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President [[Eisenhower]] was leaving office and his Vice President, [[Richard Nixon]], decided to run for President.  He was able to effectively win the Republican nomination.  However the Democrats were divided between young Massachusetts Senator, [[John Kennedy]], and Texan Senator, [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].  When Kennedy won the Democratic primary he offered Johnson the position as his running mate.  Nixon and Kennedy both campaigned long and hard.  Nixon had experience as the Vice President and was expected to win.  Several things were in Kennedy's way, such as his youth and Catholicism.  Kennedy was able to answer most of the complaints successfully.  However what probably helped Kennedy the most were the live televised [[Presidential Debates]].  In the debates Kennedy looked confident and handsome, while Nixon looked pale and out of place.  The election was still very close, but in the end Kennedy claimed the victory.  <ref>  [[Encyclopedia of Presidents, John F. Kennedy]], by Zachary Kent, Children's Press, 1987, pp. 59-63.  </ref>

President [[Eisenhower]] was leaving office and his Vice President, [[Richard Nixon]], decided to run for President.  Without serious opposition, Nixon was able easily to win the Republican nomination.  However the Democrats were divided between young Massachusetts Senator, [[John Kennedy]], and Texan Senator, [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].  When Kennedy won the Democratic primary he offered Johnson the position as his running mate.  Nixon and Kennedy both campaigned long and hard.  Nixon had experience as the Vice President and was expected to win.  Several things were in Kennedy's way, such as his youth and Catholicism.  Kennedy was able to answer most of the complaints successfully.  However what probably helped Kennedy the most were the live televised [[Presidential Debates]].  In the debates Kennedy looked confident and handsome, while Nixon looked pale and out of place.  The election was still very close, but in the end Kennedy claimed the victory.  <ref>  [[Encyclopedia of Presidents, John F. Kennedy]], by Zachary Kent, Children's Press, 1987, pp. 59-63.  </ref>

 

{| class="wikitable"

{| class="wikitable"

|-

|-

|-

|-

| John F. Kennedy

| John F. Kennedy

| 34, 221, 485 <ref>This number includes votes that actually went to electors voting for Byrd. Otherwise Kennedy would have had fewer popular votes than Nixon.</ref>

| 34, 220, 984 <ref>This number includes the total Democratic vote for Alabama, which state's slate of electors was by prearrangement split, with 5 pledged to Kennedy and 6 unpledged. (The unpledged electors ultimately voted for Harry Byrd.) If the Alabama votes are proportionally allocated between Kennedy and the unpledged slate, Kennedy receives fewer popular votes nationally than Nixon.</ref>

| 303  

| 303  

|-

|-

| Richard M. Nixon

| Richard M. Nixon

| 34, 108, 684

| 34, 108, 157

| 219

| 219

|-

|-

| [[Harry F. Byrd]]

| Unpledged electors / [[Harry F. Byrd]]

| * <ref>Byrd's popular votes were credited to Kennedy.</ref>

| 286, 359

| 15 <ref>Virginia Sen. Harry Byrd received the votes of 8 unpledged electors in Mississippi, 6 unpledged Democratic electors in Alabama, and one "faithless" Nixon elector in Oklahoma.</ref>

|-

|-

| [[Orval Faubus]]

| [[Others]]

| 227, 881

| 216, 982

| 0

| 0

|-

|-

|}

|}

<ref>  [[A Pictoral History of the U.S. Presidents]], by Clare Gibson, Gramercy Books, 2001, p. 125.  </ref>

<ref>  [[A Pictoral History of the U.S. Presidents]], by Clare Gibson, Gramercy Books, 2001, p. 125.  </ref>