WHAT chance has Senator John A. Kennedy, son of former U.S. Ambassador to Britain, Mr. Joseph Kennedy, of following President Eisenhower as occupier of the White House?
Senator Kennedy last weekend formally de.?lared himself i1 candidate for the presidency at the Democratic Convention in July. If he gets the nomination he will be the first Catholic contender for the presidency since the defeat of Al Smith in 1928.
Four years ago he ran for the Vice-Presidency but withdrew, it is said, on the advice of his father, who considered that a defeat attributed to his religion would endanger the Catholic cause for years to Come.
Senator Hubert Humphreys is also contending for the Democratic nomination, while on the other side the withdrawal of the Governor of New York, Mr. Nelson A. Rockefeller, from the race leaves the Republican track clear for Vice-President Richard Nixon, who this week won new laurels in the public eye with his successful mediation in the 116day-long steel strike, the longest and costliest in American history.
Events of the past few weeks have, however, put a heavy burden on Kennedy. CATHOLIC HERALD correspondent in Chicago, Mr. Irwin St. John Tucker, discusses the position: