Cruikshank immediately turned his attention to health care for the elderly. In 1960, as planning for the first White House Conference on Aging got underway, Cruikshank worked with Meany's friend, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, to secure the appointment of a liberal Republican as chairman of the conference. He also won placement for senior citizens' health care issues in a favorable committee, to protect it from the AMA (which was vehemently opposed to national health insurance). The 1960 presidential election occurred concurrently with planning for the conference, and Cruikshank used the AFL-CIO's involvement in the election to build an organization of more than 500 health care and seniors' groups. When the White House Conference on Aging convened in 1961, Cruikshank mobilized his campaign group to defend and advance the national health insurance program and win the Conference's approval.