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| Source:Helmer Reenberg- U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) campaigning for POTUS in 1960. |
"'I think it can be said that the labor movement has concerned itself not only with the interest of its members, but also with the general public interest. Labor has identified itself with the fight for aid for education, with the fight for medical care for the aged under social security, with the fight for housing, the fight for a better system of social justice in this country, and for a stronger foreign policy abroad. They have been concerned with what concerns our country. Therefore I am delighted that I have received the endorsement of the AFL-CIO in this election.
I have had my disagreements with Mr. Hoffa and they continue, and I have had my disagreements with Mr. Bridges and they continue. But I want the support, if I can get it, of the members of the Teamsters Union and the Longshoremen's Union, because I believe that the things we can work for in the Congress are in the interest of the members of those unions, even though I may not agree with those that head it up. My quarrel with them may continue. But I want to make it very clear that I welcome the support of the members of those two unions.
I run for office with the recognition that in this century the great Presidents in many cases have been Democratic Presidents, Wilson, Roosevelt, and Truman, and I think they have demonstrated what can be done, and I think we can do it in the 1960's. Thank you. "
From Helmer Reenberg
Senator Jack Kennedy offering a real liberal democratic agenda and vision for the country that was designed to move the country forward and expand economic opportunity for more Americans.
Because of the civil rights legislation of the mid-1960s, as well as more education funding and grants so more Americans could go to college, a lot of that economic opportunity was expanded in the 1960s. And not just to Caucasian-Americans but African-Americans and other Americans as well.
Jack Kennedy ran for president in 1960 to get America moving again. Real economic and job growth that reached all Americans and not just the wealthy and Caucasian-Americans. But for the entire country and thought America was in decline in the 1950s under the Eisenhower Administration.
