The city of Manchester has formed a team to help the citizens celebrate being "the largest city in NH, a political hub, and the place to celebrate being First In The Nation for the National Primaries." There was a Primary Trivia Night at the Rex Theater, and for four nights this week a Trolley Tour hosted by the Manchester Historic Association's John Clayton. We joined the tour last night for the last tour of the season. It was so interesting, and so much fun, I'm already looking forward to the next history tour in 2024!
The New Hampshire Primary is famous for being the First In The Nation, as well as being a good forecast of who may be the next president. All the presidents in the past 60 years have won the New Hampshire Primary; even George Bush and Bill Clinton, who both won the primary on their second election cycle. Most importantly, the media coverage in New Hampshire, especially in Manchester, has helped candidates reach the national spotlight. Visiting the media centers in the Manchester area can be fun for political junkies and the curious. In years past I've haunted the downtown hotels, and the Bedford Village Inn just to see who might show up! At Manchester's Saint Anselm College the New Hampshire Institute of Politics hosts debates, rallies, town hall meetings, and other events to introduce the candidates to the voters. You have probably seen Saint Anselm College's venue on TV many times and not realized it.
As you know, New Hampshire hosts the First In the Nation Presidential Primary Election every four years. Being the biggest city in the Granite State means that most of the candidates end up here in the Queen City for rallies, speeches, media (WMUR TV is located here in Manchester), and interviews. I remember bumping into lots of candidates (John Kerry, Elizabeth Dole, Rudy Guliani, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and the more obscure Lamar Alexander, Lydon LaRouche, Paul Tsongas, Paul Simon or Michael Dukakis), in the Manchester area, and seeing lots of famous newscasters from the past like Barbara Walters at the Bedford Village Inn and Tom Brokaw at the Center of New Hampshire (now the Double Tree Hotel). During the tour we saw and discussed other venues where candidates "show up" (announced or unannounced) like the Red Arrow Diner and the Puritan Backroom, as well as places long gone such as The Vault and the Merrimack restaurant on Elm Street, or Bedford's Sheraton Wayfarer hotel.
We started our tour on Elm Street at Veteran's Park, where we examined several historic photos from the 1951 presidential primary. Did you know that General Dwight D. Eisenhower didn't come to Manchester until after the primary? He rode a limo down Elm Street and gave a speech in Victory Park. It was Nacky S. Loeb of the Union Leader who convinced Eisenhower to run as a Republican for the primary election.
Even though there had just been an icy snow storm yesterday, our trolley full of hardy New Hampshire residents continued the tour stopping at Amherst Street in front of the former Union Leader building (now the Manchester District Court). We stood on the same spot where in on February 24, 1972 Edmund Muskie gave his famous speech in a snowstorm where the Union Leader reported he broke down and cried, calling him a "gutless coward". Other newspapers reported he was wiping wet snow off his face. Leaders were supposed to be calm and level headed in the past, but today's politicians are famous for emotional outbursts.
The tour continued to Victory Park, where in 1960 John F. Kennedy had a huge rally. The photos of this event show thousands of people. On the roof of a nearby building, which used to be a catholic hospital, all the nuns cheered on JFK and he waved to them in response. Later that day JFK gave a famous interview at WMUR about how as a catholic president he would be loyal to the United States and the constitution. Sixty years ago the press and some Americans believed that a catholic president would be loyal first to the Pope and Roman Catholic church.
This special exhibit "Manchester and the Path to the Presidency" will run through February 29, 2020 at the Millyard Museum, and is included with museum admission. This is a trip down memory lane, with exhibits of presidents who visited Manchester, especially those candidates who visited our city in the primary election years since 1947. There are newspaper front pages, photographs, political buttons and ephemera, artifacts and more to peruse at your leisure. Some of the names will sound very familiar, and others will sound strangely unfamiliar even though they made headlines decades ago. Our tour ended here, but I will probably be back to see this exhibit again!
In keeping with New Hampshire's tradition of politicking via hitting the sidewalks and mingling with the crowds, our trolley was full of average citizens, as well as a candidate for the primary, Republican Matthew J. Matern from California, and Manchester's own Mayor Joyce Craig with her family. Syracuse Public TV was also at every stop (including the Millyard Museum) to film the tour and interview participants. I hope to see this documentary on the NH primary activities when it airs.
P.S. There is another similar exhibit at the Manchester Airport, curated by the Manchester Historic Association. I hope to get up there this weekend to see it, too! It is open to the public, before security, on the first floor open concourse by the ticket counters.
Vincent at the Millyard Museum NH Primary exhibit
For the truly curious:
Manchester First In The Nation website https://mhtfitn.com/
The Manchester Historic Association https://www.manchesterhistoric.org/
The Millyard Museum https://www.manchesterhistoric.org/millyard-museum
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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Manchester First In The Nation Primary Election Trolley Tour", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 7, 2020, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/02/manchester-first-in-nation-primary.html: accessed [access date]).
