tic presidential nomination. His popularity increased. In 1958 he was reelected to the Senate by a margin of some 874,000 votes, more than any other Massachusetts senator had ever received. His brother Robert managed John's senatorial campaign. In 1958 Teddy, the youngest of the Kennedy family, worked with Robert in managing John's campaign for the Democratic nomination.In the early months of 1960 Kennedy entered and won seven primary elections across the nation. At the 1960 Democratic convention in Los Angeles he received his party's nomination on the first ballot.During the campaign Kennedy and Vice-President Richard M. Nixon met in four nationally televised debates. It was generally conceded that these television appearances helped Kennedy more than Nixon.As Kennedy took office, cold-war tensions between Communist and Western nations increased. Communist forces pushed into Laos and threatened South Vietnam. The new president pledged strong efforts to halt the spread of Communism. Toward this end, he created a Peace Corps of young Americans to work in underdeveloped countries.After the Soviets successfully launched the first man into outer space in April 1961, Kennedy asked for a greatly increased budget for space research. This new phase of the cold war was called the "space race." The first United States manned space flight was in May.In the spring of 1961 the Bay of Pigs near Havana, Cuba, was invaded by opponents of Cuba's Communist premier, Fidel Castro. The rebels were defeated quickly. The invasion had been aided by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Kennedy was criticized by some for having approved the CIA's support of the invasion. Others blamed him for the operation's failure. Kennedy met with Premier Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union in Vienna in June to discuss the German question. The conference did not alter Communist goals. The Berlin Wall was built in August.At home Kennedy won Congressional appr...
