Mark Knows It All

1960 was the first year that I actually aware that an election was happening. My family was vacationing at Oglebay Park in Wheeling, W.V. It took just one ballot for the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles to nominate John Kennedy for President. The hotel rooms didn't have television sets, and we had to watch the convention in the lobby. It marked the first time in history that primaries played THE definitive role in the nomination process. Kennedy worked the primaries hard, and went into the convention with sufficient pledged delegates to win the nomination. In the Republican Party, the battle was between the Rockefeller Republicans and the Goldwater Republicans. The Republicans were more comfortable with smoke filled room deals. Candidates had to work hard in local parties to gain support and pledged delegates. The political battles reached down as far as fighting for control of college Republican clubs. The burgeoning conservatives began their trek to political power ...