salazar, the band of conspirators among the ship's 600 passengers was said to have taken command of the ship in a battle in which one officer was killed and several wounded. There are 300 in the crew."

"A 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court upheld today the constitutionality of state and local movie censorship. The court held that cities and states may require a censor's permit before a film may be shown," the New York Times reported today.

January 23, 1961: Arms Supplies in Congo, Prominent Puerto Rican

2007-01-30T18:31:00.000-05:00

From the Congo: "Six trucks with arms were reliably reported today to have arrived ar Aro, a town close to the Congo's frontier with the Sudan. The convoy is considered here to be the first hard evidence of surface supplies from outside for the forces supporting Patrice Lumumba, imprisoned former Premier," the New York Times reported today.

"KENNEDY MAY OFFER JOB TO PUERTO RICAN," says a headline in today's edition on the NY Times.

January 22, 1960: President Said to be 'Busy'

2007-01-24T22:55:00.000-05:00

The sub-head on the lead story in today's New York Times is "PRESIDENT IS BUSY"

The lede is: "President Kennedy and his new Administration went to work today."

In other news, "The Chinese Communist party today declared the United States 'the main enemy of the peoples of the world.' At the same time it reaffirmed its belief that a world war could be avoided."

"Mrs. John F. Kennedy disclosed today her plans for redecorating the White House. She said she planned to have the walls of the Presidential apartment done in pastel tones. She also is selecting draperies -- probably gay English and French chintzes -- and rugs.

January 21, 1962: Kennedy Sworn In

2007-01-24T22:33:00.000-05:00

The banner headline in today's New York Times:

KENNEDY SWORN IN, ASKS 'GLOBAL ALLIANCE' AGAINST TYRANNY, WANT, DISEASE AND WAR; REPUBLICANS AND DIPLOMATS HAIL ADDRESS

The lead story begins: "John Fitzgerald Kennedy assumed the Presidency today with a call for 'a grand and global alliance' to combat tyranny, poverty, disease and war.

"In his Inaugural Address, he served notice on the world that the United States was ready to 'pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

In another front-page story it is reported from Havana that "Premier Fidel Castro said tonight that the Cuban Government would 'begin anew' in its relations with the United States

"The Premier stressed, however, that Cuba would hold the United States responsible for improving relations between the countries."

January 20, 1961: Castro 'Hate Campaign,' Kennedy Official Opposes Red China in UN

2007-01-22T22:45:00.000-05:00

"Premier Fidel Castro's Government stepped up its hate campaign against 'United States imperialism' today," the New York Times reports.

"As the United States prepared to inaugurate a new President, the Castro regime announced the arrest of six more 'Yankee invaders' and promulgated a new series of anti-United States decrees."

"Chester Bowles, President-elect John F. Kennedy's choice for Under Secretary of State, opposed vigorously today formal recognition of Communist China or its entry into the United Nations," the Times reports.

"The Government authorized the American Telephone and Telegraph Company today to establish the first space communications link between the United States and Europe on an experimental basis," the Times reports.

"The action by the Federal Communications Commission clears the way for the company to launch a series of experimental communications satellites capable of relaying telephone calls, television programs and other messages across the Atlantic."

January 19, 1961: SAC Bombers Fly Around-The-Clock

2007-01-21T16:54:00.000-05:00

"The Strategic Air Command began flying some of its heavy bombers on an around-the-clock basis today in the second stage of a plan to make possible as airborne alert. In such an alert, a certain number of nuclear-armed bombers wold be constantly in the air, ready to retaliate in the event of an attack," the New York Times reports. "Heretofore, the Strategic Air Command headquarters at Offut Air Base, near Omaaha, Beb., has been conducting 'feasibility studies' at various bases.... President Eisenhower referred to the plan in his Budget Message, in which he stressed the threat of a ballistic missile attack."

"Gov. S. Ernest Vandiver urged tonight a retreat from Georgia's policy of massive resistance to public school desegregation rulings of the Federal courts. The Governor asked the Legislature to adopt a package plan that would allow communities to decide whether to close their schools or obey the courts," the New York Times reports.

"Adlai E. Stevenson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today that the United States would have to face the possibility of Communist China's admission into the United Nations. He denied that he ehad ever advocated Peiping's entrance into the international body, but he said that it might be 'impossible to prevent," the New York Times reports.

January 17: US Restricts Travel To Cuba, Soviets Warn US is Broadening Conflict in Laos

2007-01-21T16:36:00.001-05:00

"The United States announced today limitations on the travel of Americans to Cuba," the New York Times reported on this day in 1960. "The State Department said that United States citizens desiring to travel to Cuba must until further notice, obtain passports 'specifically endorsed by the Department of State for such travel.'"

"The Soviet Union told the United States today that it was risking a broadening of the conflict in Laos by bolstering the Government's forces with military aircraft. The warning was contained in a protest against the United States' transfer of four AT6 military training planes to the Vietiane Government," the Times reports.

"The Algerian nationalist Provisional Government announced today its readiness 'to begin negotiations with the French Government on conditions of a free consultation of the Algerian people.' 'Free consultation' was taken to mean a referendum to determine Algeria's political future," the Times reports.

"Two Negroes attended classes without incident today at the University of Georgia. Their re-entry marked the second day of desegregation in the state's public education system," the Times reports.

"The Eisenhower Administration has authorized the Navy to install Polaris ballistic missiles aboard the nuclear-powered cruiser Long Beach. This would be the first installation of the Navy's prize nuclear weapon aboard a surface warship," the Times reports. "Informants say the Long Beach will carry eight Polarises, compared with normal complements of sixteen on submarines, for which the weapon was originally designed.

January 18, 1961: Eisenhower Farewell Warning, US 'Uneasy' Over Congo, Laos Wants French Out

2007-01-21T16:36:00.000-05:00

"President Eisenhower cautioned the nation in a farewell address from the White House tonight to be vigilant against dangers to its liberties implicit in a vast military establishment and a permanent armaments industry unparalleled in peacetime," the New York Times reports.

"The United States is becoming increasingly uneasy over the trend in the Congo and the performance of the United Nations there," the Times reports. "It seems certain that the Kennedy Administration which assumes its responsibilities Friday, will be told by its political and military advisers that it must act quickly to redress a bad situation."

"The Laotian Government of Premier Boun Oum has demanded that some French advisers be withdrawn from the country," the Times reports. ... "The Laotian-French dispute has complicated the already complex situation in Laos and has contributed to the inability of the Allied powers to arrive at a unified stand, diplomats acknowledge. ... withdrawal of the French would imperil the existence of the small United States Military Advisory Group in Laos. This group, it was said, is in Laos only uner agreement with the French, ostensibly to instruct the Laotian Army in the use of arms and equipment supplied by the United States."

January 16, 1961: Recognition of Red China Urged

2007-01-20T12:06:00.000-05:00

A group of prominent scientists, business men, educators and technicians agreed here [Harriman, N.Y.] today that it was in the interests of world peace that Communist China be drawn closer into the international community of nations," the New York Times reported today.

"The group also agreed such a move should lead to diplomatic recognition of Communist China by the United States and other nations and the assumption of full participation and responsibilities by Communist China in the United Nations."

In companion story today the Times reports, "W. Averell Harriman, designated as ambassador-at-large by President-elect John F. Kennedy, questioned whether Communist China wanted to be recognized by the United States. The former Governor and Ambassador to the Soviet Union told a panel on a taped interview over radio station WOR that nevertheless, 'sooner or later the majority of the U.N. members are going to vote to admit Red China.' ... Mr. Harriman said that several times he had attempted to gain entry into Red China but had been turned down."

January 15, 1961: Catholic Church in Cuba Fights Communism

2007-01-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

The Roman Catholic Church in Cuba has called upon all Christians in the country to form a united front in fighting communism," the New York Times reports today.

"President-elect John F. Kennedy is considering a lengthy postponement of the nuclear weapons test negotiations with the Soviet Union. They are due to be resumed in Geneva Feb. 7," the Times reports.

"President-elect John F. Kennedy was briefed today by Vice President-elect Lyndon B. Johnson on a missile believed to have been shot into the Pacific by the Soviet Union last night," the Times reports.

January 14, 1961: Negro Student Ordered Re-admitted in Georgia

2007-01-18T21:50:00.000-05:00

"Federal District Judge William A. Bootle directed University of Georgia officials today to reinstate the institution's first Negro students," the New York Times reported today.

"Europeans and Congolese opposed to Patrice Lumumba, the deposed Premier [in the Congo] fled in near panic today following rumors that he had been freed from imprisonment," the Times reported.

"A mood of depression and insecurity is becoming increasingly evident among the European settlers in Algeria. Muslim and small businesses are showing the most pronounced signs of the uncertainty that has overtaken the European community since the dramatic days of President de Gaulle's visit to Algeria last month and the decisive support given him by continental France in a referendum on the future of the strife-torn territory," the Times reports.

"Exile sources [in Miami] said today that military resistance to Premier Fidel Castro inside Cuba was growing rapidly," the Times reports.

January 13, 1961: US Planes Used in Laos Fighting, TV Network Pulls Kennedy Comedy Sketch

2007-01-16T22:23:00.000-05:00

"Planes transferred by the United States to Laos and flown by Laotians have strafed and fired rockets at rebel forces the last two days," the New York Times reports today. "The planes, four T-6s, were given under the United States military assistance program, ostensibly for observation. They have concentrated their attacks against the Left-Wing troops of Capt. Kong Le and pro-Communist Pathet Lao guerrillas in the Vicinity of Vang Vieng, sixty-five miles north of here [Vientiane]on the road to Luang Prabang."

"An eight-minute comedy sketch about President-elect John F. Kennedy and his wife, which as to be televised on 'The Art Carney Show,' has been deleted by order of the National Broadcasting Company," The New York Times reported on this day in 1960.

"Mr. Carney and Lee Remick had been scheduled to portray Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy. The setting for the sketch would have been the White House after the inauguration. ... In confirming that N.B.C. had deleted the sketch, a spokesman for the company said: 'We have never shied away from spoofing political figures but we thought it would have been improper to have performers actually portraying the President and his wife. Our decision was based on a matter of good taste.'"

January 12, 1961: A Hat Makes the Man

2007-01-16T22:15:00.000-05:00

"You look more of a man with a hat on, and the men who run things have a deeply ingrained executive habit of reserving responsible jobs for those young men who look mature enough to handle them. They may be right, or they may be wrong, but there's no denying that they're in charge. So it pays to humor them. Most business executives we've talked to prefer to hire men who wear hats.

"A little friendly advice to young men in a hurry, published in the selfish interests of the hat industry by the Hat Corporation of America, 530 Fifth Avenue, New York 36, New York."

January 11, 1961: US Lags in Space, Soviets Don't Want War in Laos, Negroes Suspended For Their Safety

2007-01-16T21:30:00.000-05:00

A task force today warned President-elect Kennedy that the United States was behind the Soviets missile development and outer-space exploration and said it was "very unlikely that we shall be the first in placing a man into orbit around the earth."

The Soviet Union has indicated to U.S. officials that it does not want to go to war with the U.S. over Laos.

Hundreds of students rioted this evening at the University of Georgia. university officials suspended the two Negro students who were targets of the demonstration for their safety until "it is safe and practical for them to return."

James Reston in his column today called President-elect Kennedy's plans to hold live television news conferences "the goofiest idea since the hula hoop."

January 10, 1961: Business Automates

2007-01-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

"The country's retail stores are going in more and more for automatic handling of their work, from the receiving and selling of merchandise to the handling of billings and payments, along with salaries, payments to vendors and other disbursements," the New York Times reports on this day in 1960.

January 9, 1961: Computers Gain

2007-01-11T21:27:00.000-05:00

"Electronics -- virtually untouched by the general business recession last year -- was fifth among the nation's industries. ... 'Most people -- even business men -- do not realize that the electronics industry is the nation's fifth-largest. It could become first in size in the next ten years,'" Commerce Secretary Frederick H. Mueller told a banging group, according to a report in today's edition on the New York Times.

According to another story in today's paper, "Computers and their related electronic data-processing devices became the United States' newest billion-dollar industry last year. ... Computers calcuclate the exact launching time for missiles and space satellites, hastened the automation of factories as well as offices and became standard equipment for tabulating ballots in national and other elections. ... Still on the drawing board at the end of last year were new computer systems that eventually will go into the home for the first time. These systems will enable a housewife to cook a meal, make beds and open or close windows by pushing a few buttons."

In a story from Concord, Mass.: "The application of electronics to plant cafeterias has been put in operation by the Raytheon Company at Nuclear Metals, Inc., in this town. Meals prepared by an outside commissary, frozen and served refrigerated, are re-heated by plant workers in Radarange microwave ovens in sixty seconds. ... These microwave components operate at 2,450 megacycles -- about 5,000 times higher than radio broadcasting frequencies. The energy is converted into heat when it is absorbed by food. Radaranges already are in operation in a number of restaurants."

January 8, 1961: French Voters Endorse Algerian Independence

2007-01-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

In France, voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum endorsing President de Gaulle's Algeria policy that would give the country provisional autonomy pending ultimate self determination. In Algeria as many as 40 percent of Moslem voters abstained from the vote, casting doubt on the president's mandate in Algeria.

Tensions ran high over the weekend as the country prepared for a predicted invasion by the United States.

January 7, 1961: Cuba Says it Seized US Airdrops to Anti-Castro Forces

2007-01-11T09:38:00.000-05:00

Cuba seized two airdrops of munitions for rebels, according to reports today in Havana. The airdrops, one by an American plane, were intended for rebel forces. One of the airdrops was near Trinidad. It contained 61 rifles, three bazookas, two mortars, six machine guns and ammunition. [Trinidad is the where the CIA plans to land the rebels it is training in Guatemala, who are to meet up with opposition forces on the island.]

The US today urged other countries to join its bid to "support and maintain the independence of Laos through whatever measures seem most promising."

Thermostats are now used in 24 million US homes to control heat, according to a report.

Under the headline, "Large-Scale Suburban Development Transforms an Entire Area," The New York Times reports, "In the wake of widespread residential development it is not unusual for a small community to find itself lifted from generations of quiet vegetation almost overnight, as new commercial enterprises spring up along the highways, as industrial plants are lured by a growing labor poll and added utilities and as municipal services are increased to meet the rising need for them."

January 6, 1961: Nixon Farewell

2007-01-09T19:43:00.000-05:00

In Congress, Vice President Nixon declared John F. Kennedy the next president and made this statement:

"In our campaigns, no matter how hard fought they may be, no matter how close the election may turn out to be, those who lose accept the verdict, and support those who win. And I would like to say that, having served now in government for fourteen years, a period which began in the House just fourteen years ago, almost to the day, which continued with two years in the Senate and eight years as Vice President, as I complete that fourteen-year period it is indeed a very great honor to me to extend to my colleagues in the House and Senate on both sides of the aisle who have been elected; to extend to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, who have been elected President and Vice President of the United States, my heartfelt best wishes, and to extend you those best wishes as all of you work in a cause that is bigger than any man's ambition, greater than any party. It is the cause of freedom, of justice, and peace for all mankind. It is in that spirit that I now declare that John F. Kennedy has been elected President of the United States and Lyndon B. Johnson Vice President of the United States."

January 5, 1961: US Breaks Relations with Cuba

2007-01-09T19:34:00.000-05:00

President Eisenhower, in the waning days of his administrations, broke US diplomatic relations with Cuba. The president said Fidel Castro's behavior had "reached the limit" of what "The United States in self-respect can endure." James Reston wrote that Eisenhower "told off his tormentors and slammed the door on his way out. It was a grand exit which made the pictures dance on the wall and rattled old Fidel's back teeth, and this country obviously loved it."

