| | There are other advantages to the Electoral College system. No national recounts of votes are required in close presidential elections under this system. In 1960, John F Kennedy received 34,220,984 votes, or 49.7%, compared with Richard Nixon, who won 34,108,157 votes, or 49.6%. Barely 100,000 votes, out of more than 68 million cast, separated the two candidates. In the absence of an Electoral College system, a nationwide recount would have taken many weeks and might have changed the result. But with the Electoral College, the overall outcome did not depend on the results in Illinois, as Kennedy's margin of victory in the Electoral College was large enough that he would still have a majority even if Nixon won Illinois. | | There are other advantages to the Electoral College system. No national recounts of votes are required in close presidential elections under this system. In 1960, John F Kennedy received 34,220,984 votes, or 49.7%, compared with Richard Nixon, who won 34,108,157 votes, or 49.6%. Barely 100,000 votes, out of more than 68 million cast, separated the two candidates. In the absence of an Electoral College system, a nationwide recount would have taken many weeks and might have changed the result. But with the Electoral College, the overall outcome did not depend on the results in Illinois, as Kennedy's margin of victory in the Electoral College was large enough that he would still have a majority even if Nixon won Illinois. |
| | Article II, Section 2, clause 1, establishes that the president shall be Commander in Chief of the military of the United States. | | Article II, Section 2, clause 1, establishes that the president shall be Commander in Chief of the military of the United States. |