Madison in the Sixties – January 20, 1961
In 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy didn’t carry Madison in the Democratic presidential primary or Wisconsin in the general election. But his candidacy still had a profound local impact.
His primary campaign against Sen. Hubert Humphrey created enough Badgerland bitterness to last for years, even damaging the federal judiciary. And his election utterly transformed local politics, and ended the effort to build Frank Lloyd Wright’s Monona Terrace auditorium and convention center.
Kennedy’s advisors didn’t want him entering the primary against the friendly liberal from neighboring Minnesota, who had two extra sectors of support. Some feared the Pope would unduly influence the Catholic Kennedy, while others who actually supported two-time nominee Adlai Stevenson were trying to block Kennedy from a first-ballot nomination at the national convention, hoping delegates would then draft the former Illinois Governor.