January 4, 1961: State Department Details Soviet Intervention in Laos, Sulzberger Analyzes Split Response

2007-01-09T19:21:00.000-05:00

The State Department had detailed the extent of Soviet aid to rebels in Laos in a new report. Between Dec. 15 and Jan. 2 there were as many as 21 flights a day by the Soviets and North Vietnam over Loas, the report said.

In his column in the New York Times on this day in 1961, C.L. Sulzberger writes: "The real crisis exposed by the Laotian civil war is a crisis in Allied relationships. ONce again we are faced with the uncomfortable fact that Washington, London and Paris have never agreed on a common oriental diplomatic front.

"The Big Three, who dominate SEATO, are in thorough discord on Laos today ... Today ... Britain and France favor compromise and the establishment of a coalition, neutralist government in Laos. They argue that SEATO intervention would formalize guerrilla war. The French and the British have had sad experience with such Asian wars. France lost a disastrous campaign in Vietnam. Britain took ten years to stamp out guerrillas in Malaya, which has no Communist-bloc frontier. British experts reckon formalized guerrilla war in Laos might last another decade....

"London and Paris feel Washington is too inclined to take a tough line without realizing where that line may lead. We, on the other hand, fear that collapse in Laos also would mean ultimate loss of all Southeast Asia and only toughness can prevent this."

January 3, 1961: US Making Preparations to Meet Crisis in Laos

2007-01-09T19:01:00.000-05:00

It was reported today that the US is making preparations to meet the crisis in Laos. "President Eisenhower approved the measures to 'increase the readiness' and the 'airlift capability' of United States forces in the Pacific" and held "an unusual New Year's holiday conference at the White House," the New York Times reported in its lead story, which ran under the subhead, "White House Meeting Considers Steps to Bar War."

Other headlines on this day in 1961:

"Laotian Aide Says Chinese Reds Helped Attack by Leftist Force"

"London Bids U.S. Back Laos Panel; Asks Resuming of 3-Nation Control Commission"

"French Warships Going to Algeria; Navy Units Carrying 6,000 Troops Will Sail Tomorrow for Tense Oran Region"

"Belgium Makes Peace Bid As Strikers Set Showdown"

"UN Chief Scores Belgians for Aid To Congo Troops"

"Castro Tells U.S. Staff in Embassy Must Be Slashed"

January 2, 1961: Rebels Advance in Laos, US Shows Off New Portable A-bomb

2007-01-09T18:51:00.000-05:00

"Rebels Advancing in Laos; US Urges SEATO Session on Intervention by Reds," was the lead headline in today's New York Times. The story reported that Communist forces had captured Phongsaly and the Central Plain, including a airstrip.

In other news reported today, the UN set a hearing on Cuba's charge that the US planned to attack the island nation imminently. The White House has recently denied similar reports.

Papers also reported today that President-elect Kennedy sent a message of hope to the Soviet Union. The note expressed his hope that "in the coming months relations between our tow great countries will be marked by goodwill and a common desire for peace."

There was also a report today that the Army had a new, portable A-bomb rocket: "the Army made public today details of the Davy Crockett rocket, designed to provide the foot soldier with a highly mobile weapon equal in fire-power to massed heavy artillery.

"It can be fired from a launcher on a Jeep. A smaller version of the Davy Crockett can be carried by one man.

"The army also released the first picture of the rocket, which can hurl nuclear or conventional warheads across battle lines at ranges no greater than those of conventional artillery.

"The picture disclosed a gun barrel roughly five or six feet long topped by a blunt-headed bomb about thrity inches long and equipped with aerodynamic fins.

"The barrel is used as a recoilless rifle. Two explosions are set off simultaneously in the barrel to fire the warhead in one direction and offset the effects of recoil in the other

"Wilber M. Brucker, Secretary of the Army, said that the weapon 'dwarfs in firepower anything we have ever known in the immediate are of the battle line."

January 1, 1961: Laos Analysis

2007-01-02T22:08:00.000-05:00

This day in 1960 is a Sunday and an analysis of week's developments in Laos appears in the New York Times:

Communist intervention in strategic Laos has risen in recent weeks and there are no signs of an imminent tapering off. Indeed, if the volume of Communist propaganda against the new pro-Western Government of Prince Boun Oumand the efforts the Communist block is making to marshal international opinion against the regime and nations friendly to it represent any test, the Communist drive against Laos is entering a new and dangerous phase.

"The situation at the moment in Laos, as a result of these Communist moves, is the most critical one in East Asia. Many observers in this part of the world fear that the war in Laos, which heretofore has been limited to Laotians fighting under the generally misunderstood labels of pro-Westerners and pro-Communists, may spread to include foreign forces actually representing the two conflicting world power blocs. Indeed, Laos charged yesterday that North Vietnamese troops had crossed the border.

"The plight of Laos, most of whose 2,000,000 inhabitants want no part of the Western or Communist bloc and ask only to be left alone to follow their ancient, slow-paced way of life, grows out of the country's strategic position. With a pro-Communist Government, Laos cold be a staging area for greatly increased Communist guerrilla activity in South Vietnam, would enable the Communist to launch long-delayed terrorist moves against Thailand and would make it possible for the Communists to exert possibly overwhelming pressure against neutralist Cambodia.

"From the Western standpoint a pro-Western Government in Laos makes it impossible for pro-Co0mmunists to use the country as a corridor for large-scale movements of arms and personnel, although the lack of population in its rugged eastern mountains and the absence of communications will always allow considerable freedom of movement to small bands.

"A clue to the method the Communist bloc will use in pushing its aims in Laos is the insistence of the Soviet Union, Communist China and North Vietnam that the only legal Government of Laos is that of the neutralist Prince Souvanna Phouma, who became Premier last August and who fled with the bulk of his Cabinet to Cambodia Dec. 9.

December 31, 1960: US Warns Reds on Laos

2007-01-02T21:51:00.000-05:00

The U.S. State Department today warned the Reds in China and North Vietnam not to support the Communist rebels in Laos. A spokesman said the US would take "the most serious view" of intervention. The invasion comes after weeks of Soviet help for the rebels in Laos. The Soviets have dropped supplies to the fighters. An American plan observing the operation was fired on. US officials think Vietnamese soldiers accompanied some Soviet shipments of howitzers.

In Moscow Premier Khrushchev extended an olive branch to the incoming Kennedy administration. Khrushchev said he would drop the U-2 spy plane issue that had been such a bone of contention with the US.

December 30, 1960: Vietnam Invades Laos, UN Help Sought

2007-01-02T21:29:00.000-05:00

Troops from Communist North Vietnam have invaded Laos, the Laotian government said. Communist China may have also sent troops. Laos asked for assistance from the United Nations to repel the attackers. About 2,000 troops from North Vietnam are believed to have crossed the border into Northern Laos.

In Belgium, violence escalated. One striker was killed and three wounded. Rioters smashed the windows of the Sabena Airlines terminal in downtown Brussels.

About 300 Negro sharecroppers in Tennessee fighting eviction received a temporary order from a court allowing them to stay on the farm where they work as their legal battle continues.

President-elect Kennedy's decision to appoint McGeorge Bundy as his national security advisor is "completely incredible," Massachusetts Governor Foster Furcolo said today. Bundy, he said, is "completely unqualified."

December 29, 1960: Red China Farm Crisis

2006-12-29T09:23:00.000-05:00

In Red China, half of all farm land had been crippled by drought, floods, typhoons, hailstorms, frost, inspects or plant diseases, Peiping said.

In California, a group of writers and actors is suing the major movie companies for having political blacklists of people considered subversive.

Private enterprise will be allowed to develop and use satellites for communications, the Eisenhower administration has decided. The incoming Kennedy administration is undecided about whether it will continue the policy.

In Brussels, King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola returned home today as violence continued. Socialists are leading a strike against the government over austerity measures.

T.S. Eliot, the prize-winning poet, said contemporary poetry should not be studied formally in school, only poetry of the past.

December 28, 1960: Britain and France Favor Coalition Government in Laos, Creating Split with U.S.

2006-12-28T10:30:00.000-05:00

The U.S. and two of its allies are split over how to respond to events in Laos, according to a report being prepared for publication in tomorrow's New York Times. Britain and France support a role for the Left and Neutralists in the government, according to the report. The U.S. opposes a coalition government. Meanwhile, Communist China said in a letter released today that the situation in Laos had "developed to extremely serious proportions" and that China would "have to consider taking measures to safeguard its own security." In another development, the shots that hit a U.S. plane over Laos may have been from the ground, not a Soviet plane, according to officials in Washington.

Jews living outside Israel are godless and violated the precepts of their religion, Israeli Premier David Ben-Gurion said today. "Since the day when the Jewish state was established and the gates of Israel were flung open to every Jew who wanted to come, every religious Jew has daily violated the precepts of Judaism and the Torah of Israel by remaining the the Diaspora," he said.

In Brussels there were clashes between police and demonstrators today. It was the tenth day of a widespread strike against a government austerity program.

December 27, 1960: Reds Fire at US Plane over Laos

2006-12-27T08:26:00.000-05:00

A Soviet plane supplying Communist rebels in Laos today fired on a U.S. Embassy aircraft observing the operation. An embassy spokesman said the machine gun fire "knocked out one engine and tore several holes in the fuselage." There were no injuries.

Yugoslavia said today it would enact monetary reforms to link its economy more closely to the West.

The US will join with four NATO allies to produce a new military jet in Europe. The plan is significant because it provides for large contribution from European nations. The US will foot only one-tenth of the cost of the F-104G Starfighter jets.

President-elect Kennedy today said he wold nominate John B. Connally Jr. of Fort Worth Texas as his Navy Secretary.

Residents of New York will soon be able to pick up their telephones and get information on emergencies by dialing a special number. At other times the round-the-clock number will be available for information on train and airline schedules. Under the innovative new arrangement a municipal radio station will convey information to the New York Telephone Company.

December 26, 1960: 'White House Family Gay' and Other Headlines

2006-12-26T08:54:00.000-05:00

These are some of the headlines that appear on the front page of the New York Times on this day in 1960:

"Pentagon to Play More Direct Role in Arms Parleys; Military is Expected to Take a Major Part in Planning for Disarmament Talks; Nitze to Guide Policy; New Kennedy Defense Aide Holds Informal Meetings -- Studies Under Way."

"Changing U.N. Outlook: New U.S. Policy Awaited; Kennedy Administration Stand Watched as World Body Faces a Dangerous Crisis Over Soviet's Congo Role."

"Kennedy to Hold Meeting on Space; Johnson and Kerr Will Join President-elect Today -- Dillon Will Be Present."

"Nixon Backs Curbs on Racial Barriers in Jobs and Homes."

"Lumumba Group Seizes 4 in Raid on Area in Congo; Kivu Chief is Believed Held by Band From Oriental -- Plea Sent to Mobutu."

"Belgian Leftists Press Defiance; Ask New Strikes; Police Raid Socialist Paper -- Charge Leaflets Urged Soldiers to Mutiny."

"Nehru Cool to Call by Soviet for Talks in Geneva on Laos."

"Lavon is Cleared in Israeli Inquiry; Cabinet Group Says Forgery Was Employed to Accuse Ex-Defense Minister."

"Christmas Cheer, Renewing Hopes, Brightens World; Eisenhower, Kennedy and Truman Attend Services -- White House Family Gay."

"Theory That Continents Wander Is Supported by British Scientist."

December 25, 1960: Soviet Intentions on the Eve of a New Administration

2006-12-25T08:48:00.000-05:00

A news analysis in today's New York Times takes up the topic of Communist tactics: "As President-elect Kennedy and his foreign policy team survey the world scene preparatory to taking over responsibility less than four weeks from today, they find the United States subject to Soviet pressures of the most diverse kind in every continent. ... At one extreme, some of Moscow's current activities could conceivably provoke World War III in the near future if continued unchecked. At the other extreme, Moscow is holding out the hand of alleged friendship to the new Kennedy regime, hinting it wants to make a deal which could greatly reduce world tensions. ...

"In Laos the continued Soviet airdrops of weapons and supplies to the rebel forces of Capt. Kong Le raise the most serious possibilities that a new Korea-type war may be in the making. Moreover, recent statements from Communist China and North Vietnam have raised the possibilities that these countries may intervene actively with troops to help the rebels recapture Vientiane and defeat Gen. Phoumi Nosavan's forces.

"In the Congo, the Soviet press has approved the action of the Lumumba lieutenant, Antoine Gizenga, in declaring that he now heads the Congo's legal government and has moved the capital to Stanleyville. This has raised the possibility that the Soviet Union might recognize the Stanleyville group, enter into diplomatic relations with it, and give it military and other aid. ...

"On the explosive subject of West Berlin, Soviet pressure continues through the East Germans, who have threatened to cut off that isolated Western enclave if the new trade treaty with West Germany is not quickly concluded.

"In Latin America, the Soviet Union pledged itself last week not only to sponsor the industrialism of Cuba, but also to guarantee Cuba against major losses if the United States prohibition on the importing of Cuban sugar should continue all next year."

December 24, 1960: Page One Headlines, with Threats Against Israel over Bomb

2006-12-24T11:21:00.000-05:00

These were some of the headlines on page one of the New York Times today:

"US urges Soviet to Avoid Causing New Berlin Crisis; Bids Moscow Show Sincerity by Not Permitting Actions That Heighten Tension; Approaches Are Made; Capital Fears Consequences if the East-West German Trade Talks Break Down."

"Soviet Says it Hopes Amity Will Grow Under Kennedy; Gromyki, in Address Accuses Eisenhower of Causing Division."

"India Fears a Major War in South Asia Over Laos."

"Nasser Threatens Israel on A-Bomb."

This final story begins: "President Gamal Abdel Nasser warned tonight that if the United Arab Republic became convinced that Israel was making an atoic bomb, 'this will be the beginning of war between us and Israel.' He warned that the United Arab Republic would invade Israel 'to destroy the base of aggression before that base is used against us.'"

December 23, 1960: On Israel and the Bomb

2006-12-24T11:16:00.000-05:00

Arthur Krock concludes his column in today's New York Times about suspicions Israel is developing an A-bomb by writing, "The Arab world is agitated with alarm over the possibility of an Israel armed with nuclear weapons. And the Soviets have seized a perfect opportunity to foment the trouble both ways: by playing on Israeli nationalism, to which it pretends to believe the United States has given just offense; and by arousing the Arabs.

"But Israel too has a perfect opportunity -- for a constructive action which will cancel the damage and Moscow's effort to increase it. Israel can conform to the spirit of Chairman McCone's offer at Vienna by placing under the present and future safeguards of the [Atomic Energy] Agency the reactor it is building. That would assist in the pursuit of world peace the United States, the nation which has given the most generous assistance to Israel's economy."

December 22, 1960: Communist Youth to Gather in Chicago, Hoover Warns

2006-12-22T20:53:00.000-05:00

"The Communists are completing final arrangements for a conference to be held in Chicago beginning Dec. 31 to formulate plans for a new national youth organization," FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover said today. The Communist Party is the largest subversive organization in the country and has strengthened ties with the Soviet Union and Cuba, he said. "In addition the Communists hope to repeat the success which they achieved on the West Coast last May in spearheading mob demonstrations by college students and other young people against a committee of Congress," Hoover said in reference to a demonstration in San Francisco at a hearing of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. A municipal judge dismissed riot charges against 62 demonstrators saying they were protesting what they believed to be an undemocratic hearing.

