Editing Stuart Symington (section)

===Presidential candidacy===
In 1959, Symington, then Chairman of the [[National Security Resources Board]] in Washington, D.C., was preparing to run in the [[1960 United States presidential election|1960 presidential election]] and won the backing of former President and fellow Missourian [[Harry Truman]], but eventually lost the nomination to Senator [[John F. Kennedy]]. On July 2, 1960, Truman announced that he would not be attending the [[1960 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]] in Los Angeles. Truman was miffed that the convention was being controlled by the "overzealous" supporters of Kennedy. Announcing his decision, Truman restated his support for the candidacy of Symington and added, "I have no second choice".<ref>Truman Charges Kennedy Backers Run Convention, Janson, Donald, New York Times, July 2, 1960</ref>

Symington, unlike Kennedy or [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], refused to speak to segregated audiences in the southern United States and this hurt his chances.  Additionally, having concluded that the nomination would be determined by party bosses at the convention, Symington declined to enter any of the Democratic primaries, clearing the way for Kennedy to win enough primaries to be the frontrunner and probable nominee as the convention opened.  He was Kennedy's first choice for Vice President, but was dropped in favor of Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. He advised President Kennedy as a member of [[EXCOMM]] during the October 1962 [[Cuban Missile Crisis]].