1. JFK ANALYSIS OF ELECTIONS
Max Willman
Favorite President Presentation III
2. 1960 ELECTION
- Despite his youth, 43 year old Kennedy
captured the Democratic nomination.
- The campaign was cultivated around Cold
War tensions between the US and Soviet
Union.
- 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first
manmade satellite to orbit Earth. Americans
feared we were falling behind communist
countries in science and technology.
3. THE CANDIDATES
- With what seemed a lack of experience in
foreign affairs, Kennedy managed to win the
Democratic nomination.
- After a win in the Democratic primary in West
Virginia, despite his Catholic faith, his success
blossomed into a first ballot victory at the
national convention in Los Angeles.
- Kennedy chose Texas senator Lyndon Johnson
as his running mate, with the hopes to get the
nation moving again and resist communism
around the world.
- The Republican nominee was Vice President
Richard M. Nixon.
- He focused on the peace and prosperity of the
Eisenhower administration, with the goal to
maintain American prestige, leadership, and
military strength.
- To the eyes of the voters, Nixon appeared
more mature and experienced than Kennedy,
which ultimately, he led in the polls after the
national conventions.
4. ROLE OF TELEVISION,
RELIGION, AND CIVIL
RIGHTS
- For the first time, television was the dominant
source of information for voters.
- Both candidates sought the support of the
increasingly growing suburban population.
- Kennedy focused on the liberal reform tradition
of the Democratic party of Roosevelt and
Truman. He pulled key elements from these
coalitions about urban minorities, ethnic voting
blocs, and organized labor.
- Also hoped to win back the black conservative
Catholics who had deserted the Democrats to
vote for Eisenhower in the previous elections.
He said, "I believe in an America where the
separation of church and state is absolute;
where no Catholic prelate would tell the
President—should he be Catholic—how to act,
and no Protestant minister would tell his
parishioners for whom to vote.“
- With the support from Martin Luther King Sr.,
the African-American vote increased heavily for
Kennedy across the nation.
- Nixon continued the record of the Eisenhower
years, expressing to keep the federal
government from dominating the free market
economy and the American lives.
5. THE DEBATES
- Kennedy challenged Nixon to a series of televised
debates. Many in the Nixon camp, including
Eisenhower, strongly advised him to reject the
proposal and deny Kennedy of national exposure.
- “In 1950, only 11 percent of American homes had
television; by 1960, the number had jumped to 88
percent. An estimated seventy million Americans,
about two-thirds of the electorate, watched the
first debate on September 26th.”
- Kennedy planned with producers to discuss camera
angles and design of the set. He strategically wore
a blue suit and shirt to cut down on glare and
appeared sharply focused against the gray studio
backdrop, while his counterpart wore gray and
seemed to blend into the set.
- When speaking, Kennedy spoke directly to the
cameras and the national audience, but Nixon, in
traditional debating style, seemed to be
responding to Kennedy.
- These debates proved that inexperience was not an
issue for Kennedy, as studies showed that of the
four million voters who made up their minds as a
result of the debates, three million voted for
Kennedy.
6. RESULTS
- In the final days, President Eisenhower began
speaking on behalf of Nixon which seemed to
shift the momentum in his favor.
- November 8th, 1960, John F. Kennedy was
elected President of the United States.
- In one of the closest elections in US history, the
popular vote, in his margin over Nixon was
118,550 out of a total of nearly 69 million
votes. Kennedy had a clear majority of 303 to
219 in the electoral votes based on his success
in many urban and industrial states.
- “John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the youngest
man ever elected president, the only Catholic,
and the first president born in the twentieth
century.”
7. 1964 ELECTION
- While on the first campaign swing of
his reelection effort, President
Kennedy was assassinated on
November 22nd, 1963.
- Politicking was put on hold
temporarily during the period of
mourning, and was picked back up
on in January of 1964, when the
primary season officially began.
8. THE ASSASSINATION
- By the fall of 1963, President Kennedy and his political
team were preparing for the next presidential
campaign.
- Kennedy did not announce his candidacy, but it was
clear he was going to run and was confident in his
chances for reelection.
- While on his tour to spotlight natural resources and
conservation efforts, along with education, national
security, and world peace, Kennedy seemed to relish
the prospect of leaving Washington and getting out
among the people.
- In the process would be a ten-mile route that wound
through downtown Dallas on the way to Trade Mart
where he was scheduled to speak.
- Crowds of people filled the streets and buildings with
excitement for the arrival of the President. When the
Presidential motorcade turned off Main Street at
Dealey Plaza, gunfire suddenly echoed around 12:30
pm. Bullets struck the President in the neck and the
head and the car sped off to Parkland Memorial
Hospital.
- At 1:00 pm, President John F. Kennedy was
pronounced dead.
9. WORKS CITED
"Campaign of 1960." - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. N.p., n.d.
Web. 03 Aug. 2016.
"Historical Timeline." Historical Presidential Election Map Timeline. N.p., n.d. Web.
03 Aug. 2016.
"JFK in History." - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. N.p., n.d. Web.
03 Aug. 2016.