A State Department spokesman said today that the Soviet aid to rebels in Laos was "a sinister factor" and that the US had "serious concern" about Soviet aid for pro-Communists in Laos. The Southeast Asian country could become "a second Korea," a Soviet commentator also said today.

The State Department said today that an Israeli nuclear reactor "does not represent cause for special concern." The US received reassurances from Israel that the reactor would be used for peaceful purposes.

December 21, 1960: 'A New Voice in Laos'

2006-12-21T22:08:00.000-05:00

An editorial in the New York Times on this day in 1960, headlined, "A New Voice in Laos," states, "The new Government of Premier Roun Oum in Laos appears to be firmly in the saddle and, speaking with a more decisive voice than has been heard in Laos for some time, Prince Boun Ouba [sp?] declares that thee can be no coalition Government, and that, while Loas is bound to military neutrality, 'neutrality' as expounded in Asia has become a 'vain word' contradicting the facts of life.

"The development is welcome in Washington as offering Laos another opportunity to protect its freedom and integrity. For that purpose the United States is resuming its suspended military aid and other Southeast Asian allies are giving civilian aid to help devastated Vientiane.

"but the danger to Laos is not yet over. As in the Congo, the Soviets refuse to accept defeat and with the aid of Chinese and North Vietnamese Communists continue to airlift arms and ammunition to the retreating rebels. at the same time, the Soviets are seeking to gain by wile what they have not gained by force. This move aims at calling an 'international conference' to settle the Laotian problem, at a revival of the disbanded control commisson dominated by India and Poland, and at the establishment of another 'neutralist' Government of 'national unity,' including the Communists. It is regrettable that British Foreign Secretary Home, despite all the experience in Czechoslovakia, in China and in Laos itself, seems to be lending aid to this move. Premoer Boun Oum has rightly characterized it as an attempt to 'bring the wolf into the sheepfold.'"

December 20, 1960: Illinois Requires Two Ballots for Kennedy

2006-12-20T11:24:00.000-05:00

From today's Chicago Daily Tribune: "It required two ballots for Illinois Democratic electors to cast 27 unanimous votes for John F. Kennedy today. On the first ballot, only 26 Kennedy votes were turned in, to the embarrassment of Democratic leaders. Republicans have charged that except for vote frauds in Chicago the Illinois electoral votes would have gone to Vice President Nixon."

In another story, from Honolulu, UPI reports, "Hawaii's three Republican electors cast their votes for Vice President Nixon today, but Sen. John F. Kennedy was leading in a recount of Presidential ballots. Because of the recount trend, three Democratic electors cast ballots for Kennedy and had them notarized. Theirs was not the officials ceremony but the votes of both sets of electors will go to a joint session of Congress Jan 6 where the issue will be decided finally."

December 19, 1960: US Deceived on Israel's Atom Work, Kennedy Election Final

2006-12-19T08:58:00.000-05:00

Many deliberations of the president's national security council are a waste of time, the Senate Subcommittee on National Policy Machinery said in a report released on this day in 1960.

The Electoral College met today and elected John F. Kennedy to be the 35th president of the United States.

US officials had been deceived into believing that a plutonium-producing reactor under construction in Israel was a textile mill. The US now believes the plant may be making material for an A-bomb.

The US will begin soon resume military assistance to the pro-Western government in Laos.

The US moved a step closer to matching Soviet achievements in space today with. An unmanned Mercury capsule traveled 235 miles out over the Atlantic Ocean. "The next flight could include a chimpanzee," said Robert Gilruth, director of the Mercury program.

December 18, 1960: Israel May be Building A-Bomb, US Policy on Laos

2006-12-17T21:24:00.000-05:00

The United States has questioned Israel about reports that it is developing atomic weapons, John McCone, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission said today. The New York Times is preparing a story for tomorrow's edition that will say the U.S. is "studying with mounting concern recent evidence indicating that Israel, with the assistance of France, may be developing the capacity to produce atomic weapons." Israel denied that is is making an atomic bomb. The Times story will quote a US official as saying that if Israel is working on a bomb it would take another two and a half years to complete the development."

Today in the New York Times, a summary of US policy towards Laos: "...the State Department made it clear this week that the United States would not hesitate to give Laos every possible assistance in case of aggression from outside. It planned to go ahead with its long-standing program of economic and military aid to the Government of Laos.

"The stakes in Laos were high indeed. Its location at the heart of southeast Asia made the small and backward land of utmost strategic importance. Its loss to the Communists would open up long borders of friendly powers such as Thailand and South Vietnam to infiltration by the Communists. It was also felt here [in Washington] that the loss of Laos to the Communists would prove an irreparable blow to United States and Western prestige throughout Asia.

"but Laos is still a long way fro home for most Europeans. And was it really worth fighting for? Would it not be better to take a stand elsewhere, later? Was the risk of major conflict justified? The United States was saying 'yes' it was worth it and 'no' it would not be better to stand up and be counted later. Its friends were beginning at last to listen, but as yet with only one ear."

December 17, 1960: Laos a Flashpoint

2006-12-17T09:48:00.000-05:00

"The United States Government has served notice that it supports the legitimate Laotian Government of Premier Boun Oum and will do what it can to help that Government to overcome any threat of external aggression," an editorial in the New York Times on this day in 1960 states. "This position is supported by the whole Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, which has put strategic Laos under its protection and denounced Soviet shipments of heavy arms and Communist technicians to the Left-Wing rebel forces as 'outside interference' in Laotian internal affairs.

"There is hope that the issue may be decided by the recapture of the administrative capital of Vientiene by Government forces. The issue has been simplified by the fact that the forces of Captain Kong, who staged a coup d'etat to establish a neutralist Government, since overthrown by the National Assembly and disbanded by the King, have made common cause with the pro-Communist Pathet Lao forces, making the formerly three-cornered civill war a clear struggle between Communists and anti-Communists.

"In keeping with the Indochinese agreements, the United States stands, as Secretary Herter emphasizes, for a 'united and neutral' Laos. But any threat of 'external' aggression, which under the Southeast Asia Treaty could mean either direct or indirect aggression, would call for action in what Secretary Herter calls a 'tragic and dangerous' situation in which 'the fate of Southeast Asia may very well be decided by what happens in Laos.'"

In related news, the Soviet Union and its allies are responsible for the fighting in Laos, the US State Department said today.

West Germany said today it is backing the U.S. position for Allied control of the Atlantic nuclear force.

A US Air Force plane crashed into a crowded Munich, Germany, street car today, killing at least 50.

December 16, 1960: Airliners Collide over New York City, Man Held in 'Human-Bomb Plot to Kill Kennedy

2006-12-16T13:43:00.000-05:00

Two airliners collided over New York City on this day in 1960. One fell on Staten Island, the other in Brooklyn, killing 127 passengers and crew and five on the ground.

In Laos, pro-West forces took the administrative capital of Vietiane, following a 76-hour battle for the city.

In Havana it was disclosed that Cuba and the Soviet Union have agreed to expand trade.

In Florida a man was held in a plot to kill President-elect Kennedy. The 73-year-old retired postal clerk from New Hampshire, upset at the way Kennedy had won the election, planned to make himself into a "human bomb." He was found with seven sticks of dynamite, blasting caps, wiring and other equipment. He was picked up in a routine traffic stop. Richard

"If any further proof was needed that the reach of American scientists into space still exceeds the grasp of their rockets, it was provided by the explosive failure of the moon shot at Cape Canaveral early this morning," John Finney writes in a news analysis in the New York Times on this day in 1960. "Aside from being another psychological setback to a space program that had just seemed to be hitting an impressive stride, the failure demonstrated once again that the United states was still a long way from perfecting reliable, heavy-duty launching rockets for space missions.

"Eight times now the United States -- first the Air Force and Army and then the civilian space agency -- have tried, with what in retrospect seems undue haste to send a payload to the vicinity of the moon and thus perhaps match or offset the spectacular lunar feats of the Soviet Union. Only one, the 134-pound Pioneer IV that passed within 37,300 miles of the moon in March, 1959, was partly successful.

"The national embarrassment provided by these necessarily public failures was only heightened by the fact that the Soviet Union, which can conceal its failures, was sending a payload within 5,000 miles of the moon, then landing a payload on the moon itself and finally sending a satellite around to photograph the backside of the moon during 1959."

Also in today's paper it was reported that the US will aid the anti-Communist Government in Laos in resisting Red aggression.

A headline in today's Chicago Daily Tribune reads, "Tenth of 1% of Vote Puts Kennedy In." Kennedy had a margin of 112,801 votes out of 68,832,670.

December 15, 1960: Illinois Casts Votes for Kennedy, Deciding November Election Outcome

2006-12-15T08:52:00.000-05:00

In Springfield, Illinois, "The five-mamber state electoral board unanimously certified today [Dec. 14] John F. Kennedy's hair-line victory in Illinois, where twenty-seven electoral votes were at stake," the New York Times reported today. "The board, headed by Gov. William G. Stratton, a Republican, rejected arguments by Cook County and Chicago Republican leaders that there was evidence of widespread fraud in the Nov. 8 elections in Chicago and Cook County that would justify the withholding of certification."

An editorial in the Chicago Daily Tribune today, "The Lesson of the Stolen Votes," argues that the electoral board's decision should not be criticized. "There is no doubt now that thousands of votes were stolen from Vice President Nixon. Altho it is highly probably that Mr. Nixon actually won Illinois, proof of his victory is lacking. The electoral board could not be expected to supplant the official returns from the 102 counties of the state with a conjecture of what an honest count would show. Most lawyers agree that the board lacks this power."

Anthony Lewis reports for the New York Times today about how the Republicans lost the Negro vote, following a report yesterday that a couple of phone calls by the Kennedys had made the difference. "At the climax of the election campaign the Justice Department prepared a statement for President Eisenhower to issue on the jailing of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The draft statement deplored the arrest of the anti-seggregationist leader on a traffic charge in Georgia as 'fundamentally unjust.' It said the President was asking the Attorney General to help seek his release.

"The statement was never issued. Just why is not clear, but it seems beyond dispute now that such strong words, coming from the President, would have had a major impact on the Negro vote."

From United Press International comes this warning: "Discovery of life on other worlds could cause the earth's civilization to collapse, a Federal report said today. The warning was contained in a research report given to the National aAeronautics and Space Administration with the recommendation that the world prepare itself mentally for the eventuality."

In Laos, anti-Communist forces held the center of Vientiane 18 hours after recapturing it for the second time since an assault began on the capital three days ago.

In Cuba, members of the "anti-Red" Electrical Workers Union, facing dismissal from the union and arrest on charges of sabotage and counter-revolutionary activities, took refuge in Latin American embassies in Havana, the New York Times reported today.

A coup in Ethiopia has ousted Emperor Halle Selassie. The Imperial Household Guard was reportedly responsible. The emperor's son claimed power.

December 14, 1960: Kennedy Election May Have Hinged on Phone Calls

2006-12-14T09:03:00.000-05:00

The election of John Kennedy could have hinged on "a couple of phone calls." It was reported today that President Eisenhower said that was all it took to swing the Negro vote to the Democrats. The president was apparently referring to phone calls that Kennedy and his brother, Robert, made after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was jailed in Georgia. One of the John Kennedy's calls was to Mrs. King. Robert Kennedy called the judge who had sentenced King and persuaded him to release King on bail. Some feared that King could be killed while in jail.

The National Review recently ran a piece entitled "President-Elect Nixon?" It concluded that, "Americans tend to resign themselves easily to political events, and it is notoriously difficult to stir up a sustained demand for investigations of electoral fraud. In fact the prestige of a politician seems never to be hurt even if he is generally recognized to have won -- as Senator Harry Truman did -- thanks to the tombstone vote."

It was reported today that James R. Killian, who served as President Eisenhower's first special assistant for science and technology, believes the nation is spending too much money on space programs. He suggested the billions could be better spent on defense, education and deteriorating urban neighborhoods.

The French Army in Algeria shot and killed to European demonstrators, as protests there continued. To date, 108 Moslems and six Europeans have been killed in clashes with security forces.

In the Congo Antoine Gizenga, who the New York Times describes as a "Communist sympathizer," said he represented the country's lawful government. Gizenga was vice premier under Patrice Lumumba.

December 12, 1960: Election Suits Dismissed

2006-12-13T09:29:00.000-05:00

From the Chicago Daily Tribune from this day in 1960: "Two suits filed by Chicago Republicans to compel the city and the county canvassing boards to correct their reports on the basis of vote discrepancies uncovered in a recheck were dismissed yesterday by Judge Thomas E. Kluczynski in Circuit court.

"At the same time, a federal judge in Houston, Tex., dismissed a case in which Republicans sought a recount of the Texas vote on the ground that G.O.P. voters as a class had been deprived of their civil rights thru 'dilution' of their votes. His dismissal of a temporary injunction which had been granted the Republicans opened the way for casting Texas' 24 electoral votes for Sen. John F. Kennedy, the Democratic Presidential nominee."

December 13, 1960: 'Russia Threatens Indochina'

2006-12-13T08:02:00.000-05:00

"Russia Threatens Indochina" is the headline of an editorial in the New York Times on this day in 1960. "The fate of Indochina again hangs in the balance as a result of direct Soviet military intervention in the three-cornered civil war in Laos, the strategic gateway to South Vietnam and Cambodia. Within hours after a turnover of four Governments in four days had put the Leftist in power in the administrative capital of Vientiane, Soviet planes began to fly in arms and ammunition to them, including artillery. Having thus openly engaged themselves, the Soviets must be expected to go further, unless the Rightist forces surrounding the capital quickly turn the scale.

"The Soviet intervention in an area long preempted by the Chinese Communist follows the latter's more militant interpretation of the new Communist manifesto calling for an intensified international 'class war' as part of 'peaceful coexistence.' But it is in flagrant violation of the Geneva armistice agreement of 1954, which forbids the introduction of foreign troops or arms into Laos beyond those specified. It is in equally flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter under which a United Nations 'presence' has already been established in Laos to check on Communist aggression.

"But this intervention is above all, and is obviously intended to be, an open challenge to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, which extends its protection to three of the Indochinese states, even if the armistice agreement keeps them from being members of it. The Organization's Council of Ministers, meeting in special session in Bangkok denounces the Soviet action as 'outside interference' which can only prolong the conflict. But it is handicapped by the fact that even if it declared the Soviet action a threat to Laos' political independence it can take action only with the consent of the government concerned, and there is no legal government in Laos at the moment. The Government of Premier Prince Souvanna -- whose ill-fated attempt to unite the country and end the Communist revolt 'en famille' in Laotian style has failed -- has been ousted by the National Assembly and has disintegrated. The Leftists now ruling in Vientiane have no legal mandate. The one legal authority left is the King, who is revered by the whole population. He has kept himself thus far in reserve, but time is running out."

December 12, 1960: Mid-Air Capture of Space Capsules Hailed as 'Gigantic Step Forward'

2006-12-11T22:03:00.000-05:00

A New York Times editorial on this day is headlined "Space Catch" and says, "Anyone who seeks a measure of how fast and how far this country has progressed in space technology in the last three years need look no further than the score on the recoveries of recent Discoverer space capsules. The capsules of four of the last six Discoverer satellites sent into orbit have been recovered. Three of the last five capsules sent into orbit have been caught in space, and two of three space catches have been made on the last two attempts. Capt. Gene W. Jones, who made those last two catches, has a reasonable claim to be the best catcher of all time. There can now be no doubt that the United States has fully mastered the technique of recovering objects sent into space. It is a gigantic step forward."

