President Kennedy and the Daley family in the White House, 1961
1 2021-02-11T12:50:16-06:00 Dan Harper eff3db32ed95b3efe91d381826e2c10c145cd452 26 5 William Daley, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, President John F. Kennedy, Eleanor "Sis" Daley, Patricia Daley, John Daley, Mary Carol Daley, Eleanor Daley, and Michael Daley in the White House, 1961. RJD_04_01_0047_0016_004. Richard J. Daley collection, University of Illinois Chicago. plain 2021-04-29T17:00:18-05:00 RJD_04_01_0047_0016_004 1961 Dan Harper eff3db32ed95b3efe91d381826e2c10c145cd452This page is referenced by:
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Democratic candidates sought Daley's endorsement in their bids for office at the local, state, and national levels.
Everybody wanted him at their political functions. Just to have the mayor there was a success story.
Ed Kelly, Chicago Park District Superintendent 1973-1986, interview excerpt, December 11, 2003
Watch footage from the 1960 torchlight parade to support John F. Kennedy's candidacy for the presidency:Most of the presidential candidates that were running at that time all stopped by to visit him. They’d be sitting there and you could see they were nervous. And these were very important people—senators, congressmen, and people who had been in Washington for a long time, and were very influential. I told my husband it reminded me of that scene in The Godfather where they were all waiting to go in and ask a favor of the godfather on the day of his daughter’s wedding.
Roseanne Bonoma, Richard J. Daley’s Secretary, interview excerpt, October 3, 2014
Former President Jimmy Carter remembers that Mayor Daley helped him win the Democratic Party nomination in 1976:We were walked into the White House the day after the inauguration [of President John F. Kennedy]….The first thing he [Kennedy] said was, “I would not be here if it wasn’t for your dad. I would not be the president.”
John Daley, son of Richard J. Daley, interview excerpt, May 9, 2007
