To the Same Old Stand

By rights, no law of politics forbade the Democratic presidential nominee from attacking the Republican nominee-presumptive in his acceptance speech. But when Jack Kennedy took time out for a personal attack on Dick Nixon, his campaign fell back notably from the new frontier to the same old stand.

"We know that our opponents will invoke the name of Abraham Lincoln on behalf of their candidate--despite the fact that his political career has often seemed to show charity toward none and malice for all," he said to mild applause. "We know that it will not be easy to campaign against a man who has spoken and voted on every side of every issue. Mr. Nixon may feel it is his turn now, after the New Deal and the Fair Deal--but before he deals, someone is going to cut the cards.

"Millions of Americans who voted for President Eisenhower [may] balk at electing his successor. For, just as historians tell us that Richard I was not fit to fill the shoes of the bold Henry II, and that Richard Cromwell was not fit to wear the mantle of his uncle, they might add in future years that Richard Nixon did not measure up to the footsteps of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

"Perhaps he could carry on the party policies--the policies of Nixon and Benson and Dirksen and Goldwater. But this nation cannot afford such a luxury. Perhaps we could afford a Coolidge following Harding. And perhaps we could afford a Pierce following Fillmore. But after Buchanan this nation needed Lincoln; after Taft we needed a Wilson; and after Hoover we needed Franklin Roosevelt." Without saying where this put him, Kennedy riffled back again through history for Nixon's benefit. "The Republican nominee, of course, is a young man. But his approach is as old as McKinley. His party is the party of the past--the party of memory. His speeches are generalities from Poor Richard's Almanac ..." Part of the reason that Kennedy's daisy cutter misfired was that he and Nixon are known to have a genuine, longstanding respect for each other--both are ex-naval officers, both members of the freshman congressional class of 1947, both together on such sturdy mid-20th century issues as civil rights, labor reform, foreign aid, etc.

Moreover, Kennedy's running mate, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, has frequently told friends of his private respect and admiration for Nixon. But principally the Nixon attack misfired because Jack Kennedy's campaign had seemed to show promise of something vastly better.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.