Editing Birch Bayh (section)

=== Indiana legislature and 1962 U.S. Senate campaign ===
[[File:Birch and Evan Bayh 1962.jpg|thumb|Bayh with son Evan Bayh, wife Marvella and an unidentified woman, 1962.]]
Bayh's political career began at age 26 with his election to the [[Indiana House of Representatives]] in 1954, where he served two years as Speaker and four years as Democratic [[Floor Leader]]. At the time, Bayh was the youngest Speaker in Indiana state history.<ref name="Household" /> While he served in the legislature, Bayh studied law at [[Indiana University Maurer School of Law|Indiana University's School of Law]], received his [[Bachelor of Laws|LL.B.]] in 1960, and was admitted to the Indiana Bar in 1961.<ref name="Biography">{{cite web |url=http://www.birchbayh.com/id1.html |title=Biography |website=www.birchbayh.com}}</ref>

At age 34, Bayh was elected to the United States Senate in the [[1962 United States Senate elections|1962 midterm elections]], defeating 18-year incumbent [[Homer E. Capehart]]. Capehart was outspoken on the threat of Soviet nuclear missiles being placed in [[Cuba]], and was buoyed by the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of that October. Bayh's disadvantage was dramatized in the opening scene of the 2000 film [[Thirteen Days (film)|''Thirteen Days'']], as President [[John F. Kennedy]] rattles a newspaper and asks an aide, "You see this goddamn Capehart stuff?" and the aide responds, "Bayh's going to lose".<ref>{{cite web |last=Self |first=David |title=13 Days script by David Self |url=http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/13_days.html |work=The Daily Script|access-date=December 6, 2012}}</ref>

Bayh's success was attributed to a vigorous campaign of 300 speeches between [[Labor Day]] and the election,<ref name="Cruikshank" /> and a catchy campaign jingle that taught voters the correct pronunciation of his last name:<ref name=":4" />

{{blockquote | <poem>Hey, look him over,
He's your kind of guy.
His first name is Birch,
His last name is Bayh.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,829383,00.html |title=Nation: Indiana: Codgerism |magazine=Time |date=November 16, 1962 |via=content.time.com}}</ref></poem>}}

For more than four decades&nbsp;— throughout his entire career in politics&nbsp;— Bayh continued to manage the growing of [[Maize|corn]] and [[soybean]]s on his family farm.<ref name="Goodheart" />