The Impact Of The 1960 Presidential Election On The 1960s

The 1964 American election between Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater has strong similarities with the 2016 election between Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump. In both cases, the democrat candidates focused more on their counterpart’s rhetoric rather than uphold their own ideas in an attempt to persuade voters to support them. This essay will argue that the Democrat candidates of the 1964 and 2016 elections, in many instances, instead of focusing on their political proposals, focused on anti-intellectualism by emphasizing their opponent’s extremist right-winger rhetoric. This comparison shows the enduring trends of right-wing extremism, racial conflicts, and republican divisiveness. To prove this argument, this text will analyze Democrat campaign advertisements in both campaigns, Nelson A Rockefeller speech at the 1964 National Republican convention and Jeb Bush interview to NBC.

The Cuban Missile Crisis all started in October, 1962, when an American spy plane spotted and secretly photographed missile sites being built on the island of Cuba by the Soviet Union. President Kennedy did not tell the Soviet Union right away that we had found their nuclear missile site. But days later, President Kennedy meet secretly with his advisors to discuss the situation. President Kennedy and his advisors though long and hard about what to do and the finally came up with an idea. Kennedy decided to put a naval blockade around the island of Cuba. The purpose of this was so Cuba could not get anymore military supplies for the Soviet Union. President Kennedy demanded that the missiles that were already there be disabled and that the sit be destroyed. Later on, Kennedy told America what was happening on a televised address. Everyone was anxious about what the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, would say about the naval blockade. But both President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev recognized that the devastation that a nuclear war will bring is too much.

The Cuban Missile Crisis forever marked 1962 as the year the world almost witnessed a nuclear war. The Soviet Union, Cuba, and the United States were all teetering on the edge of a cliff that was crumbling from the weight of fear, tension, and secrecy. It also marked the official end of Americans innocent belief that they were safe in the glow of Lady Liberty’s torch. Yet amidst the dark shadow of nuclear threat one American president rose to this challenge and proved that peace through strength is the best strategy.

Kennedy was elected as President of the United States of America. Kennedy became the youngest and first Catholic to ever hold office for presidency. The controversy of this election was about appearances and who had the most experience and lastly the best candidate for the well-being of the United States. Appearances took on added significance because the election focused on the candidates, and not issues. Kennedy only won because he was vibrant and had the American dream as his goal. The election of 1960 was closest in history because of the 49.7% popular vote to Nixon’s 49.5% vote. Nixon actually won the most states in votes but Kennedy won the Electoral

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).

President Kennedy came to office with warnings of a missile gap. The Soviets had achieved or were achieving a significant advantage in strategic nuclear weapons. Though tensions ran even higher, "Eisenhower’s strategy of massive retaliation made little sense and did not account for the rapidly growing Soviet nuclear arsenal4. Kennedy's nuclear strategy became known as flexible response. The idea was to acquire the military forces that could deal flexibility with varying levels of Soviet Aggression3. The most serious confrontation between Russia and the US was the Cuban Missile Crisis. (Link to Stephanie's page) Soviet leader Khrushchev attempted to place intermediate range missiles in Cuba. Kennedy responded by imposing a quarantine on Cuba. This resulted in the removal of the Soviet missiles and led to Kennedy making the decision to dismantle U.S. missiles based in Turkey. Some analysts argue that the successful outcome was due to the United States’ nuclear superiority, which proved that strategic superiority offered important political advantages5.

The United States presidential election in 1960 marked the end of the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower who spent two terms in office. His vice president, Richard Nixon was the Republican candidate, while Democrats nominated Senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy. It should be noted that, this election was the closest vote in a presidential election since 1916 . In the popular vote, the margin of victory of Kennedy, was one of the closest in American history.

The 1960’s were a time of radical change. It was a decade where people began to question authority, and time of confrontation. The decade's radicalism began with the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November of 1963. This event changed the country's idealistic views, and started an upheaval of civil rights movements. Baby boomers started a new perception, and formalized the act of resistance to war. There were also many of whom, turned violent and rebellious; in their effort to fight "the system."

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 presidential election that took place in 1960 was an interesting one. Newcomer, John F. Kennedy verses the Vice President, Richard M. Nixon. It was experimental with its trail of televised debates. It also marked the second in which a catholic had run for president and more importantly the first in which a catholic attained victory.

The 1960s, began with an unforgettable presidential election between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon. It was the first Presidential election ever broadcasted on the television, and for the first time the American people were able to witness the candidates in person before their election, forever changing the way Americans voted. Protests were happening at a near constant during the 60s. The first

Kennedy and Nixon Elections in the United States of America John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon In 1960 the Cold War tensions were rising, therefore the election campaign was mainly dominated by this topic. Public opinion polls showed that more than a half of American people thought the war with the Soviet Union was inevitable. The two candidates who ended up chasing after the presidency were a barely known democrat senator John F. Kennedy and vice-president republican Richard Nixon. They both promised more advanced science and technology in order to win the race with communism in these fields. At the beginning of his campaign, Kennedy promised he would “get the nation moving again” and stated that the United States would have the will and

While it may be true that Fidel Castro had a strong impact on the uprising of the crisis, it is crucial to consider John F. Kennedy as the person most at fault for the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy, America's president at the time, is often been called the most to blame because he overreacted to the missiles in Cuba. The question is if it was an overreaction or just a precaution for the safety and security of the American people. After the CIA spotted the missiles in Cuba, they informed Kennedy and he immediately called for a “quarantine” on Cuba’s eastern coast, setting up a blockade of ships along the coastline. Although many perceive this as an act of safety and protection, it is also easy to say that it was in fact “an act of aggression”

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a frightening moment for the entire world. It started October 14th, 1962 after the Soviet Union planted nuclear missiles inn Cuba. The U.S. found out that these missiles were being planted without their knowledge, but the Soviet Union continued the construction of these nuclear missile sites, even after President Kennedy, the president of the U.S., sent out a warning against these weapons in Cuba. Even after this warning, Kennedy once again found out that the construction was still happening. Following the discovery of the ongoing construction, Kennedy wanted to meet with people at the White House to solve the problem that they were encountering. There were multiple sides during their talk about the missiles. Some of the people at the meeting wanted to take a more aggressive approach and destroy these missiles and then follow up with an attack. Kennedy eventually decided to quarantine Cuba. After Kennedy quarantined Cuba, there were many messages sent between the White House and the Kremlin to try and solve the problem. The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted for thirteen extremely tense days. At the end of these thirteen days, the Cuban Missile Crisis ended with an agreement between the United States and Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile Crisis greatly impacted history. It strengthened the bond between the United States and Soviet Union, showed people how to come to a

The 1960s are frequently referred to as a period of social protest and dissent. Antiwar demonstrators, civil-rights activists, feminists, and members of various other social groups demanded what they considered to be justice and sought reparation for the wrongs they believed they had suffered. The decade marked a shift from a collective view on politics, to a much more individualistic viewpoint. The 1960s could easily be characterized as a period during which political, ideological, and social tensions among radicals, liberals, and conservatives in American society are seen to have rapidly unfolded. Due to this, the decade has had an overwhelming effect on the decades that have followed. The sixties have had the greatest impact on American society out of any decade in recent history. Whether for better or for worse, the decade has had a profound influence on politics, society, foreign policy, and culture.