How Did Kennedy And Nixon Influence The Election Of The 1960s

John Fitzgerald Kennedy grew up in a large family of nine in Brookline, Massachusetts and was born into a family of businessmen and politicians. Kennedy, as a child, was involved in many sports including basketball, football, and golf. Later into his adulthood, Kennedy graduated from Choate Academy and entered Harvard University in 1936. It was after a summer visit to England and other countries in Europe during his time at Harvard, that Kennedy became more eager to learn about history and government which would eventually spark his career in politics and mold him into the President of the United States. A few years later, Kennedy along with his brother Joe joined the Navy where Kennedy especially received several titles of recognition

The Kennedy-Nixon debates had a significant impact on the outcome of the Election of 1960 and shaped the way in which developing a public image could play a major role in the development of a successful political campaign. Kennedy emphasized his character and the background that he was from which included being born into a wealthy family and receiving a high end education at several of the top universities in the country. On the other hand, Nixon stressed the importance of his eight years as Vice President and as himself being a man who could relate to the average American who worked his way through college and far into the workplace. In the general election on November 8, 1960, Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in an extremely close race. Kennedy, at the age of 43, was the youngest man elected president and the first Catholic. The Election of 1960 between Kennedy and Nixon was one of the closest elections in history. Kennedy received 49.7% of the popular vote where Nixon earned 49.5% of the popular vote. Kennedy polled 100,000 more votes than Nixon out of over the 68 million votes that were cast during the election period. The Election of 1960 was the first election in which Alaska and Hawaii both participated also the first time in which both candidates were born in the 20th