Unused sheet of letterhead from Kennedy's congressional campaign, one page, 8.5 x 11, no date but circa 1946. The sheet features a portrait of Kennedy with patriotic block-letter text reading: "Kennedy for Congress, Headquarters, 18 Tremont St., Kimball Building, Boston, Mass., Tel. BOWdoin 6130." In fine condition.
In 1946, 29-year-old John F. Kennedy ran for the vacant 11th Congressional District seat in eastern Massachusetts. To its predominantly working class constituents—located in and around Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Charlestown, and Brighton—Kennedy seemed like a privileged dilettante: he was young, inexperienced, wealthy, and propped up by family and political connections. Yet Kennedy successfully cultivated another image, that of a World War II veteran sympathetic to economic and social hardship. His campaign slogan, ‘The New Generation Offers a Leader,’ emphasized his age positive rather than treating it as a liability.
Kennedy campaigned hard, knocking on doors and hosting tea parties to meet voters. On March 17, 1946, Kennedy gamely escorted a leashed goat through the streets of Charlestown prior to his induction into the Bunker Hill chapter of the Knights of Columbus. His sportsmanship while dragging the stubborn goat around the city for hours won him many fans. In the June 18, 1946 Democratic primary, Kennedy handily defeated the 8 other candidates, and five months later, he won the general election by securing 73% of the vote. He would serve in the House of Representatives until 1953, when he secured a Senate seat.
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