John Kennedy Original Acceptance of the Nomination of the Liberal Party, Providing the Winning Margin For the Presidency

The Liberal Party was formed in 1944 in New York City by a group of anti-Communist trade unionists and liberals who withdrew from the American Labor party when that party became pro-Communist. Among those responsible for its creation was David Dubinsky. The original party platform called for a strong United Nations, extended civil rights, and support of the American trade-union movement.

The Liberal Party usually sought to influence the candidate choice of the major parties by promises of support or non-support, rather than attempting to elect its own candidates. Although the party operated almost entirely in New York state, its endorsements of presidential candidates were sometimes significant nationally. In its first year of existence, it was a major factor in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s carrying New York, and the party was very active in behalf of Harry Truman in the 1948 campaign. Adlai Stevenson received support also and often attended the party’s events.

In the 1960 presidential campaign, JFK was actually nominated by two parties, not one: the Democrats (who selected him on July 14) and the Liberals (who named him on September 14). The Liberal nomination meant that votes cast for Kennedy on its line would be fused with those cast for him on the Democratic line, so that his vote total in New York would consist of both parties’ ballots.

Document Signed entitled “Acceptance,” New York, September 14, 1960, formally agreeing to be the Liberal Party’s nominee for President. “I, JOHN F. KENNEDY, the undersigned, residing at 122 Bowdoin Street in the City of Boston, State of Massachusetts, having been nominated as the candidate of the Liberal Party for election to the public office of President of the United States in the general election to be held on November 8th, 1960, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that I have accepted the said nomination tendered to me and I hereby consent to be the nominee of the Liberal Party for election to the public office of President of the United States as aforesaid…” This document, with its time stamp proving that it was filed with the New York Department of State at 11:24 a.m. on September 19, proclaims itself the filing party’s retained, official copy.

The day he signed this document, JFK spoke before the Liberal Party, and the ringing declarations of this speech defining liberalism have become famous. “I am proud to be the only candidate in 1960 with the nomination of two political parties…I would like to say what I understand the word “Liberal” to mean and explain in the process why I consider myself to be a “Liberal”…This is my political credo: I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, and the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, this faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith, for liberalism is not so much a party creed or a set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man’s ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves. I believe also in the United States of America, in the promise that it contains and has contained throughout our history of producing a society so abundant and creative and so free and responsible that it cannot only fulfill the aspirations of its citizens, but serve equally well as a beacon for all mankind…Government is an art and a precious obligation; and when it has a job to do, I believe it should do it…the liberal society is a free society, and it is at the same time and for that reason a strong society. Its strength is drawn from the will of free people committed to great ends and peacefully striving to meet them. Only liberalism, in short, can repair our national power, restore our national purpose, and liberate our national energies…”

The Liberal Party worked hard for Kennedy’s election and its nomination proved to be a decisive factor in his election. The Republican nominee, Richard M. Nixon, actually received more votes than those cast in the Democratic column for JFK. However, with the fusion of the more than 400,000 Liberal Party votes, New York State returned to the Democratic column for the first time in four presidential elections. Thus, in the 1960 presidential election, the votes provided pursuant to this document provided New York’s margin of victory for John F. Kennedy. And New York’s electoral votes provided JFK’s margin of victory nationwide. This is the only official nomination acceptance for the office of president that we have seen, and a very significant one it is.