by Robert Turner, McCormack Graduate School Senior Fellow
President Kennedy delivers the 1963 State of the Union alongside Vice President Lyndon Johnson and Speaker of the House John W. McCormack. Image: Cecil W. Stoughton
John F. Kennedy’s 100th birthday on May 29 raises complex thoughts and emotions for nearly all Americans.
One element for those of us here at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies is Kennedy’s relationship with our namesake.
Complex doesn’t begin to describe the intertwining of their careers, or the historic impact it had.
Hundreds of books have been written about Kennedy; only one serious work about McCormack, the new biography from Garrison Nelson, a professor at the University of Vermont and the Robert C. Wood Visiting Professor here at the McCormack Graduate School in 2014. “John William McCormack; A Political Biography” is truly an exceptional combination of scholarship, research, and readability. It will doubtless revive interest in McCormack – member of Congress for 43 years, and speaker of the U.S. House for nine years — as one of the most powerful figures in mid-20th century America.
The overall personal relationship between the two men and their families provides rich material, including a variety of Boston political cross-currents. People remember the tough “Teddy-Eddie” Senate campaign of 1962, when Edward J. McCormack Jr., the sitting attorney general and nephew of the speaker, opposed Edward M. Kennedy, brother of the president, who, at 30, was barely old enough to seek the office. Continue Reading →
