Defenders of the first in the nation primary say it gives New Hampshire something unique.
They call it retail politics... that face-to-face meeting that allows voters to evaluate the candidates, and lets candidates understand the voters.
But a group of voters in Laconia believes the New Hampshire primary has given them something more: a passion for public service.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Brady Carlson files this report.
Kirk Dougall remembers getting a wave from Dwight Eisenhower, even though he was in his bathing suit at the time. (Brady Carlson, NHPR.)
When high school classmates get together for a reunion, you expect they’ll share stories about their time in school together.
Hanging out at Sawyers Dairy Bar, the big game, who dated whom, whatever happened to so-and-so.
The Laconia High School class of 1952 has plenty of that, but they’ve also got something more.
For one thing, a good number of them meet for lunch once a month – and they’ve been doing so for about a decade.
And their memories include tales of the 1952 presidential primary…the first “modern” New Hampshire primary.
Take Kirk Dougall, who now lives in Guilford.
He’s shaken hands with George H.W. Bush and John McCain. But neither of those meetings stick out as much as his first political memory.
“I was standing on the corner of Gilford Avenue and Union Avenue in Laconia in just my bathing suit. And years later I thought, how undignified to be in a bathing suit when Eisenhower went by in a car, and waved to me. And that was the beginning of, maybe, my political – looking into politics.”
Talk to almost anyone in the class and you’ll hear stories like that one.
As members of the Laconia Class of '52, Edie Adams (left) and Jane Pearcy count political memories among their high school memories. (Brady Carlson, NHPR.)
Edie Adams: “Our family went down to Tilton to see him in the parade, he was in a parade in Tilton. And it was a convertible. And he looked wonderful, his complexion was wonderful.”
Ginger Tefft Ryan: “When they had the rally at the Colonial Theater, I was an usher, and they gave us these buttons – I Like Ike. And I’ve kept it all these years.”
Dorothy Duffy: “We had Adlai Stevenson, and Adlai Stevenson, his claim to fame was he wore a hole in the sole of his shoe because he did so much campaigning. And you could see it.”
Mary Jane Hoey: “I remember Estes Kefauver showing up with a raccoon hat.”
Dorothy Duffy: “We had the perpetual candidate, Harold Stassen, who came back and came back and came back, and we had Robert Taft…”
But more than a few members of the Class of ’52 say the impact of seeing these candidates up close goes far beyond those brushes with history.
It encouraged them to jump right into the political process they’d been observing.
“We couldn’t vote, we were eighteen, but I think that made a big impression on us.
Dorothy Duffy organizes the class’s monthly luncheons.
She says the school encouraged Laconia High students to see the candidates speak. Teachers organized discussions and mock debates on the issues. Some members of the class even helped drive voters to the polls. From these experiences, they got the notion that they could take a direct part in the biggest political game in the country, a presidential election.
“Probably the majority of us have been politically involved in some way, shape or form, campaigning – sometimes the wrong side (laughs) but I think it instilled an interest in the community.”
Ginger Tefft Ryan (left) shows off her 'I Like Ike' button with classmate Dorothy Duffy. (Brady Carlson, NHPR)
And Duffy says that drive to participate in that community continues to this day.
“Ginger and I do volunteer work at the hospital, there’s garden clubs, there’s helping the refugee program that we have in Laconia, we have Multicultural Market Day which is a wonderful event, we have people who are very involved in their churches – I think the majority of us – all involved in one way shape or form, in giving back to the community.”
And taking part in the New Hampshire primary is just another way of giving back. Duffy says the students named themselves the Fabulous Class of 52 because they were do-ers, that they get involved, and always have.
She feels the same way about New Hampshire voters.
“We’re quite educated about it and we’ve been through it so much that we feel it’s our responsibility to kind of respond. And I think that we really study the candidates, we get the advantage of seeing them face to face – I saw candidates in Long Island, but you were in a great big union hall with thousands of people and the candidate was a little teeny figure on the stage. Here, they come into your living room and they have coffee with you – and we’re not afraid to ask the questions here.”
This fall the Fabulous Class of ‘52 held their official 55th reunion.
They still meet once a month for lunch.
They still keep very busy – five of the class members are on the board for Laconia’s Historical Society.
And, of course, they still meet – and question – those running for president.
After all, it’s what they’ve done, for more than a half a century.
For NHPR News, I’m Brady Carlson.
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This story should go National on NPR, All Things Considered, for example. It's a great story, and THIS is why the NH Primaary is important! Well done Class of '52 and Brady Carlson!