ajorities in the House and Senate. 33 The final outcome of the election was that, “many voters had spilt their tickets in 1960. Millions of the Republicans, many of them Catholics, voted for Kennedy. Millions of Democrats, mostly Protestants, voted for Nixon.” 34 “The 1960 campaign had broken all records for funding and distances traveled. Nixon campaigning in all fifty states, and Kennedy traveling over 100,000 miles in a family-leased jet.” It is said to be, “the toughest presidential election in modern American political history.” 35. Through my research, I have learned that presidential elections can actually posses more interest than meets the eye. What I found most interesting was the bias of a presidential candidate due to his religion, in the case of the Election of 1960, the bias of John F. Kennedy’s Catholicism. Never before this election were voters challenged with overcoming their stereotypes or could voters be given credit for basing their decision on more than a man’s religious beliefs. However, there were many voters that were influenced by this alone, to the extreme that where Democrats voted Republican. I believe that times have changed, to the point that where religion would not have that great of an impact on presidential selection. As a nation, I think that we have become more open-minded, about some matters, not all. Ignorance still lurks around every corner. I do not believe that I will ever see the day when a woman or a minority is ever elected president. People tend to vote traditionally. So that is probably why there will never be a woman or minority as President of the United States. I have also concluded that Kennedy’s good looks were in large part responsible for his victories in the televised debates. I suspect that many voters probably disregarded the issues in the campaign and voted solely on appearance in the 1960 election, a possible reason to be co...
