June 12, 1964 - Gore Vidal (pictured, the novelist, playwright, and critic, will serve as a political commentator for the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company during the Republican and Democratic national conventions. He will discuss developments over the radio and television stations operated by Westinghouse in eight cities, including WINS in New York.
Mr. Vidal is author of “The Best Man,” a stage play and motion picture about a Presidential nomination convention. In 1960, he was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress in New York’s 29th District.
Mr. Vidal has written many television dramas, but this will be his first appearance as a commentator.
It has been unusual for a station or network to employ as a political commentator one who is publicly associated with partisan politics. But this year, ABC will use former President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a commentator at the Republican convention and Senators Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota and Sam Ervin Jr. of North Carolina, both Democrats, at the Democratic convention.
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