The following are some of the headlines on the front page of today's New York Times:

"61 Dead in Algiers Riots; Troops Fire on Moslems; De Gaulle Shortens Visit; 300 are Wounded; Europeans Retaliate for Algerian Acts of Terrorism."

"De Gaulle's Algeria Policy Undergoing a Crucial Test."

"Spain Will Curb De Gaulle's Foes."

"Soviet Warns Britain of Attack if U.S. Submarines Stir Incident."

"Soviet Guns Sent into Laos by Air; Pro-Red in Power."

"Atlanta Negroes March in Protest."

"Kennedy Confers on Cabinet Posts."

"Mansfield Urges Filibuster Foes to Defer a Fight; Probable Majority Leader Bids Party Liberals Put Kennedy Plans First."

And from the Chicago Daily Tribune, this headline:

"Daley Labeled Mastermind in Recount Stall."

December 11, 1960: Illinois 'Inadequate' to Counter Stolen Election, Editorial Says

2006-12-11T08:52:00.000-05:00

The following editorial, under the headline "Once An Election is Stolen" appeared in the Chicago Daily Tribune on this day in 1960:

"We have little doubt that most of the people of Cook country are convinced -- and feel that they have good reason for the conviction -- that the election of Nov. 8 was characterized by such gross and palpable fraud as to justify the conclusion that at least two Republican candidates were deprived of victory. These were Richard Nixon for President and Benjamin Adamowski for state's attorney.

"But as the exploratory re-count has proceeded, it has become more and more apparent that the complexities of law and procedure and shortage of time in which to undo manifest fraud, not to mention the vast expense entailed, all are combining to militate against the correction of injustice.

"As it has told the story day by day, the Tribune has never failed to make clear to its readers that the difficulties of cutting thru the legal snarl and overcoming the rear guard action of a powerful political apparatus were great. So it may be wise if the voters do not burden themselves with the illusion that it would be simple, given the evidence produced, to reverse the result of the vote officially proclaimed by Democrats who control the county election machinery.

"The painful process to achieve that result has begun with the completion of the 'discovery' re-count. When Democratic members of the Chicago canvassing board walked out on an appeal that they correct the vote in conformity with the re-count, mandamus suits were filed in Circuit court against the city and county canvassing boards to force such action, and members of these boards were subpenaed as defendants. On Wednesday the state electoral board will be asked not to certify Sen. Kennedy as winner of Illinois' electoral votes. ...

"The behavior of the board, which as only one Republican member to four Democrats, has from the beginning inspired a minimum of confidence. When the board was compelled to honor a Republican demand that 460 judges of election appear before the Chicago canvassing board to answer questions on the genuineness of their returns [the chairman] summoned all at the same hour to a small room and produced a mob scene which prohibited orderly process. He then dismissed the lot after asking the perfunctory and meaningless question whether the tally displayed to them was what they reported. ...

"At the end of this discovery rigmarole, revision of the voting totals to reflect even admitted errors was refused by the canvassing board. The sole probable result is that sufficient grounds have been established for bringing a court suit for an official re-count on grounds of fraud. Even this depended on the vigilance of Republican volunteer watchers.

"If the re-count were directed, those acting for defrauded candidates had the knowledge that expenses to be borne by protesting candidates would be of the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they were advised by lawyers that the re-count itself might not be completed for a year and a half.

"All of this action is directed against a deadline of Dec. 19, by which time the state electoral board must decide whether the results of the election are to be certified. The decision rests on the board's determination wether the Cook county vote is to be accepted as it has been proclaimed by Democrats of the election board and in the office of county clerk. The proclamation was issued days before the discovery re-count was begun and rests essentially on the totals reported form the precincts on election night.

"The state board, with a Republican majority, is in a constitutional no man's land. If it refuses to certify, Illinois' 27 electoral votes might be withheld from John F. Kennedy. But if the electors, all Democrats, proceeded to forward the report of the electoral vote to Washington, the possibility exists that a Democratic Congress would accept it and defy contention that it could not legally be cast.

"The difficulty is in getting an honest report of the voting results in Cook county to the state board at Springfield. The two Democratic members of the three man county canvassing board are the mayor of Chicago and the county clerk. They have already signed the proclamation that Cook county went to Kennedy and to the other Democratic candidates whose title to office is in dispute.

"Whatever the evidence, it is unlikely that these highly interested officials would have a sudden access of conscience sufficient to induce them to withdraw the previous proclamation and replace it with once more in accord with the facts, unless the courts force them to do so.

"Give all of these circumstances, complications, and political ambushes, it would be an wary citizen who gave way to the illusion that Illinois might suddenly be swung to Richard Nixon. Even Sen. Thruston Morton, the Republican national chairman, has conceded that the possibility of reversing the election is remote.

"The investigation to date, incomplete and superficial as it may be, has demonstrated that existing election procedures in Illinois, particularly as they are applied in Chicago, are inadequate to defend the integrity of the ballot, or to insure an honest count. The law under which the election machinery operates is so complex and cumbersome that it affords, in effect, almost no recourse to an injured contestant in a stolen election."

December 10, 1960: Alabama Electors Shun Kennedy for Opposing 'Everything We Hold Dear in the South'

2006-12-10T11:06:00.000-05:00

Moslems backing de Gaulle rioted in Algeria for the second day. "The silent, noncommittal Moslems of the Algerian cities came out of their casbahs to wreck and pillage and demonstrate their smoldering antagonism to the Europeans," Thomas Brady wrote of today's unrest for the New York Times. The Moslems shouted slogans in support of de Gualle's policy, which would establish grant self-determination. At the same time Europeans in Algeria are rioting in opposition to de Gualle's policy.

In Moscow, Ernesto Che Guevara said today that Cuba would be a model for revolution across Latin America. A New York Times article about Guevara's statement describes him as "the bearded director of Cuba's economy, wearing an open-necked army shirt."

In Laos, a military junta took over the administrative capital of Vientiane. The High Committee of the Armed Forces arranged for peace talks with anti-Communist rebels east of the city, hoping to prevent them for joining pro-Western forces approaching the city from the south.

It was disclosed to reporters today that the government plans to subsidize development of a supersonic airliner. "The program is being pushed in the interests of national prestige, the economic health of the aviation industry and the national defense," Richard Witkin wrote in a story for tomorrow's edition of the New York Times. The plane would be ready for the airlines to operate as soon as 1968. The craft would be a new design, with movable wings, and would fly 2,000 mph, or Mach 3. The government expects industry to pay half the development cost, estimated at between $550 million and $1 billion.

In other aviation news, a satellite capsule was captured in mid-air as it fell to earth. It was the third space capsule from a Discovery satellite to be captured by an Air Force squad of nine planes.

In Alabama, the state's six unpledged Democratic electors said they will not support Kennedy. They pledged to vote "for an outstanding Southern Democrat who sympathizes with our peculiar problems in the South." They were critical of other southerners who "ally themselves with a candidate who avowedly would integrate our schools, do away with literacy tests as a qualification for voting [and] ... undermine everything we hold dear in the South."

These stories were written today for the front page of tomorrow's Chicago Daily Tribune:

In a story from Texas, "The Federal Bureau of Investigation today moved into the unique case set for federal court hearing Monday to determine whether there is recourse for the people against vast irregularities in the Presidential election. Agents of the FBI interviewed Hardy Hollers, Republican attorney who obtained a temporary federal injunction to prevent the state canvassing board from certifying victory for the 24 electors. The board wants to proclaim that Sen. John F. Kennedy carried Texas by 46,000 votes."

Robert Wiedrich wrote, "G.O.P. forces seeking to overturn Sen. John F. Kennedy's victory in Illinois, claimed Vice President Nixon gained 5,528 votes and predicted that the discounting of more fraudulent votes would dissolve Kennedy's 8,858 vote margin.

December 9, 1960: Administration Warns of China Getting the Bomb, Anti-Communist Demonstration in Cuba

2006-12-09T11:38:00.000-05:00

The Eisenhower administration warned Congress in a closed session that Communist China may soon get the A-bomb.

In Algeria, riot police used tanks to put down demonstrations in which at least 100 were injured. While Europeans demonstrated, Moslems cheered French President de Gaulle on his visit to Algeria. "The cries, the clamor mean nothing," de Gaulle said.

In Laos, Premier Souvanna Phouma fled the capital of Vientiane for Cambodia as the Communist Pathet Lao and pro-Western troops prepared to fight in the capital.

In Cuba there was an unusual protests by Electric Company workers against Communist attempts to seize their union. The workers, numbering about 1,000, shouted "Cuba yes, Russia no."

In the Congo the UN moved to protect Europeans in Stanleyville in the wake of death threats from supporters of deposed and imprisoned former premier Patrice Lumumba.

David K. E. Bruce, a career diplomat, is a leading contender to be secretary of state in the Kennedy administration.

In a story for tomorrow's edition of the New York Times, William J. Jorden finds that Western diplomats believe the Communists will step up their activity in the underdeveloped world, despite ideological differences. "However, few diplomats believe that these ideological differences foreshadow an open break among the Communist powers in the foreseeable future,"

In Illinois, federal grand jury subpoenas have been issued for voting records from 13 Chicago precincts. Also, the Justice Department has approved another grand jury investigation of vote fraud; it will begin hearing evidence next week.

December 8, 1960: Goldwater Calls for Ending Foreign Aid to 'Inferior People'

2006-12-08T08:47:00.000-05:00

Congress should stop giving economic aid to foreign nations, Senator Barry Goldwater told the National Association of Manufacturers today. "We have seen nothing of great value produced in the fifteen years we've been engaged in it," he said. He also said the US should limit the amount of money tourists can take out of the country.

"The United States should begin acting like a world power and quit groveling on its knees to inferior people who like to come to New York," Goldwater said.

In Laos, Leftists took over the administrative capital of Vientiane from neutralists, ending that groups one-day hold on the city.

Cuba has taken over the Royal Bank of Canada's island offices. In September Castro nationalized three US banks on the island.

In the seventh year of a Moslem nationalist rebellion in Algeria, Paris has set a vote for January 8 to decide if Algerians will be given home rule, leading to eventual independence from France.

In Stanleyville, capital of Eastern Province in the Congo, threats have been made against Belgians since the arrest of deposed Premier Patrice Lumumba. UN Secreatary General Dag Hammarskjold called the threats "deeply disturbing."

Moscow said today it will make favorable loans to Cairo for industrial and agricultural development.

In Austin, Texas, the governor and secretary of state said they favor a recount of the November election, but were unsure they had the authority to order it.

December 7, 1960: Moscow Says US Blocking Korean Unification, Texas Delays Vote Certification for Kennedy

2006-12-07T09:26:00.000-05:00

The Soviet Union said today the United States was blocking the re-unification of Korea. Moscow called on the United Nations to force the evacuation of U.S. and other foreign troops from the peninsula.

Dag Hammarskjold said today there would be chaos if the U.N. withdrew its troops from the Congo, as the Soviet Union has said it should.

President Eisenhower is withdrawing naval forces from Central American waters. Navy forces have been patrolling the coast to prevent outside support of any Communist-inspired revolt in Guatemala or Nicaragua.

"Missing ballot applications stirred Republicans ... as they pressed their 'discovery' recount," George Tagge wrote for a story to be published in tomorrow's Chicago Daily Tribune. "They said the recount now gives Vice President Nixon a net gain of 2,978 votes.... Nixon is certain to pick up enough votes in the remaining 463 of the 863 paper ballot precincts, when combined with gains thru rechecking voting machines, to overcome the lead of 8,858 votes by which Sen. John F. Kennedy won Illinois in the Nov. 8 election, said Georges H. Dapples, counsel for the Nixon Recount committee."

Meanwhile, the Tribune will report tomorrow that a federal district court judge in Texas has signed a temporary restraining order prohibiting certification of Texas' 24 electoral votes pending hearing of a Republican suit challenging the validity of the Nov. 8 election.

The president of the international Brotherhood of Teamsters, James Hoffa, was indicted today on charges of misusing more than $500,000 in union funds.

"Mass filing, one of the last purely manual office chores, has been converted into a push-button operation by Diebold, Inc.," a New York Times reporter wrote for a story to be published in tomorrow's edition. "Diebold, a large producer of safes and varied office equipment, demonstrated ... its new automatic filing system, which it calls "open Shelf Power Files."

"The next decade will see a sharp change in the age pattern of the consumer population, a change that has important marketing overtones," Robert Alden wrote in a story to be published tomorrow in the New York Times. "The consumer market will grow considerably younger. The nation's total population will be 20 percent larger by 1970. But the number of persons under 30 will be up by 30 percent."

December 6, 1960: Eisenhower and Kennedy Meet, Discuss 'Problems of Peace'

2006-12-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

President Eisenhower and President-elect Kennedy met for three hours today to discuss world problems. A joint statement said they discussed "major problems of peace, security and freedom throughout the world, particularly including the American balance of payments and the position of the American dollar."

The Soviet Union today stressed unity with Communist China to achieve world communism. Peiping said it wold continue to go its own way.

The U.S. for the first time released pictures of the atom bombs dropped on Japan 15 years ago.

The Soviet Union today said the U.S. was fomenting civil war in Laos. The Soviet ambassador to the U.S. indicated the possibility of Soviet intervention if the neutralist government is seriously threatened by pro-Western forces.

In Chicago the lawyer for the Nixon Recount Committee said he will ask the State Electoral Board to give the state's electoral votes to Nixon. With one third of the Chicago election board's 863 paper ballot precincts check, Nixon has gained 2,512 votes, according to the G.O.P.

December 5, 1960: More Accounts of Chicago Vote Fraud

2006-12-05T08:50:00.000-05:00

George Tagge prepared a story for publication in tomorrow's Chicago Daily Tribune saying, "Gross discrepancies sin precinct reports and ballot boxes devoid of ballots sparked Republican hopes ... of keeping Illinois out of the victory column of Sen. John F. Kennedy. Republicans ... announced that their version of the 'discovery' recount in the first 151 precincts checked would give Vice President Nixon a net unofficial gain of 1,283 votes ... In these 151 precincts the Democrats had recount figures allowing gains of only 43 for Nixon ... Democrat said the recount of 277 precincts ... gave Nixon a net gain of 254 votes. ... Democratic election officials admitted the discrepancies in the party's west side strongholds.

"Mrs. Marie Suthers, the Republican member of the three-member Chicago election board, demanded that the precinct judges be called to account. In the 7th precinct of the 29th ward, the 'discovery' recount financed by the G.O.P. compelled Democrats to agree that the recount gave Nixon an unofficial net gain of 81 votes.

"For the 27th ward's 12th precinct Democrats agreed the net G.O.P. gains were 62 for Nixon ... When the ballot box for the 56th precinct of the 10th ward was opened not a single ballot was found. It contained several envelope, some of them with bland ballots which had been initialed by election judges. The box was marked to show that 388 ballots had been cast. The official tally for this precinct asserted that Kennedy got 259 votes to 92 for Vice President Nixon.

"Soon afterward the ballot box for the 86th precinct of the 9th ward was hoisted to a counting table. It bore a notation that 480 ballots had been cast. Inside there was not a single voted ballot."

Another story written for tomorrow's front page begins, "Election officials in precincts in which glaring vote discrepancies have been uncovered were unable to explain yesterday how tallies marked on ballot boxes could vary so widely from the ballots inside."

Another story for tomorrow's Tribune begins, "United States Attorney Robert Tieken said ... that the federal grand jury will inquire into all cases of clear cut violations of federal election laws disclosed by a recheck of the vote in the Nov. 8 election."

In other news, 81 Communist parties around the world signed a declaration pledging victory by peaceful means. It called the Communist party of the Soviet Union the "universally recognized vanguard of the world Communist movement."

