Despite the fact that Kennedy had served 13 years in Congress and was only a few years younger than Nixon, the issue of experience was a constant Republican talking point. Nixon was 48 years old to Kennedy's 43. While he had served eight years as Vice President, they both entered national politics the same year, 1947, as members of the House of Representatives.
Kennedy tried to turn the issue on its head by claiming that Nixon would be too stuck in his ways and not open to new ideas. Nixon's argument in favor of his experience was severely damaged when Dwight Eisenhower told a reporter that he could not think of an idea or piece of advice he had followed from Nixon during Nixon's Vice Presidency.
The clip of Eisenhower saying he would need two weeks to think of something Nixon had influenced became a Kennedy television ad.
Cold War
Several specific Cold War issues came up during the campaign. The first was the fear of falling behind the USSR on technology that had been ignited when the USSR launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite. Additionally, former US ally Cuba had recently gone through a Communist revolution and allied with the USSR.
With Americans seeing Sputnik blinking overhead and knowing that Communists were in power just off the coast of Florida, Kennedy expressed their fears by talking about a "missile gap". This was the concern that perhaps US defense technology had fallen behind that of the USSR during the Eisenhower administration.
However, Nixon did have one angle to work with against his opponent. Kennedy stated that two small islands off the coast of Communist China were not part of a treaty to aid the US-backed Chinese government in exile in Taiwan. Nixon used this to portray Kennedy as weak on Communism.
1960 First Televised Presidential Election Debate
When Eisenhower and Nixon ran for office in 1952, the Eisenhower campaign had revolutionized campaigning with their use of television ads. In 1960, that same medium would prove very detrimental to the Nixon campaign.
Fig. 4 - First Nixon Kenedy Debate
In the first ever televised debate, Nixon seemed tired from a long day of campaigning. He was thin from a recent hospital stay, his stubble and sweat under the bright studio lights were noticeable because he refused to wear makeup, and his suit blended into the background of the set. This contrasted starkly with the made up and rested Kennedy, which made Nixon appear sickly, small, and unwell.
As a result, many viewed Kennedy as the clear and confident winner of the debate. Nixon was better prepared for subsequent debates, and most viewers even felt he won the next two. However, the damage had already been done, as the first debate had a significantly larger viewership.
1960 Presidential Election Results
Kennedy may have defeated Nixon with a decisive 303 to 219 electoral votes, but the popular vote was an incredibly close 49.72% for Kennedy against 49.55% for Nixon. The polling had gone back and forth throughout the campaign. Initially, Nixon, running on the enormous popularity of Dwight Eisenhower, was the favorite. However, his television debate performance, Kennedy and Johnson's driven campaigning, and Eisenhower's inability to relate any specific administration success to Nixon, put Kennedy ahead.
The last-minute issue of disputed Chinese islands of Quemoy and Matsu allowed Nixon to pull forward for a tie going into election day. Southern Democrat Harry F Byrd, who opposed Civil Rights and desegregation, managed to win 15 electoral votes in the deep South.
Fig. 5 - 1960 Presidential Election Map
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