Miami's Presidential Politics Role Dates Back To 1930s

[Rose Siding]

MIAMI -- Miami is once again playing a role in the race for the White House as President George W. Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry hold their first debate here.
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*In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt spoke to a cheering crowd at Miami's Bayfront Park. Minutes later, an assassination attempt failed but mortally wounded Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, who was with the president.

Thirty-three days later, the assassin was executed in Florida's electric chair.

*In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower made a civil rights speech in Miami. He was a frequent visitor as was his vice president, Richard Nixon.

*Nixon established the Florida White House on Bay Lane in Key Biscayne. Located beside it was Nixon's home, which is now a vacant lot.

His home was not far from the Sonesta Beach hotel where presidential advisors planned the Watergate burglary.

*In 1960, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy picked up on Miami's new hot button issue, Cuba. JFK returned often.

A few days after a speech in Miami, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas...........more.........

http://www.nbc6.net/politics/3766732/detail.html