JFK's Presidential Campaign |
"Jack, if you don't want the job, you don't have to take it.
They're still counting votes up in Cook County." - Joe Kennedy |
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- If Joe Kennedy had one area of expertise, it was manipulating the media. Long before spin doctors and political gurus talked of "packaging" presidential candidates, Joe shaped Jack's image more effectively than any Madison Avenue executive. "We're going to sell Jack like soap flakes," Joe said.
- In fact, Joe routinely paid off publishers as well as public officials to get what he wanted. Thomas Winship, the editor of the Boston Globe, recalled that Joe routinely "gave cases of Haig & Haig Pinch Bottle Scotch to press people - to people at the Globe, to political writers, and to a lot of people in Washington."
- Joe sent expensive jewelry to female columnists, a confidant said, and gave cash to others. "He distributed a substantial amount to journalists," the confidant said. In addition, "Reporters took consulting assignments. Some of these guys were pretty amenable to consulting fees and gifts." Columnists, especially, were "for sale" - not to mention politicians. For such purposes, Joe always kept large stashes of cash.
- Joe's friend and confidant Frank Morrissey recalled that Joe had once called him to Hyannis Port to help him move $1 million in cash from the basement of his home. "A big northeast storm was coming up, and the old man was afraid a lot of the cash would get wet," Morrissey said. |
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- Already, Joe had persuaded a top television executive in New England to give Jack lessons in going before a camera. "He was consumed by the fact that TV would make the difference in the presidential election," the executive said. As one aide put it, "The old politicians relied on their experience, but Joe and his boys left nothing to chance." Joe, it seemed, had "learned a lot of tricks from the movies" during his Hollywood days. |
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- Henry Luce, a long time friend and ally of Joe Kennedy, was editor-in-chief and principal stockholder in Time Inc. The founder of Time and Life, Luce was arguably the most powerful publisher in America, and Joe had cultivated their relationship since his Roosevelt days. For years, Luce had given Joe frequent and complimentary press coverage in the magazines he controlled, and Luce's equally favorable coverage of Joe's son had been critical to JFK's early campaigns.
- In 1956, Luce was vacationing with Joe on the Riviera when he cabled his editors and suggested they devote more space to Jack Kennedy, who "was emerging as a national figure."
- In November 1957, Fortune magazine listed Joe Kennedy as one of the sixteen wealthiest people in the country, with a net worth of $200 to $400 million.
- On December 2, 1957, Jack's smiling face appeared for the first time on the cover of Time magazine. As ordained by Joe, he had just begun his bid for the presidency.
- George Smathers, a family friend and Senator from Florida, claimed that "Joe had a good deal to do with getting Luce to put Jack on the cover of Time. Jack had not made any great record as a congressman or senator. It was nothing outstanding in terms of what others were doing. Lots of congressmen had more legislative accomplishments than Jack." Giving such prominence to a fledgling candidate was unusual, and the cover story which called Jack the "Democratic Whiz of 1957" gave him a tremendous boost.
- Just weeks before Jack appeared on the cover of Time, Joe had bragged to his friend Cardinal Spellman, "I just bought a horse for $75,000, and for another $75,000, I put Jack on the cover of Time." Spellman recalled that Joe was "very proud of the fact that he had spent $75,000, and now he would not have to spend as much on advertising." The sum was equivalent to $385,000 today. "He did not say whether he paid it directly to Luce," Spellman added.
- Several months later when Jack learned that Life magazine was going to run a story saying that evangelist Billy Graham was coming out for Nixon, Jack called Luce to complain that the story would be unfair. When Joe called and put the pressure on, Luce ordered the story killed. |
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- During an interview on ABC-TV in December 1958, Eleanor Roosevelt said that "Senator Kennedy's father has been spending oodles of money all over the country, and probably has a paid representative in every state by now." She said she had been told that Joe would spend "any money" to make his son the first Catholic president. Many people told her of money spent by Joe on Jack's behalf. "Building an organization is permissible," she said, "but giving too lavishly may seem to indicate a desire to influence through money."
