CAMILLE BOHANNON

1977

1988

In an evening televised address on August 8, 1974, President Richard M.
Nixon announces his intention to become the first president in American
history to resign. With impeachment proceedings underway against him
for his involvement in the Watergate affair, Nixon was finally bowing to
pressure from the public and Congress to leave the White House.

Theodore Roosevelt was nominated for the presidency by the
Progressive Party, a group of Republicans dissatisfied with
the re-nomination of President William Howard Taft. Also known
as the Bull Moose Party, the Progressive platform called for the
direct election of U.S. senators, woman suffrage, reduction of
the tariff and many social reforms. Roosevelt, who served as
the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909,
embarked on a vigorous campaign as the party’s presidential
candidate. A key point of his platform was the “Square Deal”
—Roosevelt’s concept of a society based on fair business
competition and increased welfare for needy Americans.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (
October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919)

Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, right, and his PT-109 crew are shown somewhere in the South Pacific, July 1943.

On August 1, 1943, a Japanese destroyer rams an American PT (patrol
torpedo) boat, No. 109, slicing it in two. The destruction is so massive
other American PT boats in the area assume the crew is dead. Two
crewmen were, in fact, killed, but 11 survived, including Lt. John F.
Kennedy. His actions made him a war hero.

In Los Angeles, California, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts was
nominated for the presidency by the Democratic Party Convention on this
day in 1960, defeating Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. The next day, 
Johnson was named Kennedy’s running mate by a unanimous vote of the 
convention.