The Election of 1960 Closest Presidential election in American history- Kennedy won by 0.17% of the vote First Presidential debates to be televised- 1960 Both candidates were neither Conservative nor Liberal- both politicians were moderate and few issues set them apart What Kennedy lacked in substance, made up in style- helped him win the public over in the T.V. age Indication of voter fraud in Illinois and Texas- Nixon was praised as acting professionally and with dignity for halting investigation and conceding defeat

John Fitzgerald Kennedy From wealthy and prominent Irish- Catholic family from Massachusetts Father Joseph Kennedy Sr. was demanding and expected near perfection from all his children As a child- JFK was chronically sick and suffered from an undiagnosed illness – Addison’s Disease Graduated from Harvard in 1940 Joined U.S. Navy- served in Pacific Theater – Purple Heart and Navy’s highest honor for courage Authored Two books – Why England Slept and Profiles in Courage (Won Pulitzer Prize) Congressman from 1946-1953 Senator 1954-1960

Richard Milhous Nixon Born in California, Second of Five children – Working class Quaker Family Accepted to Harvard but family was too poor to afford the expenses- Full scholarship to nearby Whittier College Full Scholarship to Duke University Law School Moved to Washington D.C. in 1942- Worked for Roosevelt’s Administration – became disillusioned with New Deal policies Served in the Navy during WW2- worked in administrative role, saw no combat Congressman- House of Reps. – 1946-1950: built name for himself as anti-communist cold warrior, Senator, 1950-1952 Vice-President – picked to appeal to conservative Republicans to balance out the moderate Eisenhower

Key Points of the election: Kennedy: Nixon: Kennedy was young and ill experienced While Russia and China were pressing, it would be bad to have a president learning on the job America benefited greatly under Eisenhower, Vote for Nixon if you want a continuation of prosperity, stability, and security JFK hoped to pull together key elements of the Roosevelt coalition of the 1930s— urban minorities, ethnic voting blocs, and organized labor. Eisenhower had been asleep at the wheel- Soviet Union possessed a lead in technology and America was behind in the “Missile Gap” Complacent after years of Eisenhower’s consensus building- America neededa revitalization of will, purpose, and spirit

Eisenhower’s Fair-well Address Towards the end of his presidency, Ike had been frustrated with his inability to control cold war military build up and consolidation of large corporations Coined term “military industrial complex” Brought attention to concerns he had about the rising influence of and cost of the military arms industry Permanent military industries- designing and producing weaponry- weapons contracts also meant jobs for constituencies Thought it was vital, but grew concerned of its growth and blamed communism for its existence Video Speech- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWiIYW_fBfY Speech http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html PBS- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/eisenhower-farewell/ NPR Eisenhower’s warning 50 years later http://www.npr.org/2011/01/17/132942244/ikes-warning-of-military-expansion-50-years-later