Americans have currently watched a changing political contest by the emergence of Vice President Kamala Harris replacing President Biden to represent the Democratic Party. Although both political parties held their conventions, the Republicans and Democrats criticized each other, and there is an expected debate that will continue to argue the direction of these party leaders. During our history, there are candidates who ran for the presidency with contrasting views, attributes, and age.
Ladies and gentlemen, when Abraham Lincoln was nominated in 1860, and a committee brought the news to him at his home in Springfield, Illinois, his reply was two sentences long. Then, while his friends and neighbors waited in the street, and while bonfires lit up the May evening, he said simply, "And now I will not longer defer the pleasure of taking you, and each of you, by the hand."
I wish I could do the same— speak two sentences, and then take each one of you by the hand, all of you who are in sound of my voice. If I could do so, I would first thank you individually for your confidence and your trust. Then, as I am sure Lincoln did as he moved among his friends in the light of the bonfires, we could pause and talk a while about the questions that are uppermost in your mind.
I am sure that one topic would dominate all the rest. That topic is: the future.”
-President Dwight D. Eisenhower
These were the words of Eisenhower, as he addressed the 1956 Republican Convention to win another presidential term. After suffering from a heart attack and being cleared by his doctor, Eisenhower ran again under the slogan" ‘We Like Ike.” Under his guidance, the country greatly prospered, families and homes grew across this nation, along with the road system that was widely developed to connect the suburbs and the urban areas. Eisenhower dealt with the Suez Crisis that led to strains with our British and French allies, as he tried to prevent the expansion of Soviet power in the Middle East. While he supported the Hungarian revolt against the Soviet Union, he militarily refused to send aid, over the fears of war against this Super Power. America saw the creation of NASA and the greater establishment of rockets and space technology that slowly but were successfully developed.
Eisenhower enforced the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling when he sent federal troops to desegregate schools and to safeguard the passage of black students. Fully armed soldiers supported the students as Eisenhower was on the phone with the army commander to enforce this Supreme Court ruling. It would have been amazing to see Eisenhower engage President Abraham Lincoln as two of the major Republican leaders in our history who handled major military and domestic affairs. Eisenhower with his trademark “grin” and the “storytelling” ability of Lincoln to utilize a folksy brilliance to explain his goals and presidential direction. After retiring from public office, this historic men became an unofficial military security advisor to next several leaders until his death on March 28th, 1969.
“I am telling you what you are entitled to know: As I come before you seeking your support for the most powerful office in the free world -- I am saying to you that my decisions on every public policy will be my own, as an American, as a Democrat, and as a free man.
I mention all of this only because this country faces so many serious challenges, so many great opportunities, so many burdensome responsibilities that I hope that it is to those great matters that we can address ourselves in the coming months. And if this statement of mine makes it easier to concentrate on our Nation's problems, then I'm glad that I have made it.” – Senator John F. Kennedy
Offering a different political perspective for the United States as it entered the 1960s were the words of JFK to accept his Democratic bid to become President in 1960. Growing up with immense wealth, education, and opportunities from his family fortune, JFK believed that America entered a new age, and it needed a better direction. While Eisenhower was viewed as a “grandfatherly” figure who was a trusted leader during World War II and the Cold War, JFK presented a changing generation of citizens. JFK was considered “American royalty,” but many Americans liked the “youth movement” of this popular figure, while others were alarmed over his lack of experience and even his Catholic faith.
JFK was a talented writer, historian, and debate speaker who outperformed his opponent Vice President Richard M. Nixon on television. He shared some similarities with American citizens from his World War II moments as a combat officer in the Pacific/Asia by being decorated for his leadership on PT-109. During the “Baby Boom” population growth, younger parents liked to see JFK and his family in the White House. This junior senator was elected to several terms as a representative after World War II, was firmly opposed to the spread of communism and he promoted greater legislation that eventually led to the Civil Rights Acts of 1964-1965. As Eisenhower was significantly older than JFK, on a cold winter day in January, political adversaries were together to support the peaceful transfer of power. Both men later met at Camp David after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, as JFK could be seen looking like the student from the direction that was presented to him by an iconic older teacher in Eisenhower.