Politics: Striking the Theme

President Kennedy wended west last week, thinly disguised as the U.S. conservationists' symbol of Smokey Bear.

Over the deepening autumnal landscape of the upper Middle West, the northern Rockies and the Far West soared the White House caravan of three sleek 707s (Kennedy's Air Force One, a backup plane and a press plane). Wherever the "Conservation Tour" set down, folks seemed a bit awed—and more than a bit puzzled over why all the fuss. They should have known. Kennedy was looking forward to next year's elections. It was no coincidence that in 1960...

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