The United States presidential election of 1960 marked the end of
Dwight D. Eisenhower's two terms as President. Eisenhower's
Vice-President,
Richard M. Nixon, who had transformed his office into a national political base, was the Republican (GOP) candidate.The Democrats nominated
Massachusetts Senator
John F. Kennedy (JFK). He was only the second
Roman Catholic to become a major-party presidential candidate (the other was Democrat
Al Smith in 1928). During the campaign, Kennedy charged that under Eisenhower and the Republicans America was falling behind the
Soviet Union in the
Cold War, both militarily and economically, and that as President he would "get America moving again". Nixon responded that, if elected, he would continue the "peace and prosperity" Eisenhower had brought the nation, and that with the nation engaged in the
Cold War, Kennedy was too young and inexperienced to be trusted with the Presidency. The vote was the closest in any presidential election dating to
1916, and Kennedy's margin of victory in the popular vote is among the closest ever in American history. The 1960 election also remains a source of debate among some historians as to whether
vote theft in selected states aided Kennedy's victory.
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