- Joe solicited author William Bradford Huie to distribute cash to politicians who would help Jack, according to what Huie later told a Time reporter. Huie said he routinely made payoffs of $1000 (equivalent to $4800 today), and promised he would reveal more details, but died before he could. |
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- Meanwhile, Joe cranked up the media campaign. In October 1959, Look began running a series of articles about Jack. Prepared with the family's cooperation, they may as well have been written by Joe himself.
- One article declared that Jack was in excellent health, when in fact he had been diagnosed in 1947 as having Addison's disease, a failure of the adrenal glands. When a Boston reporter suggested that Jack should disclose his health history, a Kennedy aide replied, "No, old Joe doesn't want that to be done. We can't do it now."
- Another article tried to downplay Joe's role in the campaign, fictitiously reporting that Joe had little influence over his son and had no interest in spending money on political campaigns. "In political circles," the article claimed, "the Kennedy's are not regarded as big spenders." |
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- On January 2, 1960, Jack Kennedy formally announced his presidential candidacy, and declared that the White House must be "the center of moral leadership."
- Two months later, Jack began his affair with a former actress named Judith Exner. While seeing Jack, Exner was also seeing Sam Giancana, who was the head of the Chicago Mafia and a former partner in Joe's bootlegging business. Giancana, who was credited with at least two hundred killings, was considered one of the most powerful men in organized crime. He controlled betting, prostitution, loan sharking, and owned interests in three Las Vagas hotels.
- Jack and Bobby identified the West Virginia primary as key to winning the nomination. The state's nomination was ninety-five percent Protestant and a win there would convince convention delegates that Jack's Catholicism would not be an issue in the presidential election.
- Jack's opponent in the Democratic primary was Hubert Humphrey, the senator from Minnesota, who was beloved by West Virginia coal miners for his longtime union support and folksy, old-fashioned campaign style. But Humphrey's small-town ways were no match for the Kennedy bandwagon's deep pockets and high technology. There is no doubt that Jack's huge TV budget also helped.
- The Kennedy men were not content to rely on statesmanship alone. At Jack's request, Exner arranged a meeting for him with Sam Giancana, who agreed to use his influence with West Virginia officials to ensure victory there.
- Giancana sent his lieutenant, Paul "Skinny" D'Amato, into West Virginia to get out the vote. D'Amato met with sheriffs who controlled the state's political machine. He forgave debts many of them had run up at his 500 Club in Atlantic City and handed cash payments to others.
- FBI wiretaps reveal that Frank Sinatra also distributed large mob donations to pay off election officials.
- Years later, in a People magazine story, Exner described how she had introduced Sam Giancana to Jack, who asked for the mob's help in financing the campaign. While it is not documented, it is clear Giancana gave money to the campaign. After the election, an FBI wiretap picked up Giancana talking with Johnny Roselli, a mob associate. He said his donation had been "accepted", yet complained that Bobby Kennedy, whom Jack had appointed attorney general, was cracking down on organized crime. He said he expected that "one of these days, the guy will do me a favor...."
- Giancana apparently had believed that in helping Kennedy's campaign, he was gaining a friend in the White House and protection from future prosecution by the government. |
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- Meanwhile, Joe was funneling money to politicians to swing the West Virginia primary.
- Tip O'Neill recalled that Eddie Ford, a Boston real-estate man, "went out there with a pocket full of money." O'Neill said Ford would "see the sheriff, and he'd say to the sheriff, 'Sheriff, I'm from Chicago. I'm on my way south. I love this young Kennedy boy. He can help this nation, by God. He'll do things for West Virginians. I'll tell you what. Here's $5000. You carry your village for him or your county for him, and I'll give you a little reward when I'm on my way back.' "
- O'Neill said, "They passed money around like it was never seen." |
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- One of the most important contributions Joe Kennedy made to his son's campaign was to create the Ken-Air Corporation, purchase for it a $385,000 Corvair twin-engine turboprop airplane, and then lease it to the candidate for the ridiculous sum of $1.75 a mile. Joe got a large tax deduction, while the plane gave Jack a tremendous advantage over Hubert Humphrey in the Democratic primary.
