The then-U.S. senator attended an Easton Democratic Committee dinner.
John F. Kennedy was the keynote speaker at the annual Easton City Democratic Committee dinner on Oct. 30, 1957, when he was a U.S. senator.
Between 200 and 250 people attended the event at the then-Hotel Easton, said Easton resident Pat Vulcano Jr., who went to the dinner with his father.
"He said, 'I want you to see this gentleman' because he said he might be president one day," Vulcano said.
Vulcano, who was 10 at the time, said he was blown away by Kennedy's speaking ability and was further impressed with him when he saw him at the Hotel Bethlehem in 1960. He also got to shake Kennedy's hand at both events and has his signature on the 1957 dinner program.
"He shook everyone's hand -- I was mesmerized as a 13-year-old that he would have shook my hand," Vulcano said of the Hotel Bethlehem breakfast.
Kennedy was supposed to return to the Lehigh Valley in October 1962 to campaign for congressional candidates in Allentown and Bethlehem but the visit was called off at the last minute, Allentown historian Frank Whelan said.
The excuse at the time was that Kennedy was ill, but it was later found out that it was around the time he would have been getting initial intelligence reports that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis and that’s why the trip was canceled, Whelan said.