Trump orders JFK files released: Remembering John F. Kennedy's 1960 Fond du Lac visit
FOND DU LAC – In February 1960, John F. Kennedy was still a U.S. senator from Massachusetts one month into a campaign to become the 35th president of the United States.
Before Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, arrived in Fond du Lac on Feb. 17 that year, they stopped in Waupun for coffee at the apartment of H.L. Guth, then a chat with working men at Guth's Tavern.
In Fond du Lac, local World War II hero and then-City Council President James Megellas presented Kennedy with a key to the city, and then Kennedy and his wife stopped at their hotel room on the seventh floor of the Retlaw to prepare for that evening's speech.
Declassified assassination files: Trump releases classified JFK files on assassination. Here's what they say.
Tom Kitchen, retired history teacher and collector of presidential memorabilia, told the FDL Reporter in 2020 that a couple thousand people went through the reception line that night as community members packed into the Crystal Ballroom at the Retlaw to hear Kennedy speak. The crowd included many Republicans.
Kennedy's speech was on water pollution, as both a nationwide issue and localized to Wisconsin, according to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
"Last year, the beaches of Milwaukee — a source of recreation and pleasure for thousands of people — were closed to the public. The reason: the water was polluted — it was unhealthy and unsafe," he'd said in his opening remarks.
Kennedy's visit is also infamously remembered for a small incident that occurred before his speech: the Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, predecessor to The Reporter, reported that Kennedy was briefly locked out of his hotel room wearing a T-shirt and shorts. He found his key in his trousers an hour before his speech.
Earlier this week, the White House released tens of thousands of pages of previously redacted records on the 1963 assassination of Kennedy. USA TODAY Reporter Josh Meyer wrote that so far, nothing in the documents has changed the understanding that Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy while he rode in a motorcade through Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, and that Oswald acted alone in the assassination.
Other presidential visits: From brushes with security to Kennedy at the Retlaw, FDL residents remember presidential visits
In 1993, on the 30th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination, The Reporter published recollections from community members on where they were when he was shot on Nov. 22, 1963.
Stan Gores, who was managing editor for the newspaper in 1963, was on the wire that day — where bells clanged whenever an important story came through — when he got word from one of the photographers.
"That news turned my layout for Page One around, and we tried to keep holding off on the deadline until we got more news, found an answer," he'd said.
As the wire room crowded with people from other departments, Gores and the staff managed to wait until they found out Lee Harvey Oswald was responsible. He said his reaction was just to do his job, change layout and get in as many bulletins as possible.
"It was a sad day, difficult to understand why this young president was shot," he'd said.
The late Fond du Lac County Executive Allen Buechel was in his junior year at St. Mary's Springs Academy, heading to his locker between gym class and English, when the news came over the PA.
"It was a very somber class, and everyone was sort of reflecting how it would affect them and their futures," he'd said. "He had a much stronger message for the future than his predecessors or opponents, and I believe he truly wanted to do what was right for the country."
His sister, Joyce Buechel, was in eighth grade at St. Peters school in St. Peters and added that Kennedy was important to her school because he was the first Catholic president.
Daphne Lemke is the Streetwise reporter for the Fond du Lac Reporter. Contact her at dlemke@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: JFK files released: Did John F. Kennedy ever visit Fond du Lac?
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