Wisconsin for Kennedy

For years, while cutting through the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s student center on the way to class, I’d regularly spot a photograph of JFK. I’d always been curious to learn more about the circumstances that led then-Senator Kennedy to Eau Claire and the state of Wisconsin more broadly. In 2020, I came across a file labeled “Wisconsin” in a JFK digital archive, and I got my answer: our state was critical to Kennedy’s primary campaign and the presidency soon to come. The more I learned about this oft-overlooked history, the more I felt compelled to try to tell it.

These discoveries coincided with a Rudyard Kipling quote that had long fascinated me: “If history were told in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” That’s pretty much what I hoped to do for the Wisconsin primary of 1960.

Wisconsin for Kennedy is another entry point into our state’s rich history. This isn’t merely the story of Kennedy himself but also of the many little-known Wisconsinites whose passion-fueled commitment to their candidate helped Kennedy in a state he sorely needed to win in the spring of 1960. Collectively, these Wisconsinites banded together and fundamentally changed the course of history right here in our backyard. It’s a testament to the power of the individual but also to the power of the collective.

It’s easy to think that history always happens “elsewhere” to people who are not us. In fact, history-making moments are always happening everywhere, and history is often shaped by people just like us. I hope readers will read about this cast of characters and see themselves reflected. In a time when the future of democracy often seems imperiled, we all have a role to play in shaping the government we want. The people featured here embody that message.

The people in this book have become a second family. I’ve traveled to Sparta just to see the family grocery store where Ivan Nestingen once worked. I’ve driven through Clintonville and tried to imagine which red barn was the one that JFK and Humphrey posed alongside for their LIFE Magazine cover photo. I’ve interviewed several living relatives of the people I write about, some of whom I now consider friends. The best part of being a writer is learning something new. The second-best part is understanding how this new knowledge can change you.

I did my best to find information from every source I could, including interviews, archival materials, and newspaper reports, to name a few. But the real magic occurs when you can triangulate the sources to paint a vivid scene. I love it when you can take a line from an interview transcript and pair it with a newspaper account. This triangulation allowed me to see the same scene from multiple angles, which allowed me to write these scenes more vividly.

Oh, I love them all. But I suppose I’m particularly partial to Jerry Bruno, an eighth-grade dropout forklift driver from Kenosha, who became the director of the Kennedy for President Club of Wisconsin. Later, Bruno was President Kennedy’s advance man and planned several major presidential trips, including the ill-fated trip to Dallas in 1963.

I also love Vel Phillips, the first woman and first Black person to serve on Milwaukee’s Common Council. Although she was initially skeptical of JFK’s position on civil rights, he won her over. Their friendship proved vital to Kennedy’s deepening understanding of issues of race. Her impact was felt long beyond the Wisconsin primary.

In 1962, President Kennedy remarked to a Milwaukee crowd, “I suppose there is no training ground for the presidency, but I don’t think it’s a bad idea for a president to have stood outside of [Mayer’s] meat factory . . . at 5:30 in the morning with the temperature ten above.” I was stunned to learn how Kennedy credited his experiences in Wisconsin to his future success as a president. Make no mistake: his time in Wisconsin came with adversity. But ultimately, overcoming adversity was central to his success in the general election.