In Laos, the government called on the US to halt shipments of arms and ammunition to rebel forces. Premier Souvanna Phouma also said his government had notified rebels that it was open to a cease fire.

December 4, 1960: G.O.P Predicts 10,000 invalid ballots in Chicago

2006-12-04T08:12:00.000-05:00

Chicago Daily Tribune reporter Robert Wiedrich wrote in a story to be published tomorrow that Republicans were predicting "that more than 10,000 invalid paper ballot votes will be thrown out in Chicago in a court contest of the Nov. 8 election, possibly reversing the Democratic victory in Illinois.

"At the same time G.O.P. watchers at a recheck by 50 teams of 863 Chicago paper ballot brecincts, being conducted in City hall, reported finding at least 100 straight Republican tickets which had been 'spoiled' by the marking of an additional 'X' in the Socialist-Labor candidates' column.

"In one instance, 15 ballots in a row had been so altered. This was the latest disclosure of apparent fraud and tampering with paper ballots which the Republican leaders charged occurred either while the ballots were being counted at the precinct polling places or after they were stored in warehouses by the city board of election commissioners."

December 3, 1960: Votes for Nixon Erased in Chicago, G.O.P. Charges; Space Dogs Die

2006-12-03T09:03:00.000-05:00

"Scores of Republican votes were erased and Democratic votes substituted in paper ballot precincts in the Nov. 8 election," according to G.O.P. leaders, Robert Wiedrich writes in a story for publication in tomorrow's edition of the Chicago Tribune.

"Ralph Berkowitz, an attorney representing the Republican watchers said Republican votes had been erased in the circle designated for Vice President Nixon and a mark inserted in behalf of Sen. John F. Kennedy, the Democratic candidate who the G.O.P. charges won Illinois' 27 electoral votes thru fraud at the polls.

"'This is one of the most flagrant situations we have found in the recheck of 863 paper ballot precincts in Chicago,' Berkowitz said. 'This again points up the utter disregard for the elections laws that the Democratic machine practiced on election day.'"

The U.S. government needs a plan for developing and using communication satellites, a Senate committee study said today. "Critical decisions" needed to be made soon to ensure the "bright promise" of international communications, the committee said.

Tad Szulc writes in an article for publication tomorrow in the New York Times of Latin America's instability. Of Cuba he says a recent "wave of sabotage ... [is] the worst outbreak of organized opposition to Premier Castro since he gained power almost two years ago. Bombs exploded in Havana and in the interior of the island, damaging public utilities, cutting railroads and creating the very same kind of terror that Dr. Castro had spread when he fought a dictatorship and promised freedom and democracy. Despite the efforts of his heavily armed militia, guerilla activists in Cuba's central mountains could not be eradicated.

Headlines in today's newspapers announced that the latest Soviet ship to go into space went out of control as it returned to earth. The space ship carried two dogs.

Also in the news today is the seizure of Congo's deposed premier, Patrice Lumumba, who had been a fugitive after escaping custody last week. He is now again a prisoner of Col. Joseph Mobuto, who heads the army regime.

December 2, 1960: Republican Party Official Goes to Chicago, Vietnam Said to be 'Source of Trouble'

2006-12-02T11:49:00.000-05:00

Sen Thruston B. Morton of Kentucky, national Republican chairman said today that he would pursue all legal means to "an honest count." In Chicago, Morton said, "I don't think that Sen. Kennedy or Sen. [Henry] Jackson [national Democratic chairman] were aware in advance of the disclosures of fraud now being made. I don't think they would have condoned it." He criticized county officials who refused to endorse corrected vote count figures turned up in a recheck of voting machines.

The Chicago Daily Tribune prepared this story for tomorrow's edition: "Broken and missing seals on a large proportion of boxes containing ballots of the Nov. 8 election provoked protests yesterday from republicans financing the 'discovery' recount of returns. Reporters for the Tribune saw that seals were broken or missing on 13 of 47 corrugated cardboard boxes containing ballots. On Thursday they spotted similar defects on 14 of 21 boxes.

"In addition, reporters noted that in the case of four boxes the precinct judges hadn't written their names across the paper seal and the box as required.

'This represents either fraud or gross irregularities, we don't know which, said Ralph Berkowitz, an attorney for the G.O.P. in the recount. 'The law provides for a seal to keep the boxes safe from tampering.'"

"Six years after the end of the war in Indochina which created the independent states of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia this strategically vital area continues to shake under the impact of a Communist aggression that percipitates increasing internal strife," according to an editorial in today's New York Times. "As the three states are no under protection of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, the continued turmoil confronts this organization, and especially the United States as a key member of it, with dangers and problems matching those in Latin America and Africa.

"The immediate focal point of conflict is Laos, where Communist guerrillas, aided and abetted by Communist China and Communist-held North Vietnam, have waged intermittent war throughout the six years. But the real source of trouble is North Vietnam, which is a transit base for Communist penetration into Laos, South Vietnam and Cambodia.

"All three countries have thus far been able to ward off a Communist take-over. But the continued strife and the unmatched Communist aggressiveness are producing a war weariness which finds varying expression in the three states and which Western aid cannot quite allay. The most successful resistance has been offered by President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam, but continued Communist raids have created a climate that sparked a Right-Wing military revolt against him, though he managed to suppress it."

Newspapers published today reports that President-elect Kennedy has selected Connecticut Governor Abraham Ribicoff as his nominee for Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, the incoming president's first Cabinet pick.

From Leopoldville it was reported that The Congo has severed ties with the United Arab Republic after allegations that Egyptian diplomats may have helped deposed Premier Patrice Lumumba escape custody.

It was also reported today that the First National Bank of Boston had opened an underground bomb shelter in Pepperell, Mass., to store its records. The shelter was built to withstand the blast of a 20-megaton bomb exploding more than three miles from the site.

Members of a pacifist group, the Committee for Non-Violent Action, began a 6,500-mile march in San Francisco that is to take them to Moscow. They are protesting the growing stockpile of nuclear weapons.

December 1, 1960: Red Dogs in Space, Nixon Picks up Votes in Illinois

2006-12-01T22:09:00.000-05:00

"Reds Fire 2 Dogs into Space," reads a headline in today's Chicago Daily Tribune. Moscow radio had this announcement: "In accordance with the program of scientific research the third space ship was orbited as an earth satellite in the Soviet Union on Dec. 1. For medical-biological research in the conditions of space eight experimental animals -- dogs named Pehelka and Mushka -- have been placed in the cabin of the space ship. In the cabin there also are other animals, insects and plants."

"Vice President Nixon made a net unofficial gain of 1,214 votes thru a Republican comparison of actual voting machine figures with official canvass tallies," the Tribune said in a story prepared for publication tomorrow. "Ralph Berkowitz, an attorney aiding the G.O.P., said Nixon apparently can go on to carry Illinois on the paper ballot recount.

"Faced with the withholding of Illinois' 27 electoral votes from Sen. John F. Kennedy for President, Democrats here yesterday abruptly called off their slowdown in the 'discovery' recount of paper ballot precincts. New fires of controversy immediately flared over broken seals on ballot boxes and what happened to surplus ballots in each precinct."

"A southern plan to rally a block of 46 electoral votes to prevent Sen. John F. Kennedy's election as President is under way," the Tribune reported in another story for tomorrow's edition. "At least two prominent southern electors, leaders in the anti-Kennedy movement indicated Vice President Nixon could win the bloc's support if he softened his party's strong civil rights stand. This would give Nixon the 269 electoral votes needed for the Presidency, disregarding the possibility of his picking up Illinois' 27 votes on a recount."

Other election-related headlines prepared for tomorrow's edition include: "How One Man Battled for Honest Vote," Report Jury Asks to Stay on Vote Probe," Finds Vote Frauds in 7 States; G.O.P. Hits Illinois as Top Example," Vote Records Back in File -- But Too Late.

November 30, 1960: Kennedy May not Get Illinois' Electoral Votes, Governor Says

2006-11-30T23:19:00.000-05:00

The Illinois state electoral board may not give the state's 27 electoral votes to Sen. Kennedy, Gov. Stratton (R) said today. He criticized "downright fraud and graft in Chicago" during the Nov. 8 balloting. Nixon lost the state by fewer than 9,000 votes out of more than 4,750,000 cast. The state board recessed without setting a date to meet again because it has not gotten voting information from Cook County. The governor said there was an intentional "slowdown" in Democratic-controlled county. "There's no question that they are stalling in Chicago. It's dastardly to steal a man's vote -- and that's what has been happening," the governor said. "It's flagrant." The governor also described "widespread disregard of laws, state and federal," during the voting. The board may keep the state's electoral votes from going to either candidate.

The State's Attorney, Benjamin Adamowski said the Democratic organization in Chicago stole 100,000 or more votes. "Speaking with bitter words at a press conference, Adamowski in effect charged that the Democratic machine headed by Daley as his party's county chairman virtually 'stole' the White House for Sen. John F. Kennedy," according to the Chicago Daily Tribune.

"He insisted that, in one phase f the operation, enough legitimate Republican voters were deprived of their voting right by the mysterious disappearance of their names from precinct polling place binders to shift Illinois from Vice President Nixon to Kennedy. ...

"When the manipulation of a political machine is used as a vehicle to take over the White House it is a sad day in American politics," Adamowski said.

In Cuba, Manuel Fajardo, personal physician to Fidel Castro, was killed in fighting with rebels in the Escambray mountains, it was reported today.

November 29, 1960: Lumumba Missing, Espionage Ring, Integration Battles

2006-11-30T22:39:00.000-05:00

In Leopoldville, the Congo, the UN said it did not know the whereabouts of Patrice Lumumba, the deposed premier. The UN command said his escape from a guarded residence was not its fault. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union said the UN had t o withdraw its troops from the Congo.

The government charged a psychiatrist with being tied to an espionage. Robert Soblen, who was charged, is the brother of imprisoned Soviet spy, Jack Soble. The two use different spellings of their name. The government charged Soblen with trying to pass defense secrets to the Soviet Union.

In New Orleans there were scuffles at schools as integrationists fought with anti-integrationists. And in Austin a bomb went off outside a building where the University of Texas Religious Council was discussing the integration of campus restaurants.

November 28, 1960: British - Soviet Confrontation at the UN

2006-11-30T00:11:00.000-05:00

At the United Nations, the British Minister of State "denounced Soviet colonialism ... and said that the Russians were 'the greatest oppressors of our day,' according to a story prepared for publication tomorrow in the New York Times. "Replying to a Soviet demand that the General Assembly call for independence 'forthwith' for all colonies and trust territories, Mr. Orsby-Gore contrasted the Soviet Union's record with Britain's granting of independence to 500,000,000 people in former subject territories since 1939. Valerian Z. Zorin, chairman of the Soviet delegation, and other Soviet-bloc delegates shouted and beat on their desks in protest against the British counter-attack."

In Caracas, Venezuela, "President Romulo Betancourt suspended constitutional guarantees throughout Venezuela today and called out the army to maintain order," according to a story prepared for tomorrow's New York Times. "Senor Betancourt said that violence was being instigated by extremist elements that wish to overthrow his government and 'establish a regime here like that of Cuba.'"

In Havana "Premier Fidel Castro expressed the hope ... that President-elect John Kennedy would decide that the Eisenhower policy toward Cuba must be changed. He predicted that if the United States attacked the island it would mean 'suicide for Yankee imperialism,'" according to a story for tomorrow's edition of the New York Times.

November 27, 1960: Bomber Suspect Identified, Desegregation Bad for Business in New Orleans

2006-11-29T23:50:00.000-05:00

"A dynamite and blasting-power watchman for a construction company was questioned yesterday and early today about the recent series of Sunday and holiday bombings" in New York City, according to an article prepared for publication tomorrow in the New York Times. "Detectives described him as a 'red-hot suspect.'"

In New Orleans, federally-imposed desegregation was said to be causing a business downturn, with declines reported in department store sales, in restaurant receipts and elsewhere.

In Cuba, Castro attacked the Roman Catholic clergy in his country as "counter-revolutionists."

November 26, 1960: Editorial Foresees Constitutional Crisis if Nixon Wins Illinois

2006-11-29T07:58:00.000-05:00

If the general counsel of the Republican National Committee, Meade Alcorn, is right in predicting that Illinois’ twenty-seven electoral votes will wind up in the Nixon column, the nation will be facing the most serious predicament in its Presidential history since the Hayes-Tilden battle of 1876-77,” said the lead editorial in the New York Times on this day in 1960.

“Mr. Alcorn’s statement was based on the charge that the apparent Democratic margin of over 300,000 in Cook County was fraudulently achieved, and that an honest count would reduce its sufficiently to wipe out the unofficial state-wide majority of 8,200 for Senator Kennedy (out of a total of 4,750,000), thus giving Illinois to the Vice President.

“In that event, Mr. Kennedy’s electoral vote would drop to 273, only four above the requisite minimum of 269. This is no doubt that feverish attempts would than be made to prove fraud or error in others of the extremely close states won by Mr. Kennedy such as New Jersey (with 16 electoral votes), New Mexico (4), South Carolina (8), even Texas (24). The Democrats would probably try to prove that Mr. Kennedy had really won Hawaii (3) and Alaska (3), both now attributed to Mr. Nixon by miniscule margins, and perhaps even California (32).

“Looming over all this confusion would be the hard fact that Mississippi’s eight electors are unpledged to either candidate, as are six of Alabama’s. These electors, plus other like-minded ones, might actually hold the balance of power in a showdown, throwing the election into the House, where Mr. Kennedy would almost surely win, anyway.

“For the good of the country we hope that such a train of events does not develop. Its very possibility is an excellent argument for reform of the electoral system. In any event it is now imperative that the results in each state be definitively settled by the time the electoral college meets on Dec. 19 so that there can be no shadow of doubt about the validity of the respective electors’ choice. It is of supreme importance that the country be satisfied that the list of electors chosen in each state actually does represent the will of the majority of voters in that state.

“Fraud in an election is one of the basic crimes against democracy; yet there unfortunately is always danger of fraud, especially when an election is as close as this one. We would hazard the guess that if there has been fraud, it has been confined neither to one state nor to one political party. Neither candidate would have wished to benefit by fraud and it is to the interest of both candidates, as well as of vital importance to the country as a whole, that any electoral fraud be exposed and punished. But if it is to be done, it must be done quickly. Any doubt or uncertainty about the election arising from the charges and accusations that have been made can only be harmful to the best interests of the United States.”

November 25, 1960: A Republican Southern Strategy

2006-11-29T07:56:00.000-05:00

“Given his assumption about the crucial importance of being ‘modern’ enough to capture the Eastern States, Nixon need apologize to no one for the campaign he waged. But it was the assumption itself which was his downfall and which has been the perpetual undoing of the Republican Party,” the National Review said today.

“The question becomes: Can the Republicans, sans Ike, or something like him, win a presidential election at all?

“A review of the electoral tally sheet suggests that the answer is ‘yes’ – that there is available an alternative strategy which, although by no means certain of victory, is at least more promising than the theory on which the GOP has been operating….

“This strategy does not depend for its success on the theory that angry conservatives stay home on election day and that, given a ‘real choice,’ will materialize en masse at the voting booth. …

“The alternative here suggested is founded on more realistic considerations – namely, the actual performance of the electorate on Tuesday, November 8. That showing reveals it would be quite possible to combine the reliably conservative areas of the United States – the Midwest, the Mountain States and the South – into an Electoral College majority.”

