Poised for Greatness: John F. Kennedy Announces to Life Magazine He is Leaving for the 1960 Democratic National Convention

An American Treasure: The only known handwritten letter of Kennedy from the historic 1960 presidential campaign

On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy ushered in a new era in the United States with his historic, visionary, and inspirational Inaugural Address. Spellbinding to hear, it seemed to leave behind existing attitudes and limitations, while acting as a clarion call to young and old alike to realize their personal potential while helping build a better nation and world. Some of the inspirational quotations from his address have become legendary, such as: “The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it – and the glow from that fire can truly light the world…And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.” That moment inaugurated a period known to history as Camelot, the brief Kennedy years that infused energy, optimism and excitement throughout the nation and world. Washington was bristling with it, which led to such programs as the Peace Corps, and such major Kennedy policies and achievements as the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The Sixties, which followed from that moment, would have been impossible without it. It was a watershed.

It all began when JFK announced his candidacy for president on January 2, 1960. By July he was the front-runner, but had by no means wrapped up the nomination. The Democratic National Convention started on July 11 and ended on July 15 with Kennedy’s acceptance speech – his New Frontier speech – one in which he stated: “We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier–the frontier of the 1960’s–a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils–a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats. Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom promised our nation a new political and economic framework. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal promised security and succor to those in need. But the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises–it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them….it holds out the promise of more sacrifice instead of more security. But I tell you the New Frontier is here…Beyond that frontier are the uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus…But I believe the times demand new invention, innovation, imagination, decision. I am asking each of you to be pioneers on that New Frontier. My call is to the young in heart, regardless of age–to all who respond to the Scriptural call: ‘Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed.’”

Gail Cameron Westcott was a young reporter at Life Magazine – one of the premier magazines of the day – in 1960 when, one June afternoon, she was sent to Gracie Mansion, home of New York’s mayor, to cover a reception for candidate Sen. John F. Kennedy. She stayed with him for days, tearing around Manhattan with him. As Wescott says, “It was an electrifying time.” When JFK retreated to his summer home on Hyannis Port for the 4th of July weekend, Westcott sent him a note thanking him for all the time he had given her.

He replied with a handwritten note as he left for the convention in Los Angeles. Autograph letter signed, on his Hyannis Port letterhead, July 8, 1960, to Gail Cameron Westcott. “Thank you for your generous note. It was thoughtful of you to write, and I am glad as I leave tomorrow to carry your good wishes. I shall look forward to seeing you on the in the fall.” At that time, the presidential campaign would start and she would be back on the campaign beat, covering Kennedy.

After painful surgeries in 1954 sidelined him from attending to his duties as U.S. Senator until mid-1955, Kennedy began to use secretaries and then autopen machines to sign correspondence for him. With each year he signed fewer things himself, and once he began the preliminaries to his presidential campaign, circa 1958, his authentic signatures become quite uncommon, as do his handwritten letters. In 1960, during a campaign that lasted from January 2 until November 8, adding to his disinclination to sign was the fact that he was very busy running for president. His campaign letters are almost all autopens, his signed photographs almost all secretarial. We had never seen a handwritten letter of Kennedy from during the campaign, and our research in the references sources fails to turn up even one. This, then, is the only known handwritten letter of Kennedy from the historic 1960 presidential campaign, obtained by us directly from the recipient. That he says he is leaving for the convention where he is to be nominated, and looks forward to Life’s coverage in the fall, makes it all the better.

Interestingly, when JFK left for the convention, Jacqueline Kennedy, who was pregnant with their son John, remained at the Kennedy’s House in Hyannis Port. On the night when her husband was nominated to be President, Jackie watched the action on a rental TV and sipped wine as she painted a welcome home picture showing everyone cheering on the dock. She was joined by her mother and stepfather, Janet and Hugh Auchincloss and two Auchincloss step siblings. A rambunctious press corps pounded on the front door but Gail Cameron Westcott, along with Photographer Ted Pilumbaum, were the only journalists inside the house, sharing the historic evening.