The 1960 Presidential Election

The presidential election of 1860 set the stage for the American Civil war. By 1860, the nation had been divided mostly up to that point regarding questions of states’ rights and slavery in the territories. Southerners were outraged over the plan by abolitionist, John Brown, to start a slave rebellion at Harper Ferry, Virginia. This event garnered headlines all over the nation in newspapers and magazines. On the other hand, the Northern Republic seemed equally anger by the Supreme Court decision in the case of Dred Scott v. Stanford, which declared free soil unconstitutional. The Northern Democrats, however, struggled to persuade the Americans that their policy of popular sovereignty still made since.

Johnson under the Democratic Party against Republican nominee Richard Nixon and his running mate Henry Lodge Cabot Jr. Throughout the campaign, Kennedy wanted to take the country into a “New Frontier” where America could progress beyond what the two presidents before him accomplished and find better methods on how to deal with issues (Deahl). Despite Kennedy’s high calcifications and vast experience, he was Catholic and many voters feared he might be under the Pope’s influence. Nonetheless, he proved himself to the American people when both candidates debated live on television, one of the first debates live in American history. While Kennedy appeared immaculate and confident, Nixon showed fatigue and stress which helped Kennedy as voters saw him more fit for presidency (Hamilton). For the electoral vote, won with 303 votes compared to Nixon’s 219 electoral votes and Byrd only 15 electoral votes

In November of 1860, the presidential election was one of the most momentous in the history of the United States. The land was split between North and the South and was smoldering for almost a decade. The candidates for the presidential election of 1860 were Abraham Lincoln, Republican, John Breckinridge, Southern Democrat, John Bell, Constitutional Union, and Stephen Douglas, Northern Democratic. Abraham Lincoln was against the increase of slavery into the new territories. Lincoln did not receive one vote from the south, but he did win over 50% of the Electoral College votes so Lincoln won the presidency to become the 16th President of the United States. Abraham Lincoln was known as one of America’s greatest heroes because of his inconceivable impact on our nation and his unique appeal. Lincoln was a captain in the military and a lawyer all before becoming the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln was one of two U.S. presidents who was assassinated while in office. Lincoln was also the president during the roughest part of American history, the Civil War. Lincoln was heavily in favor of abolishing slavery and so most of the citizens in the northern states of the U.S... On the other hand, the south had large plantations and favored slavery because the slaves worked for free and made plantation owners and other farmers a staggering amount of profit. The slaves were not treated as human beings; therefore, the slaves were mistreated. Slave owners often beat their slaves

John F Kennedy was a long-shot to win in the election of 1960. Kennedy was born 1917, was raised in a strict catholic family and a charismatic candidate. He was very young and energetic and wanted to be the change for America. Before his days of being a politician JFK, served in US Navy and won a Purple Heart. After his commission in the United States Navy, Kennedy served in the House of Representatives and US Senate as a Democrat for the state of Massachusetts. As Kennedy gained experience with political challenges, he became a politician that Democrats sought. In 1956, Kennedy was also sought to be vice president candidate but did not win. As a motivated young and determined man, he decided to run for President. If Kennedy were to win the election of 1960, he would become the

C. Support for #2: The Democratic convention nominated JFK as its candidate for President on July 13, 1960 and he turned to Johnson to be his Vice Presidential candidate. Despite the controversy of his Catholic faith Kennedy defeated his Republican opponent Richard Nixon on November 8, 1960 (Dallek).

On November 3, 1964, the divided Republicans were dealt a crushing defeat in a landslide. Johnson won a record-breaking 61.1% of the popular vote with a margin of roughly 22.5%. While not the largest margin of victory, this popular vote remains the largest recorded. In terms of the Electoral College, Goldwater carried only six states, with Johnson carrying the other forty-four and Washington D.C. with the final tally of 486 to 52. (1964 Presidential

he would be able to end the war. "We will be able to end the war by a simple

The 1980 presidential election of the United States featured three primary candidates, Republican Ronald Reagan, Democrat Jimmy Carter and liberal Republican John Anderson. Ronald Reagan was the governor of California before he decided to run for the presidency. John Anderson was a representative in Illinois and Carter was the incumbent. The lengthy Iran hostage crisis sharpened public opinions by the beginning of the election season. In the 1970s, the United States were experiencing a straining episode of low economic growth, high price increases and interest rates and an irregular energy crisis. The sense of discomfort in both domestic and foreign affairs in the nation were heading downward, this added to the downward spiral that was already going on. Between Carter, Anderson and Reagan, the general election campaign of the 1980s seemed more concerned with shadowboxing around political issues rather than a serious discussion of the issues that concerned voters.

