The grainy color movie has no audio, yet it still captures the excitement of John F. Kennedy’s swing through Kane County late in the 1960 presidential campaign.
And that memorable trip down the Fox River Valley — 50 years ago this week — may well have tipped a tight Illinois race and the presidential election Kennedy’s way.
At least that’s the theory of an unnamed campaign aide and longtime Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke.
On Oct. 25, 1960 — exactly two weeks before the election the Democratic presidential nominee spent much of the day campaigning from Carpentersville to Aurora, with five stops in between.
“One of Kennedy’s aides said the visit here was part of a larger strategy,” said Schielke, who has perhaps the best documentation of the day. “The determination was that Illinois was real, real tight … and we had to get him out and into some towns that are real Republican, but that there’s a number of independent voters out there.
“This guy was of the opinion that this was one of the key days of the entire Kennedy campaign, given what happened in Illinois.”
Republican nominee Richard Nixon won Kane County by nearly 3,200 votes. But Kennedy captured Illinois by 8,858 votes and just 112,000 nationwide out of more than 68 million cast.
Kennedy’s swing was part of a two-day Illinois campaign trip. It remains the most extensive to that area by any president or presidential candidate, according to Schielke, who had a front-row seat at at least two of the stops.
“My mother was an active Democratic committeewoman in the area,” he said. “I came home from school at noon that day and my mother said she was going to take me out of school because this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“So she (got) her girlfriend and we all went up to St. Charles and got right up in front.”
Schielke, just an 11-year-old in 1960, has collected photos, newspaper clippings and other materials to prop up his memories, including books and compilations of campaign speeches made by Kennedy and Nixon.
The books were produced by the United States Information Agency, and Schielke found them at a flea market in Sandwich.
But the collection’s best piece is a copy of a 65-second Super 8 film featuring a smiling and waving Kennedy sitting atop the front seat of a convertible as it proceeded through downtown Batavia.
“He was running at least an hour behind schedule and school was about to let out anyway,” said Schielke. “So the principal made a decision to let the students at the high school out early so they could see Kennedy go by.”
The clip continues with Kennedy out of the car and surrounded by supporters and local residents, some holding signs and others snapping photos. It concludes with a few seconds of the candidate making an impromptu speech and gesturing with his right hand.
“Kennedy came down the street and saw the size of the crowd and made the decision to give a short speech,” Schielke said. “The police chief estimated there were about 1,500 people at the intersection. It was a frenzied situation.”
It was filmed by Jim Hubbard, the owner of a local furniture store. His son, Ron, converted it to DVD and helped post it on the city’s Facebook page. The clip has elicited several fond recollections.
“I remember being let out of school early, then waiting on the library porch with my parents and sister for the motorcade,” wrote John Ross. “Later we went down to Wilson Street and Batavia Avenue to hear candidate Kennedy speak. Kennedy looked very tan.”
Kennedy’s Kane County trip started at the old Meadowdale Mall in Carpentersville, moved on to Dundee and proceeded to an Elgin street rally. From there he went to St. Charles’ Baker Park.
“I’m sorry we are late,” Kennedy told the St. Charles gathering. “But we have been campaigning through all of these Republican areas of Illinois spreading the truth.”
The tour continued to Geneva, where a plaque at the base of a monument in front of the old courthouse commemorates the appearance. After stops and remarks in Batavia and at the then-named Mooseheart Home for Boys, the Kennedy caravan arrived in Aurora for a late afternoon gathering.
“You have to decide as a citizen of this country two weeks from today what you want Illinois to be, how ready you are to move this country forward,” Kennedy said.
As it turned out, Schielke’s early brush with a future U.S. president was just his first.
“My wife and I had dinner with (Barack) Obama in 1998 in Kohler, Wis.,” he said. “The dinner went for about an hour and half. He had just been elected to the Illinois state Senate and I remember sitting there and we had a marvelous conversation.
“And I kept saying to myself, ‘What did this guy say his name was?’ Little did we know.”
