“The first Kennedy-Nixon debate did not occur in the Fall of 1960, but rather in the Spring of 1947 when the Junto, a community group in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, hosted a forum on the Hartley bill, controversial legislation pending in Congress that substantively curtailed the power of labor unions. The freshman legislators selected to headline the event, Representatives John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Richard M. Nixon of California, would later become the 35th and the 37th presidents of the United States. The newspaper account of the McKeesport Junto, published the next day in the McKeesport Daily News, employed a content frame that focused on the substance of the debate. Later accounts of the Junto, published after the advent of television, shifted to a mediated frame that emphasized physical appearance and argumentative style. By highlighting the difference between the two analytical frames, this analysis explores the impact television had on the format for political debates, the history of the McKeesport Junto, and the famous presidential debates of 1960.”
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A thought that came to mind…
Is this debate/appearance possible inspiration for a movie script? Or, maybe some kind of a Ken Burns-ian documentary [depending, I guess, on what documentary-style photography or video of the event is available? Is there audio? Was anything either influential or important ever accomplished due to it? I have new research-based marching orders!]
I also can’t let today pass without commenting…
I wonder if there is a way to tie in the idea of today’s Trump Show that took place at West Mifflin’s USS Irvin Works (on May 30, 2025), which opened in 1938. The Irvin Works are part of the Mon Valley Works along with Clairton and the Edgar Thompson Works, which has a bit of a checkered past if we’re being honest.) Still, it’s kinda cool that the prez would want to call this particular mill out with another of his recent string of PR “deal-making” [BS] visits…
Kinda makes you wonder who he is setting up the most to benefit from “allowing” Nippon Steel to “buy” US Steel, whatever “buy” ends up meaning.
[Note 1, the deal isn’t final yet…]
[Note 2, Coming clean here… I freely admit that I expressed my desire for the bid to be approved when I first read about it. I disagreed with the Biden Administration’s stance and actually in a bi-partisan kind of way, I agree with our monarc…, um, I mean Prez. Mostly because Nippon had proposed a billion-dollar investment in the Mon Works facilities (over something like ten years, but still) as part of their (as far as I can discern?) opening bid. The union members wanted the deal because they knew a cash infusion and multiple upgrades were needed (especially at Clairton), and the alternative bidder, Cleveland-Cliffs (preferred by management), was under financial strain. So, nothing could be promised with their bid, other than “‘Merican ownership,” which labor took as a risk or threat or whatever. Let’s just say, there was something the rank and file just didn’t trust about the CC offer.]
Remember, everything the crazy guy touches turns to gol… er, is part of some kind of transaction [that more often than not is designed to enrich himself and his cohort].
I’ll be watching this closely, coz, you know, inquiring minds wanna know…