John F. Kennedy’s North Carolina Campaign

On September 17, 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy, the Democratic

nominee for president, flew to Greenville for a campaign rally

on the campus of East Carolina College. Kennedy’s ECC rally was

part of a marathon daylong blitz that continued statewide through

Greensboro and Charlotte. The campaign intended to go as far west

as Asheville but due to inclement weather concluded with dinner at

the governor’s mansion in Raleigh and a rally at Reynolds Coliseum.

With photographs as key primary sources, John F. Kennedy’s North

Carolina Campaign explores what happened that day, why it happened,

and its significance in North Carolina’s political history. While the

book focuses on the East Carolina College rally, which was the first

of the day, Kennedy’s subsequent rallies ultimately bore statewide and

national significance, making it impossible to examine only one stop

without contextualizing it in relation to the remainder.