In Public Service: Watching JFK on television inspired Martin Dilan
State Sen. Martin Dilan developed a keen interest in politics when he was a child. He recalls being a boy and watching the 1960 Democratic National Convention on television in his family’s Bushwick home.
The convention took place in Los Angeles that year. It took several ballots for the young Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy to secure the nomination, and young Dilan was riveted by his television set. The time difference between New York and California, three hours, meant that Dilan was watching late into the night.
“My dad caught me watching it at two o’clock in the morning. He yelled at me, ‘Get back to bed!’” he recalled.