choice was henry cabot lodge part of the liberal wing absolute. and he had been in dwight eisenhower's campaign manager at the 1952 convention, which meant he was going up against the robert taft conservative forces. and they kind of still held it against him because that was a very and tested and nasty nomination battle. david pietrusza you had mentioned earlier that nelson rockefeller was pushing for issues in the party platform. what were what was he pushing? well, he was pushing. he was criticizing eisenhower or on foreign policy. he wanted, like kennedy and symington, a more aggressive spending military affairs. but what he was really most acrimonious or what was most difficult for nixon was that he

wanted to push a stronger civil rights plank and nixon was hoping to make further inroads in the democratic south, or at least to hold the inroads which dwight eisenhower had made in 1956. and what happens is nixon has to kind of backtrack on what rockefeller is doing to please the conservatives in the party. and he ends up pleasing nobody, not the whites or the emerging black vote in the south. and and the north, particularly in north. why do you say that, henry cabot lodge was a bad candidate? well, aside from being too liberal, probably for to please the conservatives in the republican party, the main thing is he was lazy. he was just absolutely lazy. would not campaign after 6:00 at night. he would take naps in the

afternoon. one of nixon's advisers said, you know, we didn't mind the naps, but did he have to change into his pajamas? and also, he was terrible television. they tried to make a cut, a television commercial with him, and they had to give it up because he was so bad in the rehearsals. so did john kennedy support come from? where did richard nixon's support come from? when we got into the general election, well, it was a pretty much traditional republican democratic split, traditional by today's standards or the standards of mid 20th century anyway, where kennedy holds the solid south, where except for a couple of on the fringe fringes, he takes the northeast. he runs wild in southern new england and in the midwest. he does well.

but in the west, that's where nixon shines in terms of demographics. kennedy adds to the black vote of the democratic black vote. he certainly adds the democratic cast like vote. there's one statistic which i've said that seen that says that in 1950, adlai stevenson only got half, 50% of the catholic vote and jfk 80%. frankly, as a catholic who was alive in 1960, i think 80% maybe understate that. and he holds the union vote. so he gets holds out to all of those things. and i think probably even the youth vote i don't think that was ever mentioned or measured in the poll. but certainly the enthusiasm of younger people and younger voters was was immense for jack kennedy. so, david, patricia, researching this, we found that both richard

nixon and john kennedy spent about $10 million each in this campaign. just as a point of reference in 2020, the election. supposedly cost around $6 billion. when you get the outside money in there as well, it was money tracked closely or was it pretty free flowing in 1960? you could you can you can see big lists of what each committee got online. some of the amounts are absolute pittance. i have i have more money. my checking account now, the day that what some of these groups spent. but you have the unions which are are supporting the democrat party like huge amount coming in for the time from the international ladies garment union. but you also have manpower. our purser and woman power going out into the polls, which are at which the unions are able to

throw into the democrat ranks. there's always a question in in that race as to how much joe kennedy was spending. okay. and how much he was spending officially and how much he was spending subrosa. there are some fascinating anecdotes about suitcases full of money being pile poured into jack kennedy's campaign. people from the rat pack are saying there's there's money under the bed. there's money in a suitcase, $1,000,000 in cash. so how much was it reported that year? who knows? well, 1960 was the first time there was ever a telephone debate. it was september 26, 1960, in chicago. here's a portion of the first debate in the election of 1860. abraham lincoln said the question was whether this nation could exist off slave or half

free in the election of 1960. and with the world around us. the question is whether the world will exist. half slave or half free. whether it will move in the direction of freedom, in the direction of the road that we are taking, or whether it will move in the direction of slavery. i think it will depend in great measure upon what we do here in the united states on the kind of society that we build, on the kind of strength that we maintain. we discussed tonight domestic issues, but i would not want that to be any implication to be given that this does not involve directly. i struggle with mr. crucial for survival. mr. khrushchev is in new york and he maintains the communist offensive throughout the world because of the productive power of the soviet union itself. the chinese communists have always a large population, but they are important and dangerous now because they are mounting a major effort within their own country to kind of country. we have here the kind of society

we have, the kind of strength we build in the united states will be the defense of freedom if we do well here, if we meet our obligations, if we are moving ahead, then think freedom will be secure around the world. if we fail, then freedom fail. therefore, i think the question before the american people is, are we doing as much as we can do? are we as strong as we should be? are we as strong as we must be if we're going to maintain our independence and if we're going to maintain and hold out the hand of friendship to those who look to us for assistance, to those who look to us for survival. i should make it very clear that i do not think we're doing enough, that i am not satisfied as an american with the progress that we are making. this is a great country, but i think it could be a greater country and this is a powerful country but i think it could be a more powerful country. i'm not satisfied to have 50% of our steel mill capacity unused. i'm not satisfied when the united states had last year the

lowest rate of economic growth of, any major industrialized society in the world, because economic growth means strength and vitality. it means we're able to sustain our defenses. it means we're able to meet our commitments abroad. i'm not satisfied when we have over $9 billion worth of food, some of it rotting, even though there is a hungry world and even 4 million americans weighed every month for a food package from the government, which averages $0.05 a day per individual. i saw cases in west virginia, here in the united states where took home part of their school lunch in order to feed their families, because i don't think we're meeting our obligation towards these americans. i'm not satisfied when the soviet union is turning out twice as many scientists and engineers as we are. i'm not satisfied when many of our teachers are inadequately paid, when our children go to

school, part time shifts. i think we should have an educational system second to none. i'm not satisfied when i see men like jimmy hoffa in charge of the largest union in the united states, still free. i'm not satisfied when we are failing to develop the natural resources of the united states to the fullest. here in the united states, which developed the tennessee valley and which built the grand coulee and the other dams in the northwest united states. at the present rate of hydro power production, and that is the hallmark of industrialized society, the soviet union by 1975 will be producing more power than we are. these are all the things, i think in this country that can make our society strong, what can mean at a standstill? smith senator kennedy, the things that senator kennedy has said many of us can agree with. there is no question but that we cannot discuss our internal affairs in the united states

without recognizing that they have a tremendous bearing on our international position. there is no question but that this nation cannot stand still because we are in a deadly competition, a competition not only with the men in the kremlin, but the men in peking. we're ahead in this competition. senator kennedy, i think, is implied. but when you're in a race, the only way to stay ahead is to move ahead. and i subscribe completely to the spirit that senator kennedy has expressed tonight, the spirit the united states should move ahead. where then do we disagree? i think we disagree on the implication of his remarks tonight and on the statements that he has made on many occasions during his campaign to the effect that the united states has been still. we heard tonight, for example, the statements made that our growth in national product last year was the lowest of any

industrial nation in the world. now, last year, of course, was 1958. that happened to be a recession year. but when we look at the growth of gnp this year, a year of recovery, we find that is six and 9/10 percent. and one of the highest in the world today. more about that later. looking then to this problem of how the united states should move ahead and where the united states is moving, i think it as well that we take the advice of a very famous campaigner. let's look at the record. is the united states standing still? is it true that this administration, as senator kennedy has charged, has been adamant administration of retreat, of defeat, of stagnation? is it true that as far as this country is concerned in the field of electric power, in all of the that he has mentioned, we have not been moving ahead.

well, we have a comparison that we can make. we have the record of the truman administration of seven and a half years and the seven and a half years of the eisenhower administration. when we compare these two records in the areas that senator kennedy has discussed tonight, i think we find that america has been moving ahead. let's take schools. we have built more schools in these last seven and a half years than we built in the previous seven and a half, for that matter, in the previous 20 years. let's take hydroelectric power. we have developed more hydro electric power in these seven and a half years than was developed in any previous administration in history. let us take hospitals. we find that more have been built in, this administration, than in the previous administration. the same is true of highways. let's put it in terms that all of us can understand. we often hear gross national product discussed and in that respect, may i say that when we compare the growth in this administration with that of the previous administration, that

then there was a total growth of 11% over seven years in this administration, there has been a total growth of 19% over seven years. that shows that there's been more growth in this administration than in its predecessor. but let's not put it there. let's put it in terms of the average family. what has happened to you? we find that your wages have gone up five times as much in the eisenhower administration as they did in the truman administration. what about the prices you pay? we find that the prices you pay went up five times as much in the truman administration as they did in the eisenhower administration. what's the net result of it? this means that the average family income went up 55% in the eisenhower years as 2% in the truman years. and we're joined here on american history tv by presidential historian ann david pietrusza. we're talking about the election of 1960. mr. patricia, the importance of

