The following selection comes from Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary That Launched a President and Changed the Course of History, written by B.J. Hollars and released in Spring 2024 from the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. In early 1960, presidential hopeful John F. Kennedy faced an uncertain path to the Oval Office. So he did something no winning candidate had done before: he leveraged the power of state primaries, appealing directly to the people to help clinch his party’s nomination. Wisconsin for Kennedy shares the history-making events of the 1960 Wisconsin primary and how Kennedy’s nail-biting win propelled him all the way to the presidency. Author B.J. Hollars brings this story to life by going behind the scenes with the people who made it happen—Wisconsinites from all walks of life who answered Kennedy’s call to work toward a better, more equitable future. This excerpt takes place four months and twenty-three days before the primary, and sets the scene for the uphill battle that was to come.
Ivan Nestingen, the mayor of Madison, gripped his steering wheel tightly as he tried to navigate the thick snow falling over Kenosha’s slick streets. This was not how
