A Bruised Knee

Fifty years ago today, while campaigning in Greensboro, North Carolina, RN bruised his knee on a car door. Normally, such an event would go unnoticed in everyday life, much less the grand drama of a presidential race.  In this case, though, the bruise led to a serious staph infection that kept RN off the trail for two weeks.  As a result of the injury and the resulting weight loss, he did not look his best during the first debate with JFK.  Would the election have turned out differently if he had been able to campaign for those two weeks?  Or if he had looked better in that first debate?  It’s impossible to say for sure.  But the incident still serves as a reminder that seemingly trivial incidents can have large consequences.