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Senator John F. Kennedy was elected the 35th President of the United States today, the youngest president to be elected in the nation's history. At the age of 43, the Democratic candidate received 56.5 percent of the electoral votes, defeating Republican nominee and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Kennedy was also the first and only Roman Catholic to be elected to the nation's presidential office.
"Vice President Richard M. Nixon in Los Angeles formally conceded the election of Kennedy. The dramatic concession announcement came at 9:47 a.m. PST, a few minutes after Kennedy had cinched election by winning Minnesota's 11 electoral votes," reported the Star-News on November 9, 1960. Nixon sent this telegram to his Democratic rival: 'I want to repeat through this wire congratulations and best wishes I extended to you on television last night. I know you will have the united support of all Americans as you lead the nation in the cause of peace and freedom in the next four years.'"
NOTE: Kennedy did not complete his full term as president, as he was assassinated on November 22, 1963. For more information about the Kennedy assassination, read additional newspaper articles at the Kennedy Assassination Archive.
The U.S. unemployment rate hit a 14-year high at 6.5 percent according to the Labor Department on Friday morning. More than 1.2 million jobs have been lost in 2008 as the nation slides towards recession, with more expected during the remainder of this year and into next year. General Motors Corp and Ford experienced much steeper declines than previously thought, highlighting a growing problem in Detroit that reverberates into the world economy. GM alone lost 13 percent in share value and has set aside the possible acquisition of Chrysler, which it had been considering for some time.
Though the news is grimmer than expected, stock traders seem to have taken the news into account prior to trading on Friday. Following a massive decline on Wednesday and Thursday, the market rose slightly before the weekend. President-elect Barack Obama held his first post-election press conference, taking questions on the economy and what he would do as President to improve the economic condition. Obama stated, “We are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime and we are going to have to act swiftly to solve it.” He also discussed Iran’s nuclear weapon program and the transfer into the White House.
“A bomb killed 11 people and injured 61 Sunday at a Remembrance Day ceremony for Britain's war dead in the worst Irish terrorist attack in five years,” reported The Daily Intelligencer on November 9, 1987. NOTE: This attack occurred during the “Troubles” between Britain and Ireland, and was considered by many as one of the worst attacks in the history of the IRA.
Edward Brooke, the former Massachusetts Attorney General, became the first African American to be elected to the U.S. Senate today. "The election of Edward W. Brooke as the first Negro in the United States Senate since Reconstruction means that another liberal Republican voice is going to be heard in Washington," reported Lincoln Evening Journal and Nebraska State Journal on November 9, 1966. "It also means that Massachusetts voters have demonstrated their tolerance of the race issue by choosing the popular, 47-year-old attorney general over his Democratic opponent, 46-year-old former Gov. Endicott (Chub) Peabody."
"Nazis announced with rage today that the bomb which wrecked their beer hall shrine at Munich, killing eight and wounding more than 60 persons, had missed Adolf Hitler by only 10 minutes and had piled up 10 feet of debris on the spot where he had made a 57-minute speech," informed the Syracuse Herald Journal on November 9, 1939. "The Nazis announced officially that the explosion occurred at the exact moment when Hitler would have been starting his speech if the program of previous years had been followed."
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced plans for an organization that will create 4 million additional jobs for the unemployed today. "Federal relief activities were ordered expanded today by President Roosevelt in an effort to give employment by December 15 to 4,000,000 men now out of work," reported the Oakland Tribune on November 8, 1933. "For this purpose, he made available $400,000,000 of public works funds. It will be used by a newly created civil works administration headed by Harry L. Hopkins, the emergency relief administrator."
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