Why is it that when Kennedy won the election did Sinatra try to get in contact with Nixon. That bit was never explained in the movie. Does anyone know why?
shareWHO cares? It wsa probably referencing a scene they cut out.
Do you have a best friend? Does he have big coat too?
There was no need to be rude as I was asking a simple question on why a line in the movie was included that wasn't really necessary.
As to your question it is none of your business.
I only saw the film once so I'm just going from memory here, but I thought he said he wanted to convince Nixon to concede.
shareYeah he was calling to tell Nixon to concede. Basically gloating. I believe he went on to campaign with Nixon in 1968 after changing which party he supported. I know for sure he was friends with the Reagans.
shareon the above points, both are correct, he felt such a contributing player in JFK's win he himself wanted to call Nixon to rub it in and hear him concede. Following his damaging fling with the Kennedys Sinatra made some dubious political supporting choices, I mean Nixon & then Reagan, c'mon?!?! where's George McGovern when you needed him?
shareA lot of longtime democrats switched to the right in the sixties, Frank Sinatra and John Ford among them.
James Cagney on his shift from the left, "...a totally natural reaction once I began to see undisciplined elements in our country stimulating a breakdown of our system... Those functionless creatures, the hippies ... just didn't appear out of a vacuum."
Sinatra backed Humphrey in 1968 Reagan in 70.
shareNixon was refusing to concede victory, primarily because Sinatria's buddy Sam "Momo" Giancana and HIS buddy Mayor Richard Daley were still stealing votes in Chicago. Sinatra thought he could convince Nixon to go ahead and concede the election (which I don't think he did until the next day) so that Kennedy could concede victory. The same thing happened in the NEXT presidential election, when Barry Goldwater refused to concede victory to LBJ until the next day, even though LBJ beat him by the greatest majority in history. At least Nixon was semi-justified; Goldwater wasn't.
share[deleted]
[deleted]
To be frank (No pun intended) I think this was an exaggerartion on part of the filmmakers of this movie (To which there were plenty of) that Sinatra tried to get in touch with Vice President Nixon and tell him to concede the 1960 election to Senator Kennedy on that election night. Nixon was the second biggest office holder in the US at the time and I don't think any entertainer ,even Frank Sinatra, would have gotten through to speak to him. Nixon, by no means, was going to speak to, what was then, a life long supporter of the Democratic Party which was Frank Sinatra.
Remember the 1960 election was very close. Kennedy won by just a little more than 100,000 votes. No one knew until the next day if he had truly won or not. The scene was just pure fiction within itself.
He didnt get to talk to Nixon in this movie. Whoever he was talking to - he said "tell him its Frank Sinatra" or something similar.
shareMinnesota.
share