Primary Cards - Series I
Estes Kefauver
Born: 1903
Filed from: Tennessee
NH Primaries -- Votes
1952 -- (D) 19,800
1956 -- (D) 21,701
Platform: Anti-crime & Pro-civil rights
This senator known for wearing a coonskin cap challenged President Truman in the NH primary. The political "pros" didn't give him an outside chance. A popular one-on-one handshaker, he sometimes campaigned by dog sled. He won, and Truman didn't run elsewhere. "The results indicate that a good energetic campaign...can beat a strong machine."
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Born: 1908
Filed from: Texas
NH Primaries -- Votes
1964 -- (D) Write-in 29,317
1968 -- (D) Write-in 27,520
Platform: "The Great Society," a program of economic & social welfare legislation
Lyndon Baines Johnson Series I © 1998 N.H. State Library
After the assassination of President Kennedy in late 1963, Johnson won the NH primary by write-in votes in 1964. He supported the Vietnam war against widespread antiwar sentiment. Anti-Vietnam Senator Eugene McCarthy ran against him in 1968 and gained more delegates for the President. Stunned, Johnson did not run for re-election. "I must admit the results of the New Hampshire primary surprised me."
John F. Kennedy
Born: 1917
Filed from: Massachusetts
NH Primaries -- Votes
1960 -- (D) 43,372
Platform: "The New Frontier" - tax reform, expanded civil rights, Medicare, & an accelerated space program
In 1960, Kennedy kicked off his national candidacy for President in front of the Nashua City Hall, where his statue stands today. Throughout the campaign here, he was maliciously attacked by publisher William Loeb of the Union Leader. President Kennedy was assassinated in late 1963, thus 1964 was the only time no Democrat has appeared on the party's NH primary ballot. Lyndon B. Johnson won that year by write-in. "I believe there is a publisher who has less regard for the truth than William Loeb, but I can't think of his name."
Jesse L. Jackson
Born: 1941
Filed from: Illinois
NH Primaries -- Votes
1984 -- (D) 5,311
1988 -- (D) 9,615
Platform: Racial justice - Keep Hope Alive
This populist, fiery Baptist minister advocates social and economic justice and gender equality, an agenda which doubled his support here in 1988. He joined the state's labor leaders in a campaign to rename NH's "Civil Rights Day" to "Martin Luther King, Jr. Day." He founded the Rainbow Coalition, a volunteer grassroots group which works nationally to increase voter registration, particularly among minorities and youth. "We must figure a way to lift our youth up and not lock them up."
"Tom" Laughlin
Born: 1931
Filed from: Wisconsin
NH Primaries -- Votes
1992 -- (D) 3,251
Platform: Universal Health Insurance
This film actor was known for the role he played in the 1970s as "Billy Jack," a grassroots hero who took on the political bosses on behalf of everyday people. He campaigned for a reduction in taxes, overhaul of the education system and term limits. "I feel it is my moral obligation to run...to give people a choice."
Caroline P. Killeen
Born: 1926
Filed from: Arizona
NH Primaries -- Votes
1992 -- (D) 96
1996 -- (D) 393
Platform: Killeen up America
Caroline P. Killeen Series I © 1998 N.H. State Library
This former nun and environmentalist known as "The Hemp Lady" advocates legalization of marijuana and travels by bicycle. In 1996, she campaigned from a Manchester homeless shelter and also from a Dartmouth fraternity (which ejected her and her dog when she overstayed her welcome). In 1997, she proposed to lobby the Pope personally for his support of marijuana. "America needs trees not Bushes"
Jack Kemp
Born: 1935
Filed from: New York
NH Primaries -- Votes
1988 -- (R) 20,114
Platform: A self-styled pathmaker for a "new" kind of Republicanism
This former professional NFL quarterback and Congressman co-founded "Empower America", a politically conservative "think tank" and advocacy group to expand economic growth and opportunity for all. As Secretary of Housing & Urban Development(HUD) under President Reagan, he initiated a program of entrepreneurial capitalism known as "enterprise zones" as an anti-poverty tool. "New Hampshire is unique in the whole primary process. You are the winetasters for the whole system."
Eugene McCarthy
Born: 1916
Filed from: Minnesota
NH Primaries -- Votes
1968 -- (D) 23,263
1988 -- (D) 211
Platform: Anti-Vietnam war
Eugene McCarthy Series I © 1998 N.H. State Library
Senator McCarthy was regarded as an intellectual in politics. He characterized NH's primary as "a suit of long underwear frozen stiff on a clothesline." The media declared him the winner over President Johnson in 1968 became within 7% of getting more votes than the President, and he actually did win more delegates, thereby causing Johnson not to run for re-election. "I think more people die in New Hampshire than win."
Henry Cabot Lodge
Born: 1902
Filed from: Write-in from Saigon, Vietnam
NH Primaries -- Votes
1960 -- (R) Write-in 141
1964 -- (R) Write-in 33,007
Platform: "The Invisible Candidate"
While he was serving as US Ambassador to Vietnam in 1964, his supporters initiated a "Draft Lodge" write-in campaign against Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater whose names were on the ballot. He defeated both of them without ever making a single public statement. "The perfectly pointless Republican victory of non-candidate Henry Cabot Lodge." (Keene Sentinel editorial)
Michael Levinson
Born: 1942
Filed from: New York
NH Primaries -- Votes
1988 -- (R) 43
1992 -- (R) 44
1996 -- (R) 35
Platform: To fulfill his dream of becoming President
Michael Levinson Series I © 1998 N.H. State Library
This former seaman claimed that 10,000 clipper ships powered by solar panels and wind would revive America's economy. He proposed that college students work as deck-hands for tuition. To meet people during his campaign, he pumped gas for free at local NH stations. He planned to "cast a long shadow" on Groundhog Day (primary day), but the sun never came out. "If you can't be bothered writing my name on the ballot, then you don't deserve to have me."
Edmund S. Muskie
Born: 1914
Filed from: Maine
NH Primaries -- Votes
1972 -- (D) 41,235
Platform: Clean air & water; environmental protection
Edmund S. Muskie Series I © 1998 N.H. State Library
This senator from Maine was known for his personal integrity and hard work, and had won the respect of all ethnic groups. He verbally defended his wife against publisher Bill Loeb's editorial attack in front of the Union Leader building in Manchester. But was it tears or melting snow on Muskie's face when he called Loeb a "gutless coward?" For months thereafter a poster in the front window of the newspaper read, "Muskie cried here Feb. 26, 1972." "We can criticize each other vigorously and still work together constructively."
Walter Mondale
Born: 1928
Filed from: Minnesota
NH Primaries -- Votes
1984 -- (D) 28,173
Platform: Promote traditional Democratic liberalism
Vice President Mondale spent 51 days campaigning in New Hampshire, and he had the support of organized labor, yet he lost to Senator Gary Hart. His liberal message promoting President Jimmy Carter's record and a tedious demeanor proved to be his undoing. "New Hampshire, the Mt. Everest of Democratic primaries."