And the West is History: Sen. John Kennedy and brother Ted in Durango – 1960

To bolster his chances of gaining the Democratic nomination in the 1960 presidential election, John F. Kennedy flew to Durango to participate in the Colorado State Democratic convention in June that year. He brought along his brother Edward (Ted), shown behind him in this photo of the campaign party arriving at Fort Lewis College, the convention’s location. Driving is John Morrissey of Durango, who had leadership positions in the Democratic Party. Kennedy’s two principal competitors for the nomination, Sen. Stuart Symington of Missouri and Sen. Lyndon Johnson of Texas, chose not to attend. Kennedy won the Colorado delegation easily. Interestingly, although he won the November national election, he failed to carry Colorado. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org (Catalog Number: 22.05.1 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections).