1960 United States Presidential Election (Nixon '56)

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1960 U.S. Presidential Election
November 8, 1960
Turnout		64.2%▲ 6.3 pp
Nominee		Richard Nixon	Hubert Humphrey
Party		Republican	Democratic
Home state		California	Minnesota
Running mate		Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.	Albert Gore Sr.
Electoral vote		304	218
States carried		32	16
Popular vote		36,402,474	33,137,662
Percentage		52.1%	47.4%
Electoral College results
President before election Richard Nixon Republican Elected President Richard Nixon Republican

The 1960 United States Presidential Election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election and was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. Senator Hubert Humphrey ran as the Democratic nominee against incumbent president Richard Nixon, who was allowed to seek a second fully-elected term for only taking power less than a year before the 1956 election, after the death of President Dwight Eisenhower because of a heart attack.

Nixon's popularity had tremendously increased over his last four years of tenure, thanks to his successful intervention in Cuba and the growing state of the economy. Although the launch of the Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union satelite was used against him during the campaign trail, Nixon was seen as a far more efficent leader than when he had taken the presidency in 1955. Humphrey, in the other hand, was mostly limited to his base of support made from moderate and liberal Democrats.

The Cold War and the Soviet Union were the main issues of the election. Since he succeeded to the Presidency and went on to bring his popular management of the Suez Crisis, Nixon gave his foreign policy a vital role in his administration. During the election, Humphrey spoke heavily against the occupation of Cuba, which didn't align with the beliefs of most Democrats.

Despite being hurt by his failed promises regarding the conflict in Vietnam and the short economic recession of the late 1950s, Nixon positioned himself on top by capitalizing on his accomplishments, winning a landslide victory of 304 electoral votes to his opponent's 218. In response to the Democratic ticket's support for the Civil Rights movement, a series of unpledged electors voted for segregationist Senator Harry F. Byrd, winning him the states of Alabama and Mississippi. Another faithless elector casted a vote away from Nixon in Oklahoma.

Course of the election

Republican Party nomination

Republican Party (United States) 1960 Republican Party ticket
Richard Nixon	Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
for President	for Vice President
35th President of the United States (1955-1965)	37th Vice President of the United States (1957-1965)
Campaign

Nixon's campaign emphasized his accomplishments since assuming the vice presidency, focusing on economic progress and his efforts to quell the communist revolution in Cuba. Early in the election year, there were rumors that New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller might challenge Nixon for the nomination. However, Rockefeller dispelled these rumors in April by confirming that he had no intention of running

Democratic Party nomination

Democratic Party (United States) 1960 Democratic Party ticket
Hubert Humphrey	Albert Gore Sr.
for President	for Vice President
U.S. Senator from Minnesota (1949-1978)	U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1953-1983)
Campaign

The democratic nomination was heavily split between many party favorites. The young Senator from Massachusetts John F. Kennedy was expected to run thanks to his good perfomance in the past National Convention, where he ran to be Vice President, but he ultimately declined interest to run in January. Kennedy's early retirement from the race opened the way for three frontrunners, these being Senator from Minnesota Hubert Humphrey, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson and Senator Stuart Symington. Although Johnson's record in the Senate and support from southerners would could have helped him to easily get the nomination, his late entry into the race would make his campaign lose force and finally endorse Humphrey.

As the Convention drew closer, Humphrey's liberal ideas did not seem to quite align with the southern Democrats, which could potentially break the party apart in a situation similar to what happened in the 1948 election. The absence of any major openly pro-segregationist candidate angered some hardliners, but this wouldn't stop the party from eventually nominating Humphrey. In an attempt to appease the angered southern Democrats, Humphrey picked Senator Albert Gore from Tennessee as his running mate. Gore, despite being one of the few southern Senators to vote against the southern manifesto, was perceived to bring a good balance for the ticket.

General election

President Richard Nixon during his campaign.

Both candidates made active efforts to capitalize in their political experience and exploit their achievements; even with Humphrey's famous speech at the 1948 DNC and his career in the Senate, he was left with little to say against the fact Nixon was the sitting President and former Vice President, having also served in both chambers of congress. This wouldn't stop the Democrats from attacking the President on a series of issues, most of them related to the short recession of 1958. The launch of Sputnik by the Soviets started the Space Race and made him seem incompetent when put against the nation's biggest enemy, despite the creation of NASA by Nixon only two years prior. To divert the conversation from these issues, Nixon focused his campaign on foreign policy rather than national interests. Similarly to how he had previously promised to stop the Cuban insurgence in 1956, he decided to now shift the attention to Vietnam and promised to bring peace to the region under a democratic state. Humphrey proposed the idea of having televised debates, something that Nixon would refuse in fears of damaging his reputation as a highly capable leader.

The Civil Rights movement, although not very directly addressed during the election, was also an issue to be discussed. Following the steps of Eisenhower, Nixon had shown a neutral but mostly supportive stance on Civil Rights, shown by his intervention during the Little Rock Crisis. Vice President Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. was also supportive of the movement in a more open manner. Both President and Vice President had shown support and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 into law, although the act had been watered-down by House Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, who feared the act could tearn down the Democratic Party. Democrats were still divided on the issue, and Humphrey's condition as a liberal from Minnesota did not particularly benefit the interests of the Civil Rights detractors, with his running mate having also voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and opposed the civil manifesto.

During a rally in New Hampshire, Humphrey dedicated a speech to speak against the occupation of Cuba directly backed by Nixon himself, arguing for America to "stop meddling" in foreign affairs and instead make efforts in favor of their own nation. This view was very unpopular with most of the party, and only shared with the more progressive sectors of the party; this would also be used by Republicans to make Humphrey seem "uninterested" in the expansion of Communism.

Outcome

Incumbent President Richard Nixon was able to win the re-election in a landslide of with 304 electoral votes, 32 carried states and over half of the popular vote. Most of the states Nixon had won on the previous election remained with the Republicans, but with slightly closer margins compared to the last election. In an unconventional turn of events, the electors from Mississippi and Alabama did not pledge their votes to either candidate, and instead gave these states to Senator Harry F. Byrd.