What is your earliest political memory?

When I was 5 years old we lived in Warm Springs, Virginia. The famous hotel/resort The Homestead is in Hot Springs, just a few miles from the small village we lived in. One day my brother, a friend and I were following one of the horse drawn carriages. One of the men turned and asked, "Do you boys know who is the president?"

"Roosevelt" we replied.

"No, not today," the man said. "Roosevelt died and Truman is now the president."

 

I think I vaguely remember the Nixon/JFK debate, but I do remember the Kennedy assassination and funeral and THIS LBJ ad from 1964

Four years later, at the tender age of 12, I stuffed envelopes for Wallace

 

President Roosevelt died in 1945, when I was seven years old. I remember the events surrounding his funeral.

I have some vague memories of the Truman-Dewey presidential race in 1948.

Back in the olden days, you had to be 21 to vote. My first vote was cast in 1960, for Richard Nixon for President.

 

Political Memories

I remember Ike being elected in 1952 (I was 10). Then I remember attending one of his re-election rallies in Peoria in 1956. I remember the JFK death like it was yesterday, and in the old days, when we couldn't vote until age 21, I first voted for Goldwater.

 

Jimmy Carter running for president would be actual first memory. But I also remember people talking about voting or not voting ,whichever, for Nixion, but don't have actual memory of Nixion or the election.

 

I remember Bobby Kennedy being killed.

 

Vaguely remember seeing Johnson on TV and seeing the funeral of RFK.

Clearly remember when Wallace was shot and Nixon's re-election in '72.

When first eligible, voted for Ronald Reagan. Earlier, in 1978, my first paying job was working for the re-election of Jesse Helms. Happy to contribute....

 

I remember being about 3 or 4 years old and over at my grandparents house in Philadelphia. President Eisenhower was speaking on TV and my mom wanting to impress the relatives said "Son, tell everyone who that is talking on the television".

"Krushev," I replied.

 

==My earliest memory is from the Bush/Dukakis race as well. My parents, big Democrats, told me I better hope Dukakis won. The first time I voted was '92 (Bush/Clinton) and I voted for Bill Clinton. In '96 I voted for Dole, in '00/'04 I voted for Bush, and in '08 I voted for McCain. I did not really start paying attention to politics until the 2000 race. My age is far worse than yours :tongue3: .

 

Ronald Regan was my hero as a kid. Even as a young child I enjoyed seeing him on TV even though I did not understand much of what he said. My parents held him in high esteem and respected him greatly.

The first presidential election I voted in was Bush/Gore, however I voted in smaller elections before then.

 

the 1964 presidential election, remember having a Goldwater sticker on my bike.

Anything doing with George Wallace in the 1960's & 70's. Growing up in Alabama provided me all I needed to know about him ... bad and good (has to be some there).

My real political awakening came in 1976 during the Republican Convention. Stayed up and watched every night that Ronald Reagan appeared. He was and still is my only political hero ... amend that to also include Jessie Helms.

WAR EAGLE!

 

I remember VP Nixon's "Checkers" speech. "My wife wears a good Republican cloth coat."

I also remember sitting in a barborshop watching Kennedy's speech about the Cuban missile crisis.

 

Jimmy Carter as President

 

I remember watching the train carrying the body of FDR passing thru Greenville, SC from Warm Springs, GA. I was in 3rd grade if IRC.
The big deal for me at that time was that we got a holiday because of the death of the POTUS.

 

I remember watching the nightly news when I was a kid during the Vietnam War. I remember when Bobby Kennedy was assassinated and pro football player, Rosey Grier, helped capture Sirhan Sirhan (the shooter). I also remember the Nixon/Agnew campaign of 1968 (I don't know why, I guess because the names were funny to me at the time).

 

Seeing news reports about the assassination of JFK. I was 4.

 

I remember when Roosevelt whooped Alf Landon in 1936. Perhaps the greatest politician in our history or, con man if you will, people thought Roosevelt had already ended the depression though that did not happen until he got us involved in WWII.

 

Old Regular, we are close in age, but I sure don't remember much about elections in 1936. I do remember the selection of Prime Minister Winston Churchill of England.

In 1936 I was more interested in playing cricket and footie than politics.

Cheers,

Jim