THE SIXTIES ended on September 11, 2001, but they were interred on the morning of November 3, 2004, when a senator from Massachusetts played the reverse role of another senator from Massachusetts 44 years earlier.

In November of 1960, John F. Kennedy had received a call from Richard Nixon, conceding the election, an act of statesmanship that still redounds to Nixon’s credit. Nixon’s chances of successfully waging a recount of Illinois and Texas votes were higher than Kerry’s of contesting Ohio’s votes from Tuesday, but both would have been long-shots, and both would have strained the country’s reserves of civility. Both men chose well, and John Kerry’s final act of Campaign 2004 was by far his best.