1960: Television and the Candidate
The election of 1960 established televised Presidential debates as a powerful influence on voter opinion. The campaigns pitted Vice President Richard M. Nixon, a veteran Washington insider, against John F. Kennedy, a young, charismatic idealist. Nixon's nomination was logical. His political experience and years of service to the Eisenhower Administration earned him credibility and approval. Although a seasoned Congressman and Senator from Massachusetts, Kennedy was considered something of a newcomer. Yet he had defeated Democratic stalwarts Hubert Humphrey and Lyndon B. Johnson to win the Party's nomination. The Kennedy campaign stressed his youth, courage and resolve. Just three years earlier, his book, Profiles in Courage, had publicized his heroism during the Second World War, and won the coveted Pulitzer Prize.
In 1960, the Presidential debates were televised for the first time. The debates centered on foreign policy, one of Nixon's strengths. Kennedy boldly attacked the Eisenhower Administration's complacency, returning again and again to the so-called "missile gap" with the Soviet Union. Many who heard the debates over the radio thought that Nixon had won the upper hand, while those who watched on television preferred Kennedy's performances. This seeming paradox has given rise to charges that the American electorate chose Kennedy's style over Nixon's substance. The election itself was the closest since 1884. Kennedy won the popular vote by only two tenths of a percentage point, and won 56% of the electoral vote.
Kennedy
This card was distributed on Election Day to encourage Democrats to vote a straight ticket in Massachusetts. Campaigners used a portrait of Kennedy that was at least a decade old, perhaps to underscore their candidate’s youth.
Candidates' Wives
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, campaigners began to focus on a First Lady's appeal to garner votes. Initially, candidates' wives were merely pictured alongside their husbands. Gradually, however, campaign managers featured prospective First Ladies in their own right, as in the "Vote for Pat" button.
TV
A Candidate's Primer on How to Utilize Radio and TV
During the Roosevelt and Eisenhower administrations, radio broadcasts brought a new intimacy to the relationship between the President and his public. The radio allowed him to speak directly to Americans while they sat at home, and made the nation's living rooms a new locus of political decision-making. By 1956, 73% of the population had access to television, allowing campaigns to make better use of this new medium. In 1960, both campaigns agreed to televise the debates for the first time. While the Democratic candidate benefited significantly from the new format, Nixon did not. Having recently recovered from an illness, Nixon looked thin and nervous, and his refusal to wear makeup made him appear unshaven. Kennedy, on the other hand, had a more confident manner, and his handsome looks came across well on the small screen. Most historians agree that the four debates had a direct impact on voter decision-making.