by Kathryn E.
Member since:
January 15, 2006

The Sixties: Early Stirrings - JFK Elected President (3)

April 13, 2006 08:23 PM EDT (Updated: April 25, 2006 02:24 PM EDT)
views: 54 | rating: 8.9/10 (8 votes) | comments: 30

In November, 1960 John Fitzgerald Kennedy beat Richard Milhouse Nixon in a presidential race, undprecented for its extremely narrow popular vote margin. Kennedy was elected president by a substantial electoral college vote.

The total number of popular votes in that election:68,836,385

Kennedy, popular vote: 34,227,096
49.7 %

Nixon, popular vote: 34,107,646
49.6%

Independent vote:501,643
.7 %

Electoral college vote: 537 votes total

Kennedy, electoral college vote: 303 votes
56.5%

Nixon, electoral college vote: 219 votes
40.75%

Indenpendent vote: 15 votes
2.75%

Kennedy took 23 states in the electoral college, Nixon took 26. The independent vote took Missippi and parts of Alabama and Oklahoma.

Alabama is counted for Kennedy; Oklahoma is counted for Nixon.

Kennedy took the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, (27), Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York (45),  North Carolina, Pennsulvania, (32), Rhode Island,  South Carolina, Texas (24), West Virginia.


Nixon took the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, (32), Colorado, Florida,  Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennesee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

The parenthesis () indicates the number of electoral college votes for that state. Only the five states with the largest number of electoral college votes were included. 

The series, "The Sixties" is published Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
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Comments: 30

Nancy S. Apr 13, 2006, 9:15pm EDT
fascinating....... i wish kennedy had lived... what would have happened?
Kathryn E. Apr 13, 2006, 9:19pm EDT
Nancy, that is a huge $64 million dollar question, isn't it?
0000-twobraincells-0000 Apr 13, 2006, 10:00pm EDT
Nostalgia for the sixties and its social and political trauma tends to minimize the strain that was placed on the whole country....for better or worse
Kathryn E. Apr 13, 2006, 11:22pm EDT
Maureen, thank you for your story of watching the election. I didn't watch it, but i was very glad he won, too. Yes, NO HANGING CHADS. !!!
Kathryn E. Apr 13, 2006, 11:23pm EDT
Jerry, yes, the numbers DO tell an amazing story. There was a map, but it wouldn't copy, because it was PNG, not JPEG. So, I extracted the data instead.
Kathryn E. Apr 13, 2006, 11:24pm EDT
John, I think you're saying that nostaligia for the sixties is important, but I'm not sure...
Kathryn E. Apr 13, 2006, 11:26pm EDT
Catherine, yes, sad how some of the kids today really DO NOT know. We will get to the assassination in a couple of weeks. Hold your thought...Your cat looks just like one of mine (Cheddar) - on my homepage. !!! What's his name???
Miz Lynn aka/BooBoo Apr 13, 2006, 11:47pm EDT
Well I was pretty wittle, but I vaguely remember my Dad sitting up all night waiting for the election returns to come on the radio. His candidate won.
Kathryn E. Apr 13, 2006, 11:50pm EDT
Lynn, and arent we all GLAD. Too bad about the rest of the story...
Dan Merritt Apr 14, 2006, 1:01am EDT
It would have been interesting to see Kennedy continue. Probably a little too much of a 'do gooder' to be safe, but he was about as honest as it was possible for a politician at that level to be, I guess. And certainly not heavily into his own enrichment like most have seemed to be since. Probably what got him killed. People you can't buy have always made the backroom 'powers that be' extremely nervous.
Kathryn E. Apr 14, 2006, 1:05am EDT
Dan, I wonder what would have happened if none of the assassinations had happened. JFK, RFK, MLK. Would their programs have succeeded better? The turbulence of the times astounds me.
Edward Nudelman Apr 14, 2006, 7:48am EDT
My first presidential race, watching as an interested young boy, cueing off of my parents. Of course, we wanted JFK because he was young and handsome. Needless to say, we all remember where we were and what we were doing when he was struck down.
Kathryn E. Apr 14, 2006, 8:17am EDT
Edward, yes, you've hit upon two important points. One, that JFK and the whole family represented a new, handsome era "Camelot" and two, we all remember where we were when...that 60s vignette will come, in a couple of weeks, when we get to 1963.
Stephen Schneider Apr 14, 2006, 9:45am EDT
Thanks for this Kathryn. The world as we knew it changed the day he was killed.
Kathryn E. Apr 14, 2006, 10:30am EDT
Stephen, I am REALLY glad you are back, hope your electrical problems are fixed and am glad you found this series. That day (the JFK assassination) will be coming to this series in about two or three weeks. This series looks at the 60s, a vignette at a time. Published Tuesdays, Thursday, Saturdays. THANKKS !!!
Spencer T. Apr 14, 2006, 10:36am EDT
Kathryn, I am enjoying your vignette about the 60s. I was a youngster just facing life in that era and felt the many changes it brought to life. It was the begining of my political interest and most of societal concerns. Thank you for this look back.
Kathryn E. Apr 14, 2006, 10:38am EDT
Spencer, I am glad you are enjoying this. I started it because I wanted to remember how important everything was, and, I think a lot of other people connect to that, as well. And, as you know, the 60s only becomes even more important in the news and in everyone's life from here on out....
Carl Neeld Apr 14, 2006, 4:30pm EDT
Had Kennedy lived, in time his accomplishments would have been ignored and he would have been attacked for "moral" reasons.
Kathryn E. Apr 14, 2006, 10:50pm EDT
Not sure about that, Carl. The times he lived in were very different from today. In those days, the press left Presidents alone, the press was aware of a lot that went on, but refused to get involved. Had Kennedy lived, he would have accomplished everything he set out to do, and by the time the 'gloves off' philosophy began, in the 1980s and 1990s , Kennedy's legacy would have been firmly established.
0000-erniezarraphd-0000 Apr 16, 2006, 5:37pm EDT
K, Interesting how Election 2004 Bush captured almost as many popular votes as did JFK and RMN combined, some 45 years prior.

