U.S. presidential election, 1960

The U.S. presidential election of 1960 was held on November 8, 1960.

General election

Campaign

A crucial factor in this election was the first televised presidential debate. Nixon refused television makeup and was feeling sick, because he injured his knee on the way to the studio. He expected to win voters with his foreign-policy expertise, but people only saw a sickly man sweating profusely and wearing a gray suit that blended into the scenery while his rival, Kennedy, looked great. Later research showed that those who had listened to the debate on radio thought Nixon had won, but the television audience gave the win to Kennedy. Nixon's negative experience in the debates caused him to shun debates in his 1968 and 1972 campaigns, and the next presidential debates would not be held until 1976.

Related Topics:
Presidential debate - 1968 - 1972

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The main economic issue during the election was the USSR's high economic growth rate in comparison to the United States'. According to analyses at the time, the Soviet economy was expected to overtake the American economy by 1984. Kennedy also claimed the Republican administration had allowed a missile gap by not matching Soviet defense spending and allowing the military to weaken. The claim was made plausible by Soviet superiority in the space program, evidenced by their successful Sputnik program and numerous US launch failures. However, there is evidence there never was a gap as far as missiles were concerned.

Related Topics:
USSR - 1984 - Missile gap - Sputnik program

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Still, the election was close and Kennedy only defeated Nixon by two tenths of a percentage point (0.2%.) Some speculate that Kennedy benefited from vote fraud especially in Texas and Illinois. There is no certainty that Nixon would have won both Texas and Illinois (which he would have had to do to win the Electoral College vote). What is certain, however, is that in Illinois, Kennedy won by a bare 9,000 votes, and Mayor Daley, who held back Chicago's vote until late in the evening, provided an extraordinary Cook County margin of victory of 450,000 votes. No thorough investigation of the massive irregularities was ever conducted, and partisans of Kennedy and Nixon still debate the bottom line"http://www.leanleft.com/archives/cat_reviews.html. The Republican party urged Nixon to pursue recounts and challenge the validity of some of the votes for Kennedy, especially in the pivotal states of Illinois, Missouri and New Jersey, where marginal wins handed Kennedy the election. Nixon publicly refused to call for a recount, saying it would cause a constitutional crisis. However, privately, he encouraged GOP Chair Thurston Morton to push for a recount, which Morton did in 11 states, keeping challenges in the courts into the summer of 1961; the only result was the loss of the State of Hawaii to Kennedy on a recount.

Related Topics:
Texas - Illinois - Electoral College - Chicago - Cook County - Missouri - New Jersey - Constitutional crisis - Thurston Morton - 1961 - Hawaii

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The actual number of votes received by Byrd and Kennedy are difficult to determine. In Alabama, the statewide primary had chosen eleven electors, five of which were pledged to vote for Kennedy, and six of whom were free to vote for anyone they chose. The ballot gave voters a choice between Nixon and a slate of Democratic unpledged electors. It is unclear how many of the 318,303 Democratic votes in Alabama were for Byrd, and how many were for Kennedy. This margin is easily large enough to make Nixon the winner of the popular vote instead of Kennedy.

Related Topics:
Alabama - Unpledged elector

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Byrd received electoral votes for President from Alabama (6), Mississippi (8) and Oklahoma (1). Thurmond received electoral votes for Vice President from Alabama (6) and Mississippi (8). Goldwater received one electoral vote for Vice President from Oklahoma.

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Results

Source (Popular Vote): {{Leip PV source 2| year=1960| as of=August 2, 2005}}

Related Topics:
August 2 - 2005

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Source (Electoral Vote): {{National Archives EV source| year=1960| as of=August 2, 2005}}

Related Topics:
August 2 - 2005

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(a) This figure is the national popular vote for Kennedy given in Leip's Atlas (34,220,984) minus the votes for the Alabama Democratic slate (318,303) that Leip includes in that national popular vote.

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(b) Byrd was not directly on the ballot. Instead, his electoral votes came from unpledged Democratic electors and a faithless elector.

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(c)Oklahoma elector Henry D. Irwin, though pledged to vote for Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., instead voted for independent Harry F. Byrd. However, unlike other electors who voted for Byrd and Strom Thurmond as Vice President, Irwin voted for Barry Goldwater as Vice President.

Related Topics:
Henry D. Irwin - Harry F. Byrd - Strom Thurmond - Barry Goldwater

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(d) In Alabama, voters were not given John F. Kennedy as a choice; rather, they could vote for a slate of Democratic electors. 5 were pledged to Kennedy, while 6 were free to vote for whomever they wanted. When the electoral votes were cast, the 6 unpledged electors voted for Byrd and Thurmond.

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(e) In Mississippi, the slate of unpledged Democratic electors won. They cast their 8 votes for Byrd and Thurmond.

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