America has always been a proud nation full of nationalism as well. The people, looked up to their government and their presidents for what to do during the dark days of depression, war, economic shutdown, and communism. The people knew who their enemies were or at least had a description. America never truly had a reason to doubt their leaders, those were the people who lead the nation to victory. Then there was a blow, a crisis that flipped everyone’s views and values upside down. There was an enemy that needed to be defeated, needed to , for this moment was that the so called enemy was the president himself, Richard Nixon.

Similarly, in Hawaii , he had considered that Nixon had won in the state, but in a count Kennedy was able to come back and win the state for a minimum difference of 115 votes. In the national popular vote , Kennedy beat Nixon by just one tenth of a percentage point 0.1 % the closest margin of the popular vote of the twentieth century. In the Electoral College, Kennedy 's victory was bigger , won 303 electoral votes to Nixon's 219 when 269 were needed to win. A total of 15 voters, eight Mississippi , six of Alabama, and one in Oklahoma , refused to vote for either Kennedy or Nixon. The New York Times , summed up the debate in late November , spoke of a "narrow " consensus among experts that Kennedy had won more than he lost as a result of his Catholicism. Northern Catholics supported Kennedy because of the attacks of their religion. In particular, Kennedy was the last candidate to win the presidency without winning in Ohio and was the only one who did in the twentieth century. It is also one of the two Democrats so far winless Florida, from the beginning of the creation of the party

The 1960 Presidential Election was historic in its new approaches to media and television's ability to capture the future leader of America live for the first time. Previous presidents had been listened to via radio, and seen in retrospect in movie theaters, particularly during World War II, but 1960 was the first time the majority of Americans were able to watch their future President debate his opponent and feel the immediate reactions of the American people afterward. Most Americans received their news by newspaper and word of mouth, so to be able to see the presidential candidate debate live was a luxury of the modern age. It is said now that John F Kennedy potentially won the 1960 election because of his excellent debate performances and how he appeared on television. Richard Nixon, the Vice-President, looked awful as he had foregone make-up, and he was nervous in his responses. The feelings of the time are encapsulated in the newspapers of the time. Comparing and contrasting six different articles from two different points of view will show how newspapers at the time treated this very important election, and how they each react in the immediate aftermath of Kennedy's victory will show what the country was thinking as they voted on that November day.

The United States Presidential elections are often events that captivate and interest a number of people around the world. The 2000 U.S. presidential election was particularly notable for more than one reason. Certainly, the fact that an election year in the year 2000, the marking of the next millennium and next century, is significant in of itself. In addition, there were a number of critical issues facing the candidates in this election, as with any election. The role, presence, and influence of the United States media were additional factors that heightened the tension of the 2000 presidential election. The election itself was fraught with controversy. The Supreme Court had to be involved and render a ruling with respect to accusation of fraudulent vote counting. Overall, the 2000 United States Presidential Election is an election that is remembered for controversy, polarization of the American public, as well as issues of confusion and mistrust between the American public and the American government.

In the election of 1960, many Democratic leaders entered the race for their party, because of increased majorities in the Senate (64 Democratic seats to 32 Republican seats) and House (283 Democratic seats to 153 Republican seats). However, "John F. Kennedy's impressive performance and reelection as Senator of Massachusetts in 1958, made him the Democratic front-runner." 5 Other Democratic candidates were Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, Senator Stewart Symington of Missouri, Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, and Senate majority leader, Lyndon Johnson. Kennedy had faced obstacles in challenging his opponents, all of who were more powerful than he, and had "longer, more distinguished political careers."6 Another factor against Kennedy was his Roman Catholic background, but his "primary victory in overwhelmingly Protestant West Virginia helped to rebut the claim that a Catholic could not win." 7 Only once had a Catholic ever been nominated, Governor Al Smith of New York, in 1928, but Smith was easily defeated.

The election of 1972 was one of the largest landslide victories by a presidential candidate in United States history. President Nixon was reelected to the presidency by beating Senator George McGovern of South Dakota in an impressive victory. The Nixon landslide victory tied FDR’s 60.8 percent of the popular vote in 1936 for the second largest popular vote get in American history. Nixon’s 60.8 percent of the vote compared to McGovern’s 37.6 percent, a difference of 23.2 percent, was also the fourth largest margin of victory in a presidential election in United States History. Nixon not only won with an impressive popular vote margin, but he also won 49 of the 50 states’ electoral votes amounting to

In 2000, as the election approached, some observers thought that Bush, interestingly also the son of a former president, could win the popular vote, but that his opponent, Gore, could win the Electoral College vote because Gore was leading in certain big states, such as California, New York and Pennsylvania. In the end, Gore secured the popular vote, but Bush won by securing the majority of votes in the Electoral College.