1960s Timeline

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Dec 7, 2021

Unemployment Rate Drops

Dec. 7, 1961 - The unemployment rate dropped sharply last month in the first significant decline in a year, the Kennedy Administration reported today. A spokesman said the improvement was expected to continue. Reflecting both good weather and the economic recovery from last winter’s recession, the seasonally adjusted rate fell from 6.8 percent to 6.1 between October and November. The rate had hovered around 7 percent for 11 months. The decline was the sharpest in three years.

Dec 7, 2021

Kennedy Speaks at AFL-CIO Convention

Dec. 7, 1961 - President Kennedy asked organized labor today to back his proposals to liberalize foreign trade. He said that his program would mean a “viable economy and full employment.” Four thousand persons, who jammed into the auditorium of the Americana Hotel in Bal Harbour, Fla., for the opening of the convention of the AFL-CIO, greeted his appeal with warm applause. Their response was even heartier when the President told them that he planned to seek from the next sess

Dec 6, 2021

President Kennedy Wants to Increase International Trade

Dec. 6, 1961 - President Kennedy appealed to industry today to support “new and bold” powers for him to bargain on tariff reductions with Western Europe in broad categories, instead of item by item. He depicted his program as a means of providing prosperity for all Americans by increased international trade and a way of strengthening the non-Communist world against “the long-range Communist aim of dividing and encircling us all.” Twenty-three hundred industrialists heard the

Dec 6, 2021

President Kennedy Says Nation Is Under-Exercised

Dec. 6, 1961 - President Kennedy called last night for broader American participation in sports and other forms of physical activity. “We are under-exercised as a nation,” he said. “We look instead of play, ride instead of walk.” “The remedy, in my judgment, lies in one direction,” he added. “That is in developing programs for broad participation in exercise by all of our young men and women, all of our boys and girls.” The President’s remarks were made after he had accepted

Dec 4, 2021

The First Lady Supports UNICEF

Dec. 4, 1961 - Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy ordered 10 boxes of UNICEF greeting cards today as a symbol of her support of the work of the U.N. Children’s Fund. The proceeds help to support the relief work of the children’s fund. A personal secretary to Mrs. Kennedy described the order as a response to a recent denunciation of the cards by the National Defense Committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Members of the D.A.R. have been urged not to buy UNICEF cards. The o

Dec 2, 2021

Romney Considers Run for Governor of Michigan

Dec. 2, 1961 - George Romney (pictured with his son Mitt), president of American Motors Corporation, announced today that “I am giving consideration to becoming a candidate for Governor of Michigan in the 1962 elections.” Mr. Romney has also been linked with speculation regarding the Presidential contest in 1964. Mr. Romney, 54, is a Republican delegate to and a vice president of Michigan’s constitutional convention. #history #HistoryNerd #historyinpictures #historylover #his

Dec 2, 2021

Nixon's California Campaign Gets Rolling

Dec. 2, 1961 - Richard M. Nixon declared today that “second-rate” Democrats must be voted out of office in California. The former Vice President, a candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination next June, pledged “a crusade for new leadership to see to it that California will not be first in crime, first in high taxes, and first in bungling bureaucracy.” “We need first-rate government,” he said. “The second-raters, from Gov. Brown down, must be retired from jobs which

Nov 30, 2021

A Lodge May Face a Kennedy Again in Mass. Senate Election

Nov. 30, 1961 - George Cabot Lodge (right) of Beverly, Mass., formally announced today his candidacy for the Republican nomination for United States Senator in 1962. Mr. Lodge, 34, is a son of Henry Cabot Lodge, Republican nominee for Vice President in 1960. The long-expected declaration made Mr. Lodge the first official entry in the contest to fill the seat occupied by President Kennedy when he was elected to his present office in 1960. Mr. Kennedy won the seat from Mr. Lodg

Nov 30, 2021

Vice President Johnson Defends Anti-Communist Speech

Nov. 30, 1961 - Vice President Johnson said today that he saw “no reason to protect the Communists from the truth.” He was referring to a speech he made Wednesday at a dinner honoring Adlai E. Stevenson (right). In the middle of Mr. Johnson’s speech, Valerian A. Zorin, Soviet Ambassador to the U.N., and the envoys of Bulgaria and the Ukraine walked out. The Vice President said today: “The free world is winning. The Communists seem to want someone to build an iron curtain arou

Nov 29, 2021

Attorney General Kennedy Deplores Racial Violence in Mississippi

Nov. 29, 1961 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy said today that the F.B.I. would make a complete investigation of today’s outbreak of violence at McComb, Miss. His statement follows: “The outbreak of violence in McComb obviously is a matter of deep concern. The F.B.I. has been asked to make a complete investigation of all aspects of the incident. The matter will be vigorously pursued. Officials of the Department of Justice have just talked with Mayor C.H. Douglas of McComb