those debates, very important. it really creates a great enthusiasm for jack kennedy. the first debate he pretty much wipes the floor with richard nixon. nixon looks shifty, sweating. he's east just to accommodate eating. particularly in the first part of the day to jack kennedy. you know, i agree with him. i find it sincere, etc., etc. we have the same goals and kennedy is just hammering away at richard nixon and he's what's he doing over over again? he's saying, i'm a democrat. this is what the democratic party stands for. we've brought you this program and that program. and he's got a five or 6 million vote advantage with the democrats. and he's determined to in on that. now, in the last three debates, nixon really catches up and does very well. so much, so know after the first

debate, kennedy and the democrat won the fifth debate after the fourth debate. richard nixon wants a fifth debate because he had been coming on strong on foreign policy issues. cuba and on quemoy and matsu and the defense of taiwan. and then jack kennedy and the democrats turn that down. what about the media in general? did each candidate have their favorite media outlet supporters, etc., or was it pretty evenhanded? the newspapers generally in those days would endorse republicans. maybe not. the the big newspapers, but all around the country, in all the small towns and small city markets. you would see the republicans with the edge. one thing, which is interesting is that jack kennedy gets the new york times endorsement.

now, why is that interesting? that doesn't sound interesting at all, because from 1940 through 1956, they had always endorsed republicans. jack kennedy was very close to the press. i mean, he was he was the personality, the kid. so our reporters and journalists like arthur krock of the new york times, the alsop's, who were syndicated columnist ben bradlee of the washington post, was very close to those people. richard nixon did not enjoy good relations with the press, particularly on his on his flights, his airplane official airplane during the campaign. and so it's it's definitely a bias for jack kennedy. and richard nixon has to struggle with that. and he doesn't struggle well. did the sitting president, dwight eisenhower, play a role?

eisenhower role is very awkward. he takes his time is sweet time and endorsing. he is running mate richard nixon and then he does it in an offhanded way. at the press conference. and when they attend, the republican national convention in chicago, they do not they're not in the same motorcade eisenhower speaks at that convention. he doesn't attack lbj or jfk. he doesn't mention nixon when they ask eisenhower or who he's voting for at gettysburg, that day, he refuses to say for nixon and the most serious incident is a press conference. they ask him, well, what's richard nixon done? what decisions has he made or

helped you with? as presidency? and he says, well, if you give me a week, i might think of something. and this is brought up during the debates. and this is one of the things which hurts, richard nixon a great deal. well, it was november eight, 1960, election night. here's some newsreel coverage of election day. the whole country begins to await the results. the television networks have made elaborate preparations to broadcast the election returns as they come in from the different parts of the country and the headquarters of the major television networks are equipped with entire batteries of tabulating machine and with electronic computers to forecast the trend of the election, the basis of early returns. and. at party headquarters, people gather for what they hope will be victory. celebration, huge tally boards

post the returns as they come in minute by minute, hour by hour. from the very beginning, it becomes obvious that this is going to be a close election after some early, encouraging reports for vice president nixon. it appears that senator kennedy is moving into the lead the news is flashed on the morning bulletin sign in new york's times square. then comes the electrifying news that senator kennedy has won the state of connecticut by a larger plurality than expected. he now has eight electoral votes, 269 are needed to win the election. his supporters are jubilant. when they play senator kennedy is recorded as leading in 17 states with a total of 192

electoral votes. in following the returns, all eyes are on the map of the united states. each one of the 50 states has a certain number of electoral votes according to the size of its population. pennsylvania has 32 electoral votes. new york, 45. other key states are california, ohio, texas and illinois. in illinois, the voting will be so close that the lead will go back and forth from one candidate to the other. but then this turns into a seesaw battle in quite a few of the states all night long. and depending on. it all night long, the figures building up. in state after state, millions of voters split their ballots, backing one presidential nominee and then voting for candidates from the opposing party for senator, governor or congressman. senator kennedy, early lead of 2

million votes dwindles perilously as the returns come in from the western states, but he holds on to his in electoral votes. the returns are checked by his press secretary, pierre salinger. at the press headquarters of the democratic presidential candidate in hyannis port, massachusetts. all eyes are on the screen as television commentators announce that vice president nixon is about to make a statement in the east, the time is 320 in the morning in in los angeles, california, on the west coast. it is 20 minutes past midnight. vice president and mrs. nixon appear before their loyal supporters. the scene is broadcast on television screens all over america. the presidential candidate of the republican party makes his statement.

