Bill White was already a seasoned veteran of local politics on Nov. 7, 1960, as the biggest night of his political life unfolded in the old Boston Garden. He first ran for Town Meeting in Milton at 21, and by his early 30s was known as a Democrat who could rally voters behind candidates and causes.

His job was running the stage at the Garden, where John F. Kennedy was giving a speech the night before he was elected president, and 20,000 people had shouldered into a building designed to accommodate 13,000. (Read the full story here.)