November 24, 1960: Chinese Communists Get Support from Latin American Nations

2006-11-29T07:55:00.000-05:00

“Well informed sources reported today that in the current Communist party discussions here [Moscow] Liu Shaochi, the Chinese Communist Chief of state, had found surprising support among Latin-American delegations, as well as North Korea, Indonesian and Albanian,” New York Times reporter Seymour Topping wrote in a story for publication tomorrow. “The leaders of about eighty five Communist parties are conducting the discussions.

“The Latin-American delegations have listened sympathetically to Chinese Communist arguments for a more militant international program for achieving world communism

“They include Argentina, Venezuela, Columbia, Uruguay and Chile.

“Mr. Liu spoke Tuesday for four hours and was critical of certain facets of Soviet policy that have been identified with Premier Khrushchev.

“It is understood, however, that Mr. Khrushchev has retained majority support, especially among the European parties, for his policy of peaceful coexistence.

“This is a program for establishing Communist world supremacy through political, economic and psychological attraction without resorting necessarily to the ignition of revolutionary or international war.”

November 23, 1960: Illinois Recount 'A Very Serious Thing,' Lawyer for Democrats Says

2006-11-23T00:13:00.000-05:00

These stories were prepared for publication tomorrow on the front page of the New York Times:

"Meade Alcorn, general counsel of the Republican National Committee, said today he had 'no doubt' the twenty seven electoral votes of Illinois could be counted for Vice President Nixon when an investigation was completed in the heavity Democratic Cook County.

"Mr. Alcorn's statement was made before the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners proclaimed the city's Presidential returns 'official' late today.

"What effect, if any, this would have on a vigorous Republican movement for an investigation and recount in Cook County was not clear tonight. The board's decision was made without the consent of its lone Republican member, Mrs. Marie Suthers.

"The recount movement and the narrow margin by which Senator John F. Kennedy apparently won Illinois led Mr. Alcorn to make his statement. Meanwhile, another high republican official indicated that if Illinois should swing to Mr. Nixon, the Republicans might go all out to reverse the apparent Electoral College victory of Senator John F. Kennedy over Mr. Nixon. Without Illinois in his column Mr. Kennedy would have 273 electoral votes, four more than the necessary majority of 269....

"James Duffy, Democratic counsel of the Senate Subcommittee on Privileges and Elections, said of the Illinois situation: "It's a very serious thing out there." He has just returned from an on-the-spot check in Chicago and felt that the Republican effort should not be taken lightly.

"Mr. Duffy said a Nixon recount committee had accumulated a $100,000 fund to finance its efforts.

"The State and Defense Departments have agreed on a proposal to create a nuclear-armed strategic force under direct command of the North Atlantic Treat Organization."

"The United Nations alerted its armored cars tonight following unexplained activity by the Congolese Army on the capital's western outskirts."

"The Soviet Union demanded today that the world Communist movement unite solidly behind Premier Khrushchev's doctrine of peaceful coexistence and of the possibility of achieving victory over capitalism without a world war."

"President-elect John F. Kennedy returned here [Washington] tonight to spend Thanksgiving Day with this family. The Kennedys will have their turkey dinner at mid-day with three or four guests, whose names have not been disclosed. There will be a birthday cake for the Kennedy's daughter, Caroline, who will be 3 years old Sunday."

"The United States launched its second weather-eye satellite today. For the first time, information obtained from a satellite is to be used for actual forecasting of the weather, ushering in a new era in meteorology."

November 22, 1960: Election Judges in Illinois to be Called to Account for Voting Irregularities, Election Night TV Reporting Called 'Nonsense'

2006-11-22T09:41:00.000-05:00

In Chicago the city's canvassing board ordered 460 election judges to appear for questioning about alleged errors in counting votes in the presidential election. The board consists of three election commissioners, the county judge and the city's corporation counsel. Republican leaders in the state are trying to overturn the election results, which gave Illinois' electoral votes to Sen. Kennedy. The election judges are to be given citations beginning on the 24th. They will have to explain contradictions in voting machine numbers with what they reported election night.

An Article prepared for publication tomorrow in the Chicago Daily Tribune says, "The Republicans contend the 'errors' they have discovered bolster their claims that the Democrats stole Illinois' 27 electoral votes from Vice President Nixon ..."

In an editorial prepared for publication tomorrow, the Tribune's editors write, "The transfer of California to the Nixon column provides another reminder of how close the election was. Kennedy was the popular choice by fewer than 200,000 votes and at this writing he has only 31 more votes in the electoral college than he needs to be declared the winner.

"That isn't the way the story was told to the American people by the radio and television chains on election night. By 11 o'clock or thereabouts they were confident of the result. Kennedy was holding a lead of 2,000,000 popular votes and was even farther ahead in the electoral lineup.

"The broadcasters were especially pleased with the work of their computing machines. One pundit reported periodically how wonderful his apparatus had served the nation, for from the very beginning it had forecast a division of about 52-48 and this division was holding true hour after hour. The inference was that these percentages would hold true when all the ballots had been counted. At one point early in the evening, we were told that the odds favoring Kennedy were 200 to 1.

"This was nonsense and should have been recognized as such by every intelligent listener. If, as the raw returns poured in, it had been possible to tell the machine not only what county the figures were from, but what part of what township in what county, a computing machine might have made a rapid projection of the significance of the counted vote. But that isn't the way returns come in. They are mixed into an aggregate by the time the machine gets them and they are therefore almost meaningless for purposes of prediction. ...

"We have no doubt that the electronic calculators can have a value in predicting final election results when returns are far from complete, but it is obvious that the present use of the machines is little better than silly.

"It's odd how easily people can be taken in by what they see and hear on television. No on in his right mind should have been fooled by the quiz shows that were eventually exposed as frauds, but pretty nearly everybody was fooled. We all know smart people, with encyclopedic minds, but none of us has ever known a memory that can reproduce, on demand, with only the slightest hesitation, the contents of the almanac and a detailed history of the world.

"We live and learn; or do we?"

The UN today approved the US-backed candidate for Congo representative. The US and other Western Powers joined with most of the African members of the French Community in backing a delegation headed by President Joseph Kasavubu. The Soviet bloc, Ghana, Guinea, India and other African and Asian countries backed Patrice Lumumba. Kasavuba deposed Lumumba as premier last September. This will make it hard to Lumumba to regain power.

In Cuba the government disputed reports that the Soviet Union had urged moderation on Castro's dealings with the US. The government also denied that the Kremlin had told Cuba to stop "rattling Soviet rockets."

November 21, 1960: Court Action on Alleged Vote Fraud in Illinois, Failure at Cape Canaveral Might Lose US Space Race

2006-11-21T09:13:00.000-05:00

In Illinois more than 400 election judges are to be asked about major discrepancies in vote counting that lead to Sen. Kennedy receiving up to 100 too many votes in some precincts. The legal action is to be filed before the Chicago city board of election commissioners tomorrow as part of a Republican effort to recover the state's 27 electoral votes for Vice President Nixon. The Chicago Daily Tribune cited these examples for the story it will run in tomorrow's edition:

"In one Thornton township precinct, the voting machine registered 290 ballots for Kennedy and 71 for Nixon. The election judges reported in their statement of votes that Kennedy had received 390 votes to Nixon's 71.

"In a Stickney township precinct, the voting machine registered 268 votes for Nixon, 249 for Kennedy. The report of election judges gave Kennedy 299 votes. Nixon was credited with only 218."

The paper also reports: "Reportedly, more than a score of such examples have been uncovered in suburban precincts while similar irregularities have been discovered in more than 70 precincts in Chicago. Republicans claim that these irregularities constitute wholesale theft of votes."

Nixon lost Illinois to Kennedy by 9,365 votes.

Republicans are seeking partial recounts in Illinois and New Jersey. If both states went to Nixon, neither candidate would have a majority of electoral votes. "That wold put 14 un-pledged electors in Mississippi and Alabama in a position to decide the election. If they failed to put either candidate over, it would be up to the House of Representatives to settle things," the Tribune reports.

The G.O.P. has also asked that Texas ballots be impounded, alleging large-scale fraud.

From Cape Canaveral, Fla., the New York Times prepared this story for the front page of tomorrow's edition: "The United States' hopes of rocketing a man into space early next year were dealt a crushing blow today by the third straight failure of an unmanned space capsule launching.

"One official said that the failure might have cost this nation its last chance to beat the Soviet Union in the race to send the first man aloft. Soviet scientists are believed putting every effort into sending a man into orbit within a few months.

Also today, Norman Mailer was arrested and accused of stabbing his wife, Adele. She was in critical condition at a New York City hospital. One wound was near her heart. Mailer, 37, was also arrested a week ago for disorderly conduct after an argument over a $7.60 bill at the Birdland nightclub.

October 20, 1960: Labor Urging Liberal Program on Kennedy, Conservatives in House Could Block Legislation

2006-11-20T09:59:00.000-05:00

In stories written today for the New York Times and scheduled for publication tomorrow:

"Labor will urge President-elect John F. Kennedy this week not to let the narrowness of his election victory deter him from moving ahead at full speed on a liberal program."

"The strengthened conservative coalition will be a force to be reckoned with in the New House of Representatives, according to the chief Republican strategist of the two-party alliance."

"Five representatives of the Louisiana State Government demanded of President-elect John F. Kennedy today a clear cut stand on future Federal policies toward judicially enforced racial integration of public schools."

"Many United States diplomats who planned to return home on leave or move to new posts early next year have been told to unpack their suitcases. In a major economy move, the State Department has ordered a drastic cutback in all but the most essential travel by its Foreign Service officers."

"A group of United States Embassy personnel narrowly escaped being lynched by an infuriated African crowd [in the Congo] this morning after their auto had knocked down and killed a Congolese man."

"Development work has begun on an infra-red homing device to navigate American space probes during the final stages of their flights toward Mars and Venus. The initial probes to the vicinity of these planets are planned for 1962."

And C.L. Sulzberger wrote from Paris for an opinion column: "The incoming Administration comes face to face with one of its gravest foreign policy problems tomorrow. In the United States, M. Spaak, NATO's Secretary General, will brief President-elect Kennedy on a new plan to turn the alliance itself into an independent nuclear power. Simultaneously General Norstad, author of the plan, will brief Vice President-elect Johnson on the same subject at a meeting of Allied parliamentarians.

"The purpose of these talks is to secure the support of our next Government for this revolutionary idea so that the outgoing Eisenhower Administration can endorse it in principle at NATO's December ministerial meeting in Paris."

November 19, 1960: China Close to Getting Atom Bomb, Charges That Kennedy Fraud Could Cost Him Presidency

2006-11-19T14:50:00.000-05:00

Communist China will explode its first atomic bomb late next year, according to the Sunday Times of London.

An editorial prepared today for tomorrow's edition of the Chicago Sunday Tribune says: "Even now, days after the election, the margin of [Kennedy's] supposed victory is clouded, and, if the allegations of wholesale fraud brought against his machine supporters in several key states should be sustained in investigations now in progress, the amazing result might be that Kennedy will still find himself a United States senator and nothing more.

"The eyelash margin credited to the Democratic candidate in the popular vote and the wobbly total chalked up for him in electoral votes, as well as the apparent fact that Mr. Nixon carried more states, have sufficed to instruct the unusually self-confident Mr. Kennedy that it is prudent to adopt a muted tone in discussing past results and future plans."

Recent radio broadcasts from Communist China, North Korea, North Vietnam and Albania have predicted that the new administration in Washington would continue the "imperialist" policy of President Eisenhower. But broadcasts from the Soviet Union and some of its satellites left open the possibility of a policy change "toward peace."

The Air Force is working on a satellite able to kill enemy vehicles in space, Aviation Week reported. It will be launched in two years, the report said.

In Detroit today an experiment in traffic control was announced. Expressway traffic will be studied using television. Fourteen cameras are being installed along 3.2 miles of freeway.

Heading the New York Times' fiction best seller list are: Hawaii, Advise and Consent, The Leopard and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Under the dateline, "Jerusalem (Israeli Sector)," Lawrence Fellows wrote for the New York Times in a story for publication tomorrow: "The United States has begun to bring renewed pressure on Israel and the Arab states to end their simmering twelve-year old dispute, diplomatic sources reported here today."

A presidential commission today called for the government to take a bigger role in supporting and improving scientific research and education at the nation's universities.

At the United Nations today the Soviet Union and Rumania engaged in sustained verbal assaults on U.S. policy in The Congo, charging collusion with former Belgian leaders and seeking to destroy the country's independence and territorial integrity.

November 18, 1960: Soviet Union Urges Cuba to Stop 'Rattling Soviet Rockets' at US; Che Guevara Courts Peiping

2006-11-18T12:52:00.000-05:00

The Soviet Union has "told the Cubans to quite rattling Soviet rockets against the United States and has warned them that Moscow's relations with Washington, especially with the new Administration of President-elect John F. Kennedy, counted for more in the Kremlin than the Cuban problem as such," New York Times reporter Max Frankel wrote in a story prepared for publication tomorrow. "There are indications that this advice has not been entirely ignored. ...

"On Nov. 8, as the election returns were being tallied in the United States, Premier Castro told the Cuban people that they must defend themselves and not go to sleep with the comfortable knowledge that Soviet rockets would rain upon the United States following any attack on Cuba," the Times reported. ...

"A number of prominent officials in the Castro Government and in the Communist party here [Havana] are known to prefer the more strongly anti-United States and more boldly revolutionary doctrines of the Communist Chinese to Moscow's version of 'peaceful coexistence.' Major Enersto Guevara [director of Cuba's National Bank] is frequently counted among these," Frankel wrote. Guevara is currently in China seeking aid and is also visiting Moscow.

Also today the State Department said the Castro government had received at least 28,000 tons of Soviet arms since January 1959. They include 45,000 Czech automatic rifles, sixty anti-tank guns and eight MIG jet fighters. Castro "has created and armed a military force ten times the size of that of ex-President Fulgencio Batista and far larger than any army in Latin America," the State Department said.

In Peiping Premier Chou-En-lai criticized the United States decision to move Naval ships into place to protect Guatemala and Nicaragua as "brazen." He also said the United States was attempting to "threaten Cuba further by force of arms." Meanwhile, Guatemala and Nicaragua considered invoking the Rio treaty, which allows them to ask members of the Organization of American States to come to their defense, in response to security threats from Cuba.

In Laos, the neutralist government has reportedly decided to form a coalition Cabinet that will include the pro-Communist party.

In the Congo the Army regime threatened force to halt a UN conciliation commission from visiting the country. The regime also broke relations with Ghana.

The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Arleigh Burke said he would retire in August, when his term expires.

November 17, 1960: Navy Ordered to Protect Guatemala and Nicaragua From Red Attack, Telephone 'Magic Service' Offered in Illinois

2006-11-17T08:49:00.000-05:00

U.S. Navy ships were ordered to patrol Central American waters against a possible Communist-led invasion of Guatemala or Nicaragua. The destroyers and carrier-based aircraft were ordered to shoot to prevent an invasion. The State Department told reporters that Cuba's Fidel Castro, supplied with Communist arms, might try to export his revolution. The Cuban government called the U.S. move "Yankee intervention" and said it was the first step in a plan to attack Cuba. "It is believed that the spectacular decision of the White House is part of the plan of provocation against Cuba being carried out by the Pentagon," the newspaper La Calle said.

The neutralist government of Laos said it will establish close relations with Communist China and send goodwill missions to North Vietnam.

