One Dozen Pin Cushions

 

In the 1946 congressional race, a young John F. Kennedy ran against a man named Joe Russo. Joe was one of the first Italian immigrants to hold office in Boston. He’d been part of Boston’s political landscape since 1938, and he was popular among the locals. Kennedy, on the other hand, had never held public office. He had his daddy’s money, his experience as a World War II Navy vet, and not much else. Kennedy’s chances must have looked pretty shaky. But one of his campaign managers found another Joe Russo – a janitor – and bribed him to enter the race. Voters wouldn’t know which Joe Russo to vote for. As it happened, though, the shady deal wasn’t necessary. Joe the city councilor got 5,661 votes. Joe the janitor got 773. JFK won with 22,183 votes. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1947, in the U.S. Senate in 1953, and as President in 1961.