Kennedy Elected: America's Youngest President
John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon on November 8, 1960, by 112,827 popular votes out of 68.8 million cast, the closest margin of the twentieth century. Kennedy won 303 electoral votes to Nixon's 219. The first televised presidential debates had been decisive: the 70 million who watched on TV thought Kennedy won; radio listeners thought Nixon won. Kennedy appeared tanned, confident, and youthful. Nixon, recovering from a knee infection, looked pale and sweaty under studio lights. Kennedy was also the first Catholic president, overcoming anti-Catholic prejudice that had doomed Al Smith's candidacy in 1928. He addressed the issue directly in a September speech to Protestant ministers in Houston: 'I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party's candidate who happens also to be a Catholic.'
November 8, 1960
66 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on November 8
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