Nov 29, 2021

McCone Sworn In as C.I.A. Director

Nov. 29, 1961 - President Kennedy looked on today as John A. McCone (left), Los Angeles industrialist, was sworn in as director of the C.I.A. at a White House ceremony. “We want to welcome you here and to say that you are now living in the bull’s eye, and I welcome you to that spot,” Mr. Kennedy told Mr. McCone. Members of the Cabinet and Allen W. Dulles, Mr. McCone’s predecessor as C.I.A. director, attended. Justice Earl Warren administered the oath. Mr. McCone told the audi

Nov 29, 2021

President Kennedy Responds to Female Reporter on Discrimination Against Women

Nov. 29, 1961 - A woman reporter’s assault on male exclusiveness at the National Press Club won sympathy from President Kennedy today. Women are barred from all areas of the club except a special dining room. When public figures come to speak, women reporters are not allowed on the floor of the ballroom with their men colleagues. At his news conference, the President was asked why he and his Cabinet do not stay away from affairs where women reporters were barred, as they do f

Nov 28, 2021

Sen. Thurmond Denounces Kennedy's Remarks on Extremists

Nov. 28, 1961 - Senator Strom Thurmond (pictured left in 1957), Democrat of South Carolina, denounced President Kennedy today for his recent criticism of Right-Wing extremists. “I don’t know what he means by extremists,” Senator Thurmond said. “I don’t know anybody far to the Right who has hurt this country. I do know some far to the Left who have hurt the country.” “I certainly do think Left-Wingers and Socialists have influence in the Kennedy Administration,” the Senator to

Nov 28, 2021

President Kennedy Gives Dulles National Security Medal

Nov. 28, 1961 - President Kennedy made a surprise helicopter trip today to C.I.A. headquarters at Langley, Va., to present a National Security Medal to the agency’s outgoing director, Allen W. Dulles. Around 700 C.I.A. employees saw the presentation. The President was accompanied on the trip by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor, his special military advisor. Mr. Dulles will be succeeded in the C.I.A. post by John A. McCone, former chairman of

Nov 28, 2021

President Kennedy's Message to the Soviet People

Nov. 28, 1961 - President Kennedy told the Soviet people today that they could live in peace if their Government halted its efforts to promote conspiratorial communism throughout the world. In a long-sought opportunity to give the Russians his unfiltered views on the Berlin crisis, nuclear testing, disarmament, and the general deterioration in East-West relations, the President calmly but firmly blamed the Kremlin for major tensions. His words were faithfully reproduced in to

Nov 26, 2021

Kennedy to Replace Under Secretary of State Bowles

Nov. 26, 1961 - President Kennedy announced today the replacement of Chester Bowles (right) as Under Secretary of State. Nine other changes in the White House and State Department staff were announced in the first big shake-up of the 10-month-old Kennedy Administration. George W. Ball will succeed Mr. Bowles in the State Department’s No. 2 position. Informed persons said that Mr. Kennedy was determined to overcome what he appraised as super-caution and lack of imagination amo

Nov 26, 2021

The Kennedys Go Ice Skating in Hyannis Port

Nov. 26, 1961 - President Kennedy took a ride after church today to watch his wife and other Kennedys ice skate. They went to the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Memorial Rink, which the family foundation built for Hyannis Port, Mass., in memory of the President’s older brother (pictured just before his death in 1944), who was killed in World War II. Along with Mrs. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel were out on the ice, along with several Kennedy children.

Nov 26, 2021

Republican Senator Styles Bridges is Dead

Nov. 26, 1961 - United States Senator Styles Bridges (pictured center last year) of New Hampshire, one of the most influential Republicans in the nation, died at his home in Concord, N.H., today. He was 63 years old. Senator Bridges died in his sleep at 5 a.m. of complications arising from a severe coronary attack suffered Sept. 21. Senator Bridges was a leading Republican through the long years of Democratic domination. His political career was meteoric. He was elected Gover

Nov 25, 2021

Caroline Kennedy Celebrates Fourth Birthday

Nov. 25, 1961 - Caroline Kennedy celebrated her fourth birthday today. The daughter of President and Mrs. Kennedy will be 4 years old Monday. Her brother John Jr. is one year old today, but he missed the party because of a slight cold. He remained in Washington over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Pierre Salinger, White House press secretary, said a “small party” was held at Joseph P. Kennedy’s home, across the lawn from the home of his son, the President. In attendance wer

Nov 25, 2021

Kennedy Interviewed by Soviet Journalist

Nov. 25, 1961 - President Kennedy granted an exclusive interview today to the editor of the Soviet Government newspaper. Aleksei I. Adzhubei (center), editor of Izvestia and son-in-law of Premier Khrushchev, said he came away with “a very good impression” of Mr. Kennedy. “He is a young President of a great country,” the visitor said. “All of you should be proud of that.” If President Kennedy gave his visitor a big news break, the Soviet editor kept it to himself. “Subscribe t