Camelot meets the White House: The election of 1960

After the largely successful terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower, America would have to elect a new president in 1960. Eisenhower's Vice President, Richard M. Nixon, won the nomination for the Republicans, although he was opposed early on by Nelson Rockefeller and some of the more liberal wing of the party. Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. was chosen to run with Nixon as his vice president. As for the Democrats, Adlai Stevenson once again tried to get the nomination, but after losing twice, many felt it was time for a new face. That came in Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy, a young man of only 43 years of age with a beautiful family and wealthy background. With the family backing, Kennedy was able to win the nomination over Texas senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who was chosen to run with Kennedy on the ticket. Going into the campaign season of 1960, many believed the race to be neck and neck, with Nixon gaining a small advantage in August. Kennedy had accused the Eisenhower and Nixon administration of falling behind the Soviets, and Nixon accused Kennedy of being inexperienced. A few gaffs in Nixon's campaign severely hurt his chances at winning. One was when a reporter asked President Eisenhower to name something important that Nixon had contributed to the campaign, and Ike jokingly said, "If you give me a week, I might think of something." Kennedy supporters used this to show that Nixon was not as experienced as he said he was. Also, Nixon made the mistake of promising to campaign in all 50 states, spending time in states he had no chance of winning or states with few electoral votes, such as spending the last week of the campaign in Alaska, with only 3 electoral votes. Another important factor in this election was the debates, which were televised for the first time. Kennedy showed great composure on TV, while Nixon stumbles and made the mistake of wearing makeup. Much was also made about Kennedy being a Catholic, but he famously made a speech mentioning he was not the Catholic nominee for President but the Democratic candidate for president, helping his popularity. On election day, the results were very close, with Kennedy winning by .1% in the popular vote, a virtual tie, but in the electoral college, Kennedy carried a 303-219 margin, the closest election since 1916. Kennedy was able to carry several southern states, largely due to Lyndon Johnson, which helped him carry the victory. As for Nixon, the defeat did not deter him from still seeking politics. In 1962, he ran for Governor of the state of California, but lost, afterwards promising the media they wouldn't have Nixon to kick around anymore. However, by the time of the 1968 election, Nixon would make one of the greatest political comebacks in history. John F. Kennedy ushered in a new era of the presidency, being the first president born after 1900. On Inauguration Day, Kennedy made a great speech, promising to oppose any foe, and making the famous statement, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Kennedy's presidency was full of action, as he cut taxes, dealt with the Soviets, and worked on reform at home, such as the space race. The Bay of Pigs operation, a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba, failed, and made Kennedy look bad. Also, the Cuban Missile Crises in 1962 was the high point of the Cold War, the closest America and the Soviets came to war. Being very popular, Kennedy was in Texas in November of 1963 to start drumming up support for his re-election in 1964, but was gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald. Lyndon Johnson then became president, and the nation was deeply mourned. As for campaign items, many Kennedy word pins and single picture buttons are very affordable, as are some smaller jugates or common jugate buttons. Some posters are more rare, but overall, most Kennedy items are easy to find. For Nixon, the same is true, as word pins, jugates, and posters are fairly easy to come across. This election is also very easy to define the items, since Kennedy only ran once, and Nixon ran with Henry Cabot Lodge. Even though Nixon ran again later, you can tell which election the item is from by his youthful appearance from 1960, as he often appears during his vice-presidency. I have pictured a group of Kennedy buttons and a group of Nixon buttons, as well as a Nixon poster and a matchbook from Nixon's campaign.