Presidential Campaign Stops

Posted by Amy the Archivist on October 20, 2008 in

On October 8, 1952, ten thousand people gathered to hear Dwight D. Eisenhower, Republican candidate for president, give a campaign speech that blamed the Truman administration for leading the nation into a "policy of inflation."  Two days later, 8,500 people gathered in the same place to hear the Democratic candidate for president, Adlai Stevenson.  Stevenson attacked General Eisenhower for taking "unto himself men so objectionable he cannot bring himself to mention their names."  There were no presidential debates in 1952 so hearing both candidates within days of each other was as good as it got.  Where did this all take place?  In the Houston Field House at RPI.  Yes, you read that correctly.  This was the one and only time that both major presidential candidates held election rallies at Rensselaer.

Richard Nixon and John Kennedy made campaign stops in Troy in 1960 and though they both posed with copies of The Polytechnic, they did not make it up to campus.  In 1972, students were bused to Albany to hear George McGovern, the Democratic nominee, make a campaign speech at the Capitol.

Comments

Tom Mellett '70
Wed, 01/05/2011 - 16:24 Permalink

OK, not presidential, but would you believe gubernatorial?

I believe it was October 1966 when I was a frosh living in Crockett Hall. A helicopter sounded very close by. We ran out into the parking lot to see a helicopter landing in the parking lot of Troy High School.

A huge group of people crossed Burdett Ave. and moved into our area. The center of attention was Nelson A. Rockefeller, running for yet another term as governor of New York. (He was gov from 1959-1973)

I'm sure there are photos in the Poly, but one is firmly etched in my own personal photo memory. As freshmen spilled out of the dorms, many had on the red frosh beanies. Someone gave one to the gov and he gladly put it on and started signing autographs for us.

I still see him today with that R-beanie making his somewhat naturally goofy smile become even more goofy. But hey, he was the governor, so it wasn't goofy at the time.

amythearchivist
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 09:20 Permalink

Great story! Thanks for sharing it.

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