November 2, 1965: John Lindsay Is Elected Mayor of New York

November 2, 1965: John Vliet Lindsay, a liberal Republican Congressman, is elected Mayor of New York City. He defeats the Democratic nominee, City Comptroller Abraham D. Beame.

A few days short of his 43rd birthday at the time of his election, he had served in World War II, in battles in both the European and the Pacific Theaters of Operations, rising to the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. In 1958, he was elected to Congress, representing the East Side of Manhattan, the district nicknamed the Perfumed Stockade, and re-elected in 1960, '62 and '64.

He was handsome and well-spoken, and, up to this point, people found him eminently likable. His basic decency allowed him to connect with liberals, moderates and minorities. However, he was elected as a plurality Mayor in a 3-way race. He got the nominations of the Republican and Liberal Parties, and got 45 percent of the vote. Democratic nominee Beame got 41 percent.

William F. Buckley Jr., publisher of National Review magazine and founder of the Conservative Party of the State of New York, got 13 percent, despite the fact that he didn't even live in the City, said he didn't want to. He even said he didn't want the job: He just wanted to make a point that conservatives should have a choice between Democrats and liberal Republicans.

Lindsay would proclaim, "New York is a fun city." and was lampooned as "Mayor Linseed" on the Batman TV series that soon premiered. (The equivalent to Governor Nelson Rockefeller would be "Governor Stonefellow.") But Fun City would not respond well to him: The day of his Inauguration, January 1, 1966, was the day the Transport Workers Union's contract ran out, and the Subway employees went on strike. After 11 days, Lindsay caved in to the union, and his support never recovered.

Seeming to have pandered to civil rights groups and the antiwar movement, and responding too slowly to a blizzard early in 1969, his own party dumped him for re-election that year. But he secured the Liberal Party's nomination in New York State's odd four-party structure, and rode the "miracles" of the Mets and Jets to victory.

But his 2nd term was even more troubling than his 1st, as the City spiraled downward in crime and corruption that, try as he might, he couldn't stop. I've often thought that Lindsay and Rockefeller, also a liberal Republican, should have switched jobs: Rocky could have governed what University of Massachusetts historian Vincent J. Cannato, writing in 2002 about about Lindsay's terms, titled The Ungovernable City; while Lindsay would have been better off in Albany.

But many people thought Lindsay was merely using the Mayoralty as a stepping-stone for the Presidency -- a charge also leveled at Rockefeller. In the end, neither ever came close to it. Indeed, dumped by the Republicans, Lindsay ran in the Democratic Primaries in 1972, and was laughed out of the race. My mother, a City native, likes to say that she knew Lindsay was really a Democrat before he did.

Lindsay did not dare run for a 3rd term in 1973. Having regained the Comptroller's post in 1969, Abe Beame ran for Mayor again, and was elected. But things got even worse, and he wouldn't even get nominated for a 2nd term. Lindsay was ill for a long time, lost his fortune due to his medical bills, and died at age 79 at the end of 2000. Beame died a few days later, at 94, also a tragic figure.

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November 2, 1965 was, like all Election Days in modern America, a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. And no games were scheduled in the NBA or the NHL. So there were no scores on this historic day.

October 30, 1975: "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD"

October 30, 1975: The New York Daily News, responding to President Gerald Ford's statement that he wouldn't allow the federal government to bail out New York City's desperate finances, prints the most famous newspaper headline ever: "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD."

Ford didn't actually say that, but that was the message he sent, intentionally or otherwise.

Both sides compromised, as the City did a few more things to try to get its financial house in order, and this satisfied Ford to the point where he changed his mind and signed a bailout bill.

But Ford was damned when he did, and damned when he didn't. The bailout he actually did sign infuriated many conservatives, who already had a few problems with the mildly conservative Ford, and they voted for former Governor Ronald Reagan of California in the Republican primaries, and Reagan very nearly won the GOP nomination, and when Ford won the nomination anyway, many of those conservatives stayed home on Election Day, November 2, 1976.

This may have made the difference in throwing some States, including New York, to the Democratic nominee, former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia. White conservatives in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Long Island and Westchester abandoned him. Not that they voted for Carter (Southern or not, conservative by Democratic standards or not, they still viewed all Democrats as "socialists"), but they didn't vote at all.

It also upset undecided voters and disaffected Democrats. A lot of people remembered only the headline, and forgot that Ford changed his mind about the bailout, and held it against him, and a lot of people in the City who might not have been comfortable with Carter either voted for Carter or stayed home, enough to throw the State of New York to Carter. It may have made, literally, all the difference in the world.  Had Ford simply won the State, he would have won a full term.

True, the Nixon pardon, lingering feelings over Watergate, the shaky economy, his debate gaffe about Eastern Europe, and conservatives issues with him over things like foreign policy and federal spending also hurt him.

But the day after the '76 election, Mayor Abe Beame posed in front of City Hall with the headline, as if to say, "City to Ford: Don't tell someone to drop dead unless you can make him drop dead. We just made your campaign drop dead."

Beame outside Gracie Mansion on November 3,

a year and 4 days after the headline,

and the day after the election.

A year later, with the City's finances still not fully straightened out, and crime seemingly out of control, the City’s voters told Beame to "drop dead," and elected Congressman Ed Koch as its Mayor.

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October 30, 1975 was a Thursday. Baseball season had just ended with a classic World Series. Football was in midweek. These 2 games were played in the NBA that night:

* The New York Knicks beat the Kansas City Kings, 117-113 at Madison Square Garden. Nate "Tiny" Archibald scored 35 points, but the Knickerbockers got 32 from Walt "Clyde" Frazier and 26 from Spencer Haywood.

* And the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls, 108-91 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

And there was a game in the American Basketball Association, entering its final season: The San Antonio Spurs beat the San Diego Sails, 102-100 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

There were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The Boston Bruins beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks played to a 4-4 tie at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Kansas City Scouts, 6-2 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City. In 1976, the Scouts would become the Colorado Rockies. In 1982, they would become the New Jersey Devils.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-0 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And there were 4 games played in the World Hockey Association:

* The Calgary Cowboys beat the Indianapolis Racers, 7-5 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 4-0 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Phoenix Roadrunners beat the Denver Spurs, 3-2 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Houston Aeros beat the San Diego Mariners, 4-2 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).