In Morris, Illinois, the first electronic central office telephone system was dedicated today. The $25,000,000 American Telephone & Telegraph Company project was described as a major scientific breakthrough, a Cold War victory and "one of the most massive single research and development projects ever sponsored by private enterprise." With the new "bird-dogging" ECO system, a housewife will be able to have her phone calls transferred to her friend's house next door when she visits for coffee. A report prepared for publication tomorrow said that at the time of the demonstration, "sixty-two special telephones around town were sounding off with a beep vaguely resembling the sound of an oboe instead of ringing in the time-honored fashion.

"Of these 62 special phones, fifteen could produce two or three of the 'magic services' for which the system was designed. ... Illinois Bell has 4,500 customers and hopes eventually to have 600 'magic service customers.' Mrs. Alyce Taraba, chief operator for dial service, today made personal calls on the 'magic service' customers and explained the new system. She also left a pocket-size card for those with poor memories and minimal mechanical ability. ... Roswel C. Hyde, a Federal Communications Commission commissioner, said at the ceremony that the experiment was a 'political milestone' in the struggle for world leadership."

Also today, this report on "electronic aids" was prepared for tomorrow's edition of the New York Times: "New advances in physics research that raise the possibility of a whole new family of electronic devices were made public yesterday. The devices foreseen from the research would be able to perform many of the electronic functions of conventional vacuum tubes and transistors. They would have important advantages in versatility, extremely small size, simplicity, ease and economy of manufacture.

"The basic purpose of such devices would be the control and regulation of electric impulses. Potential applications are seen in the fields of radar, computers and similar complex systems. At a news conference yesterday, Dr. Guy Suits, vice president and director of research of General Electric Company, said the advances constituted 'an important scientific discovery' that also had 'raised the clear possibility of a whole new family of electronic devices.'

"The research has linked two rather exotic fields of physics -- one concerned with superconductivity and the other with the electronic process called 'tunneling.'"

November 16, 1960: Nixon Wins California Vote, Eisenhower Orders Big Cuts

2006-11-16T08:56:00.000-05:00

Vice President Nixon won California in the presidential vote that took place earlier this month, it was announced today. A count of absentee ballots reversed Kennedy's lead and gave the state's 32 electoral votes to Nixon. The absentee votes were 132,168 for Nixon and 84,458 to Kennedy. The overall count was 3,219,211 for Nixon, 3,206,051 for Kennedy.

The outcome in California will not reverse Kennedy's lock on the presidency. With California, Nixon has 223 electoral votes and Kennedy 300. The minimum needed to win the presidency is 269. In Illinois the latest vote count gave Kennedy a lead of 6,397. Nixon carried all of Illinois, except for Cook County, which includes Chicago.

President Eisenhower today ordered the government to cut is foreign spending to stem the drain on US gold reserves caused by the increasing deficit in the balance of payments. If left unchecked the balance of payments deficit could weaken the dollar, Eisenhower said. Much of the savings will come by reducing the number of military dependents living abroad, mostly in Europe and Japan.

France will vote next year on President de Gaulle's plan to let Algerians decide if they want independence from France.

In New Orleans some 2,000 young people rioted. The riots were a protest against school integration. A number of Negroes were attacked by whites. As the violence continued, Negroes were reported to be throwing bricks and bottles at passing cars and busses.

Clark Gable died tonight. He was 59.

November 15, 1960: Kennedy's Popular Vote Margin Dwindles, Thermonuclear Missiles Go to Sea

2006-11-15T06:25:00.000-05:00

President-elect Kennedy lost ground to Vice President Nixon today in the popular vote for president. Kennedy's lead narrowed to 240,399 votes, out of 67 million cast. Kennedy will be the third president in the 20th Century to receive less than 50 percent of the total votes cast, after Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman. In California, Kennedy's lead dropped to 14,453. The state with the narrowest margin is Hawaii, where Nixon won by 141 votes. Nixon received more votes than any other losing candidate ever had. In Illinois, Republican leaders said they would hold a conference on how to prove that Kennedy lost the state's vote. "Although the State Electoral Board awarded Illinois' twenty-seven electoral votes yesterday to the Democrat, Mrs. C. Wayland Brooks, Republican national acommitteewoman from Illinois, said she was encountering strong sentiments against dropping the matter," said a New York Times story prepared for publication tomorrow. "She said numerous state senators had urged her to 'keep going.'" The Navy's first submarine armed with thermonuclear missiles went on regular patrol today. The $11 million, nuclear-powered George Washington, equipped with 16 Polaris missiles, was said to open a new era in warfare. "the George Washington and her following sister ships possess a power and relative invulnerability which will make suicidal any attempt by an aggressor to attack the free world by surprise," President Eisenhower said. Admiral Arleigh Burke, chief of Naval Operations, said to the crew, "your ship and the missiles it carries will contribute to the salvation of civilization, for you man the most powerful weapons system ever devised." By 1965 the Navy hopes to have 45 Polaris subs.

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November 14, 1960: California tilting toward Nixon, Kennedy May Seek Unity Government

2006-11-14T06:24:00.000-05:00

Vice President Nixon gained ground against Sen. Kennedy in California today. In the count of absentee votes, 60 percent were going to Nixon, who is now behind by 24,091 votes. California's 32 electoral votes would not be enough to swing the election to Nixon. Kennedy gained ground in Illinois, increasing his margin to 6,397 votes. Republicans are pushing for a recount in the Democratic wards of Chicago, where, they charge, 100,000 votes were stolen for Kennedy. In the nationwide popular vote, Kennedy has a lead of 268,871. Sen. Kennedy may be seeking a government of national unity after his narrow electoral victory. But Kennedy offered no official position to Nixon when the two met for an hour today in Key Biscayne, Florida, at Kennedy's urging. Kennedy, however, may be considering other Republicans for his administration. In New Orleans two white schools were integrated as federal deputy marshals escorted four Negro girls to class, through angry white crowds. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court decided today that a state cannot change a city's boundaries to exclude all Negro voters. An Air Force plane today caught a capsule in mid-air after it was ejected from an orbiting satellite and parachuted to earth. Nixon could have won the presidency if he had denounced anti-Catholic bigotry, sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset said today. Nixon "would have held the bigot vote anyway, and he would have won anti-bigot votes," Lipset said.

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November 13, 1960: Indochina Instability Analyzed, Louisiana Desegregation Impasse, JFK and Nixon to Meet in Florida

2006-11-13T07:32:00.000-05:00

"The tensions, and instability that afflict the Indochina peninsula were exemplified anew Friday when army units revolted at Saigon against the South Vietnam Government of President Ngo Dinh Diem," the New York Times reported today. "The attempted coup came three months after a similar army uprising at Vientiane overturned the Government of Laos. ...

"The Saigon insurgents maintained their aim was not to change President Ngo Dinh Diem's policy of all-out opposition to the Communist menace in South Vietnam or to modify the republic's close relations with the United States and other powers opposed to communism. They said they objected to certain characteristics of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime and simply wished to replace it with a Government that would be more popular and effective. ...

"A Roman Catholic, Ngo Dinh Diem has directed a Government that has been remarkably effective and competent considering the manifold problems it has faced. ... Ngo Dinh Diem is widely respected, but he has never had mass popularity because of his aloof nature."

The article gives evidence that his family has benefitted financially from his service and adds that Diem "exercised a strict control of the press and political activities and manipulated elections so that the National Assembly was largely a rubber-stamp body. ...

"The Communists have a considerable political following in the South. Somme South Vietnamese accept the Communist line that they are the true nationalists of the country and that the Ngo Dinh Diem regime relies too much on the United States to be truly independent."

The Louisiana legislature, in special session, blocked desegregation of the state's public schools today. But a federal court judge the state from blocking school integration.

President-elect Kennedy will meet tomorrow with Vice President Nixon in Florida, where both are vacationing. Kennedy will come to Key Biscayne, where Nixon is staying.

In California, election officials began counting 220,000 absentee ballots.

Republican National Committee Chairman Thruston Morton said today that the eleven-state vote recount he requested would not overturn Kennedy's election. But any irregularities "should be fully explored and investigated," he said.

November 12, 1960: President Eisenhower Following Events in Southeast Asia

2006-11-12T10:17:00.000-05:00

"President Eisenhower and his foreign policy aides followed closely today the reports of ferment in South Vietnam and Laos," the New York Times reported on this day in 1960. "Reports of a military coup in Saigon directed at the government of President Ngo Dinh Diem caused deep concern. It was feared that the military action might pave the way to a Communist-sponsored move to take over non-Communist South Vietnam. ...

"There was no immediate comment from the State Department on late reports from Saigon that the revolt against President Ngo Dinh Diem had apparently been crushed. Earlier today, however, the department had issued a statement that said 'it appears clear that the present action 'against the President 'is not Communist-inspired.' ...

"Guerrilla units believed to be loyal to the Ho Chi Minh Government in North Vietnam have become increasingly active in the south. ... There was concern here [Washington] about reports from Laos, where army forces loyal to strongly anti-Communist elements have seized control of the city of Luang Prabgng, the royal capital.

"This action was taken as evidence of growing discontent among royal Laotian Army units against the neutralist policy of Prince Souvana Phouma, the Premier. The Premier has been trying to negotiate a true with the Communist-oriented Pathet Lao movement which as demanded participation in the Government."

In a separate story in today's edition, headlined "Upheavals in Vietnam and Laos Have Roots in Indochina War; Conflict that Freed Nations From France Also Bred Opposition Forces," a news story with no byline explains the background to the current outbreak of fighting.

Today the coup attempt against President Diem ended.

The United States Air Fforce today put the Discoverer XVII military satellite into a polar orbit about the Earth. It was circling the planet once every 96 minutes.

The House Democratic leadership may remove a Mississippi representative from the Rules Committee to "to break a potentially troublesome bottleneck for President-elect John F. Kennedy's legislative program," according to a story prepared for publication tomorrow in the Times.

In New Orleans a state official cancelled school for Monday to prevent desegregation.

It was "a miracle" that Sen. John F. Kennedy was elected president, one of his chief strategists said today. The Democratic victory was due to serious mistakes by Vice President Nixon, including not concentrating on the industrial Northern states.

"George W. Milias, California vice chairman of the Nixon Lodge Campaign Committee, contended ... that the results of the national election were still 'inconclusive,'" according to a Times story prepared for publication tomorrow.

November 11, 1960: Republican Official Asks for Multi-State Vote Recount, Nixon Distances Himself from Effort

2006-11-11T12:49:00.000-05:00

Republican National Committee Chairman Thruston Morton today asked party officials in Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas to take legal action leading to vote recounts. Nixon would need 51 electoral votes from these states as well as a victory in California, where votes continued to be counted.

Vice President Nixon distanced himself from the recount drive, saying he had abandoned his attempt to win the presidency. He said he knew nothing of Morton's actions. Nixon was in Florida with his family, traveling to Key Biscayne. Nixon press spokesman Herbert Klein said "We ran a race, the votes have been cast and we accept the decision," adding that there was only "a mathematical possibility" of victory.

President-elect Kennedy was also vacationing in Florida, where he said he would work to achieve controlled disarmament.

Meanwhile, Mississippi's eight unpledged electors decided to use their votes to try and block the election of Sen. John F. Kennedy. They said they would vote for neither Kennedy nor Nixon. "At the moment the vote in two large states is so close that we still cherish the hope that we might yet succeed in the great cause for constitutional government," said Governor Ross Barnett, referring to California and Illinois. If Kennedy were to lose Illinois and California he would have 273 electoral votes, four more than needed for election.

"Any southern state then joining Mississippi in casting its electoral votes for a third man would block the election and throw it into the House, where each state gets one vote," the Associated Press wrote in a story to be distributed tomorrow. "Five of Alabama's electors are pledged to Senator Kennedy and six are unpledged. ... The Governor asked electors of other southern states, some of whom are not bound by law to support the party nominee, 'to reappraise their positions with the full knowledge that they have it within their power to join with us and save their people from imminent social and economic chaos.' ...

"The unpledged electors hoped the election would be so close that no candidate could win without Mississippi's help. They would then trade their votes for civil rights concessions, or work for the election of a compromise candidate."

Kennedy added 8,000 votes to his lead over Nixon in the popular vote. Kennedy is now ahead by 278,832 votes out of 66,975,626 counted, or 50.2 percent of the votes cast for the two major parties. "Though the popular vote was almost even, and still could conceivably shift to Mr. Nixon, the vice president's chances of capturing a majority of the electoral college still seemed remote," a New York Times story prepared for publication tomorrow said.

"The Associated Press tabulation showed [Kennedy] had unofficially carried 22 states with 300 electoral votes, 31 more than than he needed to win. Moreover, Mr. Kennedy still led by a reed-slim margin in California, with 32 electoral votes. ... In Missouri Senator Kennedy's lead dwindled to 22,175 votes ... with all but five of the state's 4,371 precincts counted.

"The unofficial tally was 925,081 for Senator Kennedy and 902,906 for Mr. Nixon. The counting of the absentee votes began yesterday in some counties but was not expected to be completed until next week. ... [T]he state Republican chairman said it was conceivable that the absentee count might give the state to Mr. Nixon. In ... Illinois, latest returns indicated that Mr. Kennedy would probably hold a lead of about 6,000 over Mr. Nixon. Of only 13 precincts that have not yet reported, 11 ware in Chicago, where Mr. Kennedy's vote was heaviest."

In St. Louis, the local chapter of the Missouri Restaurant Association approved the serving of Negro customers.

In New Orleans plans were advanced by two days for a special session of the legislature to block school integration.

In Alabama, the state attorney general defied a federal court order and refused to surrender voting records to "the civil rights mob in Washington."

In South Vietnam the rebellion against President Ngo Diem collapsed after heavy fighting.

In Leopoldville, the Congo, United Nations troops opened fire in the face of rioting over the Army's arrest of Cleophas Kamitau, a supporter of deposed Premier Patrice Lumumba.

In Laos, a key army officer abandoned the neutralist government and shifted his loyalties to the pro-Western Rightists.

In Algeria, thousands of young men who favored a "French Algeria" fought with police.

October 10, 1960: Kennedy will Retain Dulles at CIA and Hoover at FBI, Republicans Split on Whether to Challenge Balloting, Coup Reported in Vietnam

2006-11-10T11:02:00.000-05:00

President-elect John F. Kennedy said today he would retain Allen Dulles as head of the CIA. Dulles has served every president since Woodrow Wilson. Kennedy also pledged to retain J. Edgar Hoover as head of the FBI. In Austin, Texas, Vice President-elect Lyndon Johnson, still dressed in a bathrobe after rising late, conferred by telephone with Kennedy and Democratic leaders from his fourth-floor suite at the Driskill Hotel.

The head of the Republican National Committee, Thruston Morton, said he did not share the opinion of some that investigations into reports of voting fraud could lead to a reversal of the election outcome. "I personally know of now fraud and I am sure that Senator Kennedy does not." However, a RNC spokesman said earlier that complaints of fraud had been received, mostly from Illinois, Texas, the Carolinas, Michigan and New Jersey.

In Chicago, the US Attorney's office announced it would convene a grand jury to hear complaints of fraud in five Chicago wards. Reporting on on the announcement, the Associated Press would report, "There are those in the Nixon camp who -- far from conceding Illinois to Mr. Kennedy -- contend Vice President Nixon will be proved the victor."

In California, Kennedy retained his lead as votes continued to be counted. His margin was 37,146 out of 6,250,000 votes cast, excluding absentee ballots, which have yet to be counted. As many as 200,000 voters requested absentee ballots. Benjamin Hite, the Los Angeles County registrar said, "Personally, it is rather hard for me to believe that the absentee returns can overcome the Kennedy lead."

Meanwhile, Hawaii's three electoral votes were put in the Republican column and Nixon widened his small lead in vote counting in Alaska, which has three electoral votes.

