Special Section: In Search of History

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the Eisenhower who, years later decided, as he had to, that federal troops must be flown into Little Rock, Arkansas, to force that community to comply with the decision of the Supreme Court. This was the man who set up the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and did begin the modern chapter of federal aid to education. But the incantation against the central government went on, and on, and on, to be voiced later by every Republican candidate and President for the quarter-century since.

As Ike rose at lunch's end, we all rose. We knew we had a candidate.

On the Seesaw: The 1960 Election

Back in the U.S. after 15 nomadic years, White watched the growing flow of power to Washington that Ike had condemned but could not, even as President, manage to stem. Not until the campaign for the 1960 presidential election was under way did White begin work on the series of books that was to bring him his greatest renown. The morning after Election Day, White waited in suspense at the Hyannis Armory on Cape Cod to see whether Illinois would give John F. Kennedy or Richard M. Nixon the title role in The Making of the President, 1960:

The vote kept seesawing; it was the first time I had read precincts with professional politicians: and these professional politicians understood the game. It was downstate (Republican) versus Cook County (Democratic). and the bosses, holding back totals from key precincts, were playing out their concealed cards as in a giant game of blackjack. There was nothing anyone could do in Hyannisport except hope that Boss Daley of Chicago could do it for them. Daley was a master at this kind of election-night blackjack game. So were the men I was with in the back room—all of them tense until the A.P. ticker chattered and reported something like this: "With all downstate precincts now reported in, and only Cook County precincts unreported, Richard Nixon has surged into the lead by 3,000 votes." I was dismayed, for if Nixon had really carried Illinois, the game was all but over. And at this point I was jabbed from dismay by the outburst of jubilation from young Dick Donahue, who yelped, "He's got them! Daley made them go first. He's still holding back ... watch him play his hand now." I was baffled, they were elated. But they knew the counting game better than I, and as if in response to Donahue's yelp, the ticker, having stuttered along for several minutes with other results, announced: "With the last precincts of Cook County now in, Senator Kennedy has won a lead of 8,000 votes to carry Illinois's 27 electoral votes." Kennedy, I learned afterward, had been assured of the result several hours before. Later that evening, Kennedy told Benjamin Bradlee of an early call from Daley, when all seemed in doubt. "With a little bit of luck and the help of a few close friends," Daley had assured Kennedy before the A.P. had pushed out the count, "you're going to carry Illinois."

The President-designate appeared shortly thereafter in the Hyannis Armory in Republican Barnstable County, Cape Cod. Barnstable Township had voted its Protestant prejudice the previous day, preferring Nixon over Kennedy by 4,515 to 2,783. Kennedy strode up on the platform, puffy-eyed, but still handsome. He had insisted that his father now appear with him in public, and also his pregnant wife. The