1962-0615, Religion, the Beginning of Separation of Church and State.
When John F Kennedy entered national politics in 1962, many in the Democrat Party were worried that his Roman Catholic faith would hurt his chances at the presidency. He was the first Roman Catholic to run for president and their fear was he would put the Pope above the US Constitution. The Democrats pledged to keep separate Kennedy’s faith and politics. Prior to this there was no concept of separation of church and state in the USA.
To address fears that his being Catholic would impact his decision-making, he told the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on September 12, 1960, "I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party candidate for president who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters and the Church does not speak for me." Kennedy questioned rhetorically whether one-quarter of Americans were relegated to second-class citizenship just because they were Catholic and once stated that, "No one asked me my religion in the South Pacific."