I wonder how things might have changed if Daly hadn't controlled Chicago, and Sam Giancana/La Cosa Nostra hadn't been as powerful as they were. Makes interesting conspiracy speculation. As a teacher of government, I find this fascinating. Thanks!
Kathryn E. Apr 16, 2006, 5:51pm EDT
Ernie, I was surprised at the low number of total votes in the election. Also, interesting that K took Texas, and N took California.

I used to live in Chicago. This whole series on The Sixties I'm doing is interesting. Have to research each piece - I lived it, but it was some time ago.. Next installment, Tuesday.
Aileen F. Apr 16, 2006, 6:41pm EDT
I never realized how close the vote was. I don't think it was ever mentioned in history class. I agree with the comments above that I think, had he lived, we would have a completely different opinion of Kennedy. Mostly, because we tend to idolize those who die young. I think we would have focused more on the negative, had he lived.
0000-doublel-0000 Apr 16, 2006, 7:03pm EDT
Kathryn, thanks for another interesting history lesson. Can you imagine if Nixon was president instead of JFK? Nixon during the Cuban Missile Crisis...who knows what the outcome would have been.
Kathryn E. Apr 21, 2006, 6:44pm EDT
Aileen, yeah, I never knew how close the vote was, either. Had he lived, the press would not have covered his indiscretions at the time. Oh, the press knew ALL about them; they saw what was happening before their eyes. Iit was a 'gloves-on" time then. But as these indiscretions came out later, well, he would not have been president so it would not have mattered much. Let's remember that the Republicans were out to skewer Clinton, by whatever method they could, whether Whitewater, or later, Monica. Not that the Monica Lewinsky incident represented good judgment; it didn't, but had Clinton been president during Kennedy's era, no one would have said boo about it. I remember reading a lot of this point of view about the differences in how the Presidents were treated then versus now when the Lewinsky thing was going on.
Kathryn E. Apr 21, 2006, 6:45pm EDT
Laurie, one can only imagine and SHUDDER if it had been Nixon, insead of Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The CMC happens tomorrow, Saturday, in the series.
Kathryn E. Apr 25, 2006, 5:12pm EDT
Unbelievable story, Liz R-S, except I know it really happened that way. When the article on the JFK assassinatinon is published (about two or three weeks from now) everyone will have an opportunity to write an article about it.
Kathryn E. Jun 12, 2006, 1:29am EDT
Thanks, all !!!
nancy h. Jan 13, 2008, 2:31pm EST
The turbulence of the times astounds me.

Not me, Kathryn. After Jack Ruby murdered Lee Harvey Oswald nothing surprised me. Disappointed? Yes. Infuriated? You bet. But not surprised.

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