Historic Tidbit: 50 years to the day after JFK was murdered, a number Sports, theater, and virtually all other cultural events around the country came to halt when JFK killed but astonishingly, many Texas communities went on with their events That night, the Grand Prairie Gophers beat the Wichita Fall Coyotes 21-14 and the Nacogdoches Dragons beat the Kilgore Bulldogs 29-14. JFK was not universally beloved in Texas and in fact was warned against making the trip to Dallas but, this is the President. Incidentally, November 22, 1963 was also the day the writing of the pilot for “Gilligan’s Island,’ which would premier the next fall, was finished.
In 1960, Kansas Governor George Docking was one of several mid-western Governors seriously considered to be the running-mate of JFK. During a swing of Kansas, Kennedy went so far as to say Docking was “near the top of my list,” and Bobby Kennedy passed more than subtle hints. The same was done to Docking’s fellow mid-western Governors, Orville Freeman of Minnesota and Herschel Loveless of Iowa (see previous chapters). Of course, the pick went not to a mid-westerner but to a southerner, LBJ.
There’s no way of knowing how close to the top Docking really was but, had he been selected and assumed the Presidency upon Kennedy’s assassination, the nation would have lost two Presidents in two months. Docking died in January of 1964, which means the Presidency would have passed to House Speaker John McCormack.
George Docking (State Library of Kansas)
Docking had reluctantly entered the Presidential race not with any expectation of winning, but with the goal of preserving Kansas’ influence should a wide-open convention occur. While Kennedy was the overwhelming front-runner as the convention happened, that was indeed the case. Which meant Docking’s name would be placed in nomination with the more serious candidates on the floor. But if Docking was expecting 15 minutes of fame, he’d find that cut in half. As Kansas Democratic State Chair Frank Thels was placing Docking’s name in nomination, Eleanor Roosevelt was entering the convention hall, and she would get a thunderous welcome.
There may have been a number of reasons Docking was passed over but one may have been that he didn’t deliver Kansas to Kennedy’s column until after he had clinched the nomination. Ironically, he may have been thwarted from doing so by his own state. A number of delegates wanted to see the nomination go to Missouri Senator Stuart Symington. At that point, Docking was angling for the vice-presidency and tried to make a further impression on Kennedy by releasing his delegates to him. The delegation refused his request.
But Docking took it in stride. When Johnson was nominated, Docking gave a seconding speech in his favor. The interesting thing is that Docking, like Freeman and Loveless were facing elections in their home states in the fall and all would lose (Freeman and Docking were standing for re-election as Governors while Loveless was running for the Senate).
Kennedy with Docking, Abe Ribicoff, and Terry Sanfored in 1960 (EBay)
Docking was a son of Clay Center, Kansas. Attending school in Lawrence, he would earn his degree from the University of Kansas. Docking’s entry into politics would come relatively late in life when in 1952, he became Adlai Stevenson’s fundraiser. His impression was strong enough that Kansas Democrats nominated him as their standard bearer for Governor in 1954. Though he’d take a healthy 46%, he still lost to Fred Hall. But in 1956, he asked Democrats for another shot at the office. They gave it to him, but only barely, as Docking would edge out ex-Secretary of War Harry Hines Woodring in the Democratic primary by 996 votes out of 153,000 cast. The general election was easier as Docking bucked Eisenhower’s coattails in his adoptive state and won the job with 55%. But Kansans weren’t totally ready to abandon their partisan proclivities, as they chose a Republican for Lieutenant Governor. This was not lost on Docking, who said in asked Kansans in his inaugural address to “not be disturbed by this fact. All of us, of both political parties, will offer our best efforts to give the citizens of Kansas the good government for which they voted.” Two years later, Docking would make history by becoming the first Democrat to win a second term as Governor of the “Sunflower State.” The margin was a healthy 56%.
Docking’s success with the voters belied the fact that his tenure as Governor was anything but smooth. Republicans dominated the Legislature and there would be constant feuding. But the bickering extended beyond the Legislature. Frank Murphy was had been Kansas University’s Chancellor since 1948 and was known to be a Republican. But in ’56, he actively supported Docking’s opponent. KU historian Cliff Griffin noted “unlike most of his predecessors, however, he worked for the party.”
When Docking assumed office, Murphy refused to make nice. He said they “can only promise to continue, or at most expand, Republican programs. This should be put to the electorate so constantly and so frequently that they cannot forget it.” Docking returned fire, telling a gathering of Democrats Murphy was “receiving a salary of $22,000, plus a free house, a free car and overseas junkets paid by the federal government…. I think he’s getting enough. We can get plenty of others as good for less.”
Murphy finally had enough and resigned in March 1960. Students responded by burning Docking in effigy and holding up posters saying, “We Lose!”, “We Can Get a Governor For Less!” And they did. That November, Docking was unseated by John Anderson 55-45%.
Capital punishment also played a role. Docking opposed it (“I just don’t like killing people”) and Kansas had just witnessed a sensational trial where two men had been convicted of brutally murdering a rural family of four. Docking made clear he would not support the death sentence. The case became fodder for Truman Capote’s book, “In Cold Blood.” Before leaving office, Docking commuted the sentence of two other murderers on death row.
Docking did get a consolation prize in Kennedy’s administration. He would become Director of the Export-Impact Bank. “I am not running against John Kennedy, so I ask the chair to remove my name from nomination,” Docking would lose his battle with emphysema on January 20, 1964, two months after JFK’s assassination. He would not live to see his family carry on his name in politics. In 1966, his son Robert won the Governorship and broke his father’s record as a Democrat winning re-election. He did so three times before retiring in 1974. A grandson narrowly lost a bid for the office in 1986 and his daughter-in-law Jill was the Democratic nominee to fill the seat vacated by Bob Dole in 1996. She lost to Sam Brownback.