- While Humphrey either wasted time waiting around airports for commercial flights or lumbered about in his campaign bus, Jack Kennedy sped here and there in his private plane, covering more territory in less time and at less expense. |
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- In providing the cash for Jack's campaign, Joe Kennedy used the Catholic Church and, in particular, Cardinal Cushing. One of the couriers told author Peter Maas how it worked:
For example, if Boston area churches had collected $950,000 on a particular Sunday from collections, Joe would write a check for $1 million to the diocese, deduct it as a charitable contribution, and receive the $950,000 in cash. Thus, in this example, the church got a contribution of $50,000, Joe could deduct the entire amount on his income tax, and he could use the money to pay off politicians without fear that it would be traced.
- "The cash is untraceable," Maas said. "Part of the money goes to the diocese. He gets a contribution from Joe Kennedy for more than what the cash is. It's brilliant. Nobody can trace the money."
- In 1966, Cushing admitted that he had played a role in making payoffs to ministers. He told Hubert Humphrey, "I'll tell you who elected Jack Kennedy. It was his father, Joe, and me, right here in this room." Cushing explained that he and Joe decided which Protestant ministers should receive "contributions" of $100 to $500. As cushing described the tactic, "It's good for the church, it's good for the preacher, and it's good for the candidate."
- Maas also recalled that as a writer for the Saturday Evening Post he interviewed a political operative in one dirt-poor town in West Virginia who told him his county was for Humphrey. "A few weeks later, I interviewed him again, and he said the county was for Jack. I asked what had changed, and he said with a smile, 'My workers each got $20, and I got $150. We're for Kennedy." |
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- When Jack Kennedy narrowly defeated Hubert Humphrey in theWest Virginia primary, Humphrey withdrew from the presidential race. It was the most important victory of Jack's campaign.
- On July 11 the Democratic National Convention nominated John F Kennedy for president. Some party leaders were leery of Jack, however. Truman opposed him, telling reporters, "I'm not against the Pope, I'm against the Pop." Eleanor Roosevelt regarded Jack as one of "the new managerial elite that has neither principles nor character."
- Meanwhile, Jackie had learned about Jack's philandering and developed a visceral dislike of politics. "She was ready to divorce Jack, and Joe offered her $1 million to stay until Jack entered the White House," said Igor Cassini. "He paid $1 million for her to stay with Jack until he was elected. He didn't tell me, but my brother and I learned about it." |
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- On November 8, 1960, John F Kennedy was elected president, defeating Republican Richard Nixon. Jack received 34,226,731 votes to 34,108,157 for Nixon. The popular vote margin, 118,574, was the equivalent of a win by one vote in every precinct in America.
- Kennedy's Electoral College majority was 303 to 219. The winning margin was provided by the state of Illinois, where in the eleventh hour, the votes that came in from Cook County's mob-dominated West Side put Jack over the top.
- "Actually, and this goes without saying, the presidency was really stolen in Chicago, without a question, by the Democratic machine," recalled mobster Mickey Cohen. "I know that certain people in the Chicago organization knew that they had to get John Kennedy in."
- In the weeks before his inauguration, Jack began interviewing candidates for more than seventy key posts in the new administration. At one point he complained to his father, "Jesus Christ, this one wants that, that one wants this. Goddamn it, you can't satisfy any of these people. I don't know what I'm going to do about it all." Joe Kennedy replied, "Jack, if you don't want the job, you don't have to take it. They're still counting votes up in Cook County." |
