Sept. 1, 1964 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, a sudden new power in New York politics, won the Democratic nomination for Senator today at one of the most boisterous state conventions ever held in New York.
Mr. Kennedy, who at 38 years of age is beginning his first campaign for public office, crushed his only opponent, Rep. Samuel Stratton of Amsterdam, rolling up 968 votes to Mr. Stratton’s 153 on the first and only ballot.
In his acceptance speech before 6,000 delegates and spectators at the 71st Regiment Armory, 34th Street and Park Avenue, Mr. Kennedy replied to opponents who have been assailing him as a “carpetbagger” from Massachusetts.
Piercing the air with his right forefinger in a manner reminiscent of President Kennedy, the Attorney General said:
“And despite what has been written and said, my candidacy establishes no precedent. There have been many similar cases around the country and even here in New York. The first Senator from the State of New York, Rufus King, was from Massachusetts. And he served this state well.
“Furthermore, for every citizen who is a New Yorker by birth there is one who is a New Yorker by choice, or whose parents were. I am in the second category, and so was Thomas E. Dewey.
“I am confident, therefore, that the voters of New York will judge me fairly on my record of 13 years of public service; the record that has been made over the last three years by the national Government, and by my commitment to carry on this effort in the future. I ask for no more.”
The band played “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” as the Attorney General, grinning broadly, climbed to the podium to speak to the shouting, singing, perspiring delegates.
Should Mr. Kennedy be elected this fall, his family would become the first ever to have sent three brothers to the Senate. Edward M. Kennedy is now a Senator from Massachusetts, as was President Kennedy before entering the White House in 1960.
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