Hewitt also produced the first Kennedy/Nixon debate. He, perhaps more than anyone,got Kennedy elected as those who listened only to the debate thought Nixon had won, while those who watched on TV thought Kennedy had won due to their relative personal appearances. Nixon had a 5 o’clock shadow and looked shifty, Kennedy looked young and energetic. Hewitt was the media savvy individual behind that.
And the irony behind all that was that JFK was one of our sickliest presidents who was plagued by a plethora of illnesses including a disease in his adrenal glands, a perpetually bad back (he wore a back brace)and a wide assortmant of other chronic illnesses as well.
All this crap about vigah and youth was largely a bunch of hooey propagated by Joe Sr.