Date in History: 02/16/1960
On February 16th, 1960 Senator John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie visited Fort Atkinson during the campaign for the Wisconsin Presidential Primary. Kennedy walked up and down both sides of South Main Street, stopping in at each business and stopping traffic as motorists shook his hand. Kennedy knew he was in Republican territory. When taking a picture with Postmaster Paul Cornish, Kennedy warned him, “This may not do you any good.”
Though Kennedy went on to win the Wisconsin primary, he received only 604 votes in Fort Atkinson compared to 847 for his Democratic opponent Hubert Humphrey. Of course the big winner in Fort was the Republican candidate, Richard Millhouse Nixon.
This historic document aired on the radio as an Historic Minute on 03/03/2003.