The New York Times prepared a report for tomorrow's edition summing up the fluid situation by saying, "The closeness of the vote in many states led some Republicans yesterday to musing about recounts and the possibility of changing the result. But it would take a wholly unlikely combination of accidents ro reduce Senator Kennedy's electoral-vote total below the majority of 269. The result will be official Dec. 19, when the Presidential electors meet in their respective state capitals."

There was an attempted military coup today in South Vietnam. Five battalions of the South Vietnamese army staged the uprising and a Military Revolutionary Committee said it had overthrown the government of President Ngo Dinh Diem. President Diem's palace guard put up stiff resistance. The fate of President Diem was unknown. Diem, who has been battling the Communists, has strong backing from the United States.

In Bonn, West Germany, Chancellor Adenauer proposed a meeting between Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev "to achieve a rapprochement." Adenauer conceives of the meeting as a preliminary to a summit between leaders of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union.

At the United Nations a General Assembly committee recommended seating a Congolese delegation headed by President Joseph Kasavubu.

In New Orleans, Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis called a special legislative session. Davis want to block the desegregation of public schools.

In a northern suburb of Paris Algerian terrorists used sub-machine guns to shoot up a crowded cafe. They killed seven and wounded an eighth.

November 9, 1960: It's Kennedy By the Slimmest of Margins

2006-11-09T21:18:00.000-05:00

The presidential vote count this evening gave Sen. John F. Kennedy 300 electoral votes, 31 more than the 269 needed to win. Vice President Richard Nixon had 185. Another 52 electoral votes had not yet been awarded.

In the popular vote, Kennedy was leading by about 300,000 out of 66 million votes cast, a plurality of less than one half of one percent, the smallest since 1880. Democrats retained their control of the House and Senate.

Illinois was one of the key states that went for Kennedy. Nixon was ahead in the state in late balloting until "a last batch of Chicago votes was produced for Mr. Kennedy," as the New York Times would report tomorrow.

Kennedy won by about 6,000 votes in Illinois, 22,000 in New Jersey, 60,000 in Texas and 65,000 in Michigan.

in the voting Kennedy took an early lead, which diminished as vote counting continued and at one point "it seemed as if concessions and claims of a victory for Senator John F. Kennedy might have to be withdrawn," The New York Times reports tomorrow.

"The basic problem was that a Kennedy tide that seemed to be funning strongly until about midnight began to trickle off as yesterday morning wore on. Added to this were too-optimistic Kennedy reports from the key states of Illinois and California.

In its second Late City Edition, which began to come off the presses shortly after 2 AM, the New York Times carried a headline reading: 'Kennedy Elected President.' ... At 7 AM the Times modified the headline it had been carrying since 2:30 AM. Now instead of calling Senator Kennedy 'elected,' the Times declared: 'Kennedy is Apparent Victor.'

By this time Mr. Kennedy's prospects had improved slightly. He needed only eleven electoral votes to win, and he could get these by holding California or Illinois or by winning Minnesota. Mr. Nixon had to win all three states and some others besides. Mr. Kennedy took Minnesota by about noon."

Nixon sent Kennedy a telegram about 12 hours after the polls closed conceding defeat.

The Ford Motor Company today named a 44-year-old former professor of accounting as its new chief executive. Robert S. McNamara has been a Ford Vice President and group executive in charge of the car and truck division since 1957.

November 8, 1960: Uncertain Election Results Favor Kennedy, Fighting Erupts in South Vietnam

2006-11-08T09:09:00.000-05:00

In Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, tonight Sen. John F. Kennedy watched his early lead over Vice President Nixon narrow as the evening progressed and refused to claim victory before Nixon conceded defeat.

Nixon watched the returns come in at his suite in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and later "virtually concedes," according to a report written to appear the next day.

In California, with 32 electoral votes, Kennedy maintained a lead over Nixon. Nixon, however, remained confident of winning his home state once absentee ballots were counted.

In Illinois Kennedy maintained a slim lead.

Despite the uncertain returns, New York Times reporter James Reston prepared a story for tomorrow's edition of his paper saying it "appeared" Kennedy had won election.

Another story prepared this evening for tomorrow's paper says, "... in the final hours of Election Day we do not collectively know what we have decided."

But TV computers were more confident: "Electronic computers at the television networks produced contradictory early forecasts ... but finally agreed in predicting a substantial victory for Senator John F. Kennedy."

In Saigon, the government charged Communist North Vietnam with aggression. There has been fierce fighting recently around Kontum in South Vietnam.

The Saigon government said the Communists attacked from their bases in the North, crossing territory in Laos with major units in an effort to take control of a "vast region" and stage further attacks against the South. A coup last August in Laos toppled a pro-Western government and installed rulers friendly to the Communists.

In Peiping tonight Chairman Mao Tse-tung, head of China's Communist party, attended a Soviet Embassy reception celebrating the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution.

There was a parade of Soviet rocket power in Moscow's Red Square today. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev later declared that peace was at hand.

Vice President Nixon ended his drive for the presidency tonight, urging voters to "put America first" when going to the polls.

November 7, 1960: NYC Subway Bomb Kills One, Nixon Would Send Eisenhower to Eastern Europe, Kennedy 'Stature' Said to Have Grown in Campaign, TV Hit

2006-11-07T09:26:00.000-05:00

"A young woman was killed and eighteen persons were injured last night in a bomb explosion" on a subway train, the New York Times reported today. "The blast was the fifth here since Oct. 2 and the first to cause death. All the explosions have taken place on city property. The bomb detonated ... as the train ... stood in the station with its doors open.... The explosive had been placed under a single seat at the rear of the fifth car of the six-car train."

"Vice President Nixon said tonight that if elected President he would propose sending President Eisenhower on a mission to Eastern European countries. He said he would invite the Communist leaders of those nations to visit the United States," the Times also reported today.

"Senator John F. Kennedy appears to have a substantial lead over Vice President Nixon as their campaign for the Presidency enters its final day, according to a nation-wide check of informed political opinion," The Times reports today. "However, most of those in close touch with the political picture in the fifty states added a big 'if' to their analyses.

"Senator Kennedy could fall short of victory, they said, if unmeasurable influences on the voters or a last-minute shift to the Vice President gave the latter all the doubtful states. ... Senator Kennedy, the Democratic candidate, is ahead in nineteen states with a total of 244 electoral votes, twenty-five short of an electoral majority of 269 votes. Vice President Nixon, the Republican candidate, is leading in sixteen states with a total of 109 electoral votes."

C.L. Sulzeberger writes in his column today: "We cannot tell in advance whether the electoral winner will be a great President. It is always difficult to tell in advance. No one foresaw that Jefferson would be an empire-builder, that Polk would conduct a strong foreign policy or that Buchanan would lack competence.

"However, on the record of this overlong campaign, whose duration is more than the world can forever afford, the personality and stature of Kennedy have grown perceptibly while those of Nixon have shown little sign of change. Only Kennedy has in any sense seemed to emit a charismatic aura of popular leadership, the kind of aura emitted by Franklin Roosevelt and by Eisenhower when they campaigned for office."

The National Chairman of the Writers Guild of America said, "TV is not intended to be moral or cultural uplift," the Times reported today. "It is entirely devoted to a specific form of advertising, namely brainwashing. The sole object is to condition the reflexes of all potential customers as if they were Pavlov's dogs. ... The so-called entertainment portion has the single function of associating the product with the common good [for sale]. The formal commercial specifies the product's brand label."

November 6, 1960: Max Frankel Describes Cuba as Land of Rumors

2006-11-06T11:53:00.000-05:00

"The one thing the [Cuban] revolution appears not to have disturbed in Cuba is the national production of bolas," Max Frankel reports from Havana on this day in 1960. "A bola is a ball, and in Cuba it is a fastball, a rumor that rolls out of control through the sunny streets and muddy can fields. Customarily, players in and out of revolutionary and counterrevolutionary uniforms take part in the bola game, vying for status and incidentally frightening one another to death.

"This week has been especially productive here. It has also been revealing, for it demonstrated that the Cuban Government was the prize boa player of them all. While the street-corner whisperers were playing on Monday with the bola that the Government was ready to wrest all children over 6 from parental control, on Tuesday with the bola that all escape routes to the United States were about to be sealed, and on Wednesday with the bola that all Cubans who failed to don militia uniforms would be shot in case of trouble, the Government successfully created the specter of invasion and handily captured every imagination. ...

"Above all, the Castro Government this week was engaged in purveying warnings of 'imminent' invasion. The warnings were broadcast hourly and headlined morning and evening in huge black and blue type. They were sounded by Premier Castro on the field and by his Foreign Minister, Dr. Roa, at the United Nations, and they were played back in endless echoes to the accompaniment of dire pledges of support from Premier Khrushchev and Communists around the world. ...

"It is certainly no secret that the United States Government wants Dr. Castro deposed. And the memory of Big Power intervention and engineered coups is etched deeply into the Latin American mind. Miami and Dade County in Florida are crawling with Cubans vowing vengeance and the Fidelista mind cannot be expected easily to separate these asylumed exiles from the designs of the nation that is their host.

"But other observers here insisted that the Castro Government was better informed, that it knew -- as others know -- the exiles to be hopelessly divided into more than sixty groupings, poorly controlled, poorly trained and poorly armed -- hardly a match for the Castro army and militia in sovereign command of a fortified island.

"And these observers believed the Castro Government sufficiently sophisticated to realize that the United States could not afford the diplomatic defeat of a military victory over the Cuban revolution."

November 5, 1960: Kennedy's Cuba Stance a 'Whopper' But Nixon Has Short Memory on Guatemala

2006-11-05T10:36:00.000-05:00

"Mr. Nixon's basic strategy has been to portray Mr. Kennedy as a brash young man aspiring to an office for which he is unqualified, in contrast to himself -- experienced, imperturbable, hardened in the fires of the kitchen debate with Khrushchev and countless missions as a Presidential surrogate," the Nation magazine writes in an editorial on this day in 1960.

"In the controversy over American policy in Cuba, Mr. Kennedy played right onto Mr. Nixon's hands. In Milwaukee, the Senator protested: 'I have never advocated and I do not advocate intervention in Cuba in violation of our treaty obligations.' But this is not the impression millions of TV viewers got when he made his original statement.

"In trying to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was not soft on Castro, the Senator made a mistake, and it was a whopper. In accordance with the mores of elections, he did not admit the mistake, but pleaded that he had been misunderstood. This was hardly calculated to gladden the hearts of the more discerning among his supporters, but the manner and method of Mr. Nixon's riposte were such as to confirm then in their conviction that they were in the right camp.

"The Vice President ... castigated Mr. Kennedy's stand and contrasted it with his own, which is that we could deal with the Castro government as the Eisenhower Administration dealt with the Arbenz regime in Guatemala. Mr. Nixon described this as a policy of 'quarantine' which encouraged the people of Guatemala to rise in their wrath and expel the Reds. ... The Vice President ... seems to think that not only the common man but all the political commentators suffer from political amnesia.

"In this instance, he was quickly disillusioned. Newspapers all over the country pointed out that the Guatemalan government was overthrown by an insurrection prepared and managed by the Government of the United States, which supplied the money, the weapons and the strong-arm diplomacy in the Security Council and the Organization of American States. And Vice President Richard M. Nixon was high in the councils of the Administration which engineered what he now depicts as a democratic revolution.

"The rocks and rotten tomatoes which greeted him on his most recent trip to South America should have warned him that memories are not as short as he thinks.

"The important thing now is not so much the effect on the election of the Kennedy-Nixon argument over Cuba, but what will happen after the election, or perhaps even before it. ... If the American election paves the way for an American Hungary in the Western Hemisphere, it will be an evil augury for the next administration, whether under Kennedy or Nixon."

November 4, 1960: Eisenhower Criticizes Kennedy as 'Young Genius' and Calls Candidate's Peace Corps Proposal 'Immature'

2006-11-04T15:27:00.000-05:00

President Eisenhower today derided Sen. John F. Kennedy as a "young genius." In Pittsburgh the president warned of the threat that "communism would darken the light of the world" and added this: "This international struggle defines the character, scope and importance of every domestic question argued and publicized in this political campaign.

"The primary importance of these debated issues is their effect upon our ability to win the ideological war. ... When the push of a button may mean obliteration of countless humans, the president of the United States must be forever on guard against any inclination on his part to impetuosity; to arrogance; to headlong action; to expediency; to facile maneuvers; even to the popularity of an action as opposed to the rightness of an action."

In Cleveland, during the same campaign swing, Eisenhower said this of the Democrats and Kennedy: "More money, they say will be saved by military reorganization. Where did this young genius acquire the knowledge, experience and wisdom through which he will make such vast improvements over the work of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the dedicated civilian and service men who have given their lives to this work?"

Eisenhower also criticized Kennedy's Peace Corps proposal: "Within the last few days I have heard of a plan for forming a great corps of 'workers for peace.' The time given to this project -- for which the federal government would of course pay -- would be a substitute for a tour of duty in the uniformed service.

"This is apparently intended as one of the new ideas that will help produce the New Frontier. Strangely enough this brand new plan is amazingly similar to a proposal made in 1954 in a book by Heinz Rollman, who is not a member of the party whose spokesman made the recent announcement. Mr. Rollman, the original author, is the Republican candidate for Congress from the Twelfth District of North Carolina. It makes us wonder how many other porposals are equally not original and not new -- merely immature."

Eisenhower also criticized appeals to individual voting blocks: "... in this campaign we witness a deliberate appeal to Americans, not as Americans, but as members of specific groups. This can only promote an intolerable antagonism between economic and social elements of our country. In that, there is profit for none.

"No group in our sort of society can for long prosper unless all groups prosper. When we cease to recognize ourselves as full and equal citizens of the United States and act as selfish members of a selfish group concerned only with our own interests, we fragmentize America. Thereby we reduce the probability of achieving any of the goals that all of us seek and that we can achieve -- when we work as a united people, free from the labels of division."

In Chicago today, Sen. John F. Kennedy said the primary issue of the campaign was "world freedom or world slavery, world peace or world war."

November 3, 1960: Eisenhower campaigns for Republican Ticket Without 'Near-Hysteria' of Kennedy Rally

2006-11-03T10:08:00.000-05:00

"A kind of self-possessed enthusiasm prevailed yesterday among the large crowds that turned out here [in New York] to see President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge," the New York Times reports today.

"The overall crowds that cheered the President and the Republican Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates seemed about as large as those that came out last week for Senator John F. Kennedy, the Democratic nominee. But there was little of the near-hysteria that Mr. Kennedy was able to induce in his partisans.

"The greatest visual excitement occurred in the Wall Street area, where the sidewalks were jammed and the confetti and ticker tape was so thick that it appeared as if the first snowstorm of the season had struck. Near Exchange Place, a policeman's motorcycle became entangled in the wads of paper, and stalled.

"'This is marvelous,' a 'Nixon Girl' in one of the press buses in the motorcade said."

President Eisenhower said, "There have been no further gains of territory or population by Communist imperialism in any area where American influence and arms were involved. We have successfully withstood an intensive campaign by the Soviet Union to absorb all of Berlin.

"Moreover, the number of peoples who defect from Communist-controlled states is measured annually in the hundreds of thousands. And I point out, and I point out that when people by the coountelss thousands will risk everything, including their lives, for the chance to join us on freedom's side of the Iron Curtain, there is no question in their minds about America's leadership.

"My friends, there is no question in your minds. In fact there seems to be only one individual who's bewailing America's strength and weakness, and he happens to be a political -- the only one who's doing this kind of worrying is a political candidate and he's not here tonight."