i want to say that one of the great teachers of america is that we have political contests, that they are very hard fought as this one is hard fought. and once the decision is made, we unite behind the man who was elected. i want all of you to know i love all of you. i want to. i. i want i want senator kennedy to know. and i want all of you to know that to certainly if this trend does continue and he does become our next president, he will have my wholehearted support and go. and we're talking about the election of 1960 with presidential historian david pietrusza. he has authored the book 1960, lbj versus jfk versus nixon, the

epic campaign that forged three presidencies. here are the results from 1960. john kennedy. 34,000,226. 731 votes. 49.7%. he won 303 electoral votes and 22 states. richard nixon. 34,108,157 votes. 49.5% of the vote. 219 electoral votes. and he won 26 states. difference of 120,000 votes nationwide. and voter turnout is at a near record 62.8%. david patricia, when we look at the electoral map of the states, any surprises jump out at you? well. it was a surprise, actually, that richard. richard nixon pursued a 50 state

strategy. this was 50 states for the first time. i'm going to go to all 50 states. and everyone said, well, that's just -- stupid because you don't go the states where you're going to get clobbered, georgia, or where you're going to win handily in vermont. and so he does that. and towards the end of the day, he goes or he goes to alaska for three electoral votes and which at a massive democratic enrollment age at that point. but he does carry that state remarkably. and when he does. if he had if he had won in the contested states, contested by historians, texas and illinois, if he didn't win alaska, he would have won the. he would have lost that election anyway. so it's a winner of the election. is that close?

anything, whether it's nixon sweating during the debate or him going to alaska or jack kennedy not going to california at the end or any number of things, or who picks who is the pick for lieutenant or lieutenant governor, vice president in either party? all of those factors, each one of them is deciding. and i want to ask you, david, patricia, we've been saying that jack kennedy, 22 states. richard nixon, 26. that adds up to 48. alaska and hawaii. did their votes count in this now that they they certainly get count. they certainly did count. and the irony, as i said, was that alaska was considered to be a democratic state and hawaii to be a republican state at one point, they had a republican u.s. their hiram fong for a

while. so the electoral map has flipped quite a bit in in my lifetime when. was the race called? was it called that night? the election is where michigan comes in around 5:00 in the morning. that's in which to put the nail finally in richard nixon's coffin. but he knew it was pretty much over before that. he sends out his press secretary, press aide robert finch, to say that things aren't good. and if trends continue, jack kennedy will be the next president, united states. and so. but it is it is not an official concession until later in the morning. jack kennedy decides i'm not going to stay up. he decides to do what i often do

on election night, which is just to go to bed because you're not going to change anything of the election was was such where the nixon family when the results came in, they were quite distraught. pat nixon was was very embittered about the whole thing. and nixon's daughter. the others were wondering, hey, what's he going to do for a living? and where are they going to live? here's what john kennedy had to say after, knowing he was president elect to all american. i say that the next four years are going to be difficult and challenging years for us all. the election may have been a close one, but i think that there is general agreement by all of our citizens that a supreme national effort will be needed in the years ahead to this country. safely through the 1960s.

i ask your help in this effort, and i can assure you that every degree of mind and spirit that i possess will be devoted to the long range interests of the united states and to the cause of freedom around the world. so now my wife and i prepare for a new administration and for a new baby. thank you. and that was president elect john kennedy in hyannis port on november ninth, 1960. after finding that he had been elected president, presidential historian david patricia, what was the country's reaction? i think relief. i think relief that it was as it so often is, the case in presidential actions, that it's it's over. and the country pretty much pulled together. all presidents just about all presidents get a bump in popular clarity.

kennedy certainly grew at that point. nixon could have contested things based on events in illinois and texas. he decides not to do that. and and the country goes on from there. and you know, one of the results of that is sort of ignored. but there's a shift in power, not only in the white house, but also in the congress where lyndon johnson is. no longer the majority leader. sam rayburn dies soon afterwards from texas. the speaker of the house. and what happens is, even though the religious issue had been so big during the campaign about jack kennedy being a catholic, that not only is jack kennedy a catholic president, but the new speaker of the house, john mccormack, and the new majority

leader of the senate, mike mansfield, are all catholic. the whole country is taken over by papists and nobody notices. so, mr. patricia, in a sense, 1960 was a new mindset, a new frontier. it was a new frontier. and when you see the you know, it's it's it sort of coincidental. i think so many things are happening at once in the sixties. there's jack kennedy in the white house and his push toward youth and ask moving forward and ask not what your country can do for you, but also changes in the roman catholic church with vatican two, the youth revolution with rock and roll, and the beatles and the pill and the sexual revolution. all all happening at once. and it's a question of of how