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What were the reasons for JFK’s election in 1960? - Coggle Diagram
What were the reasons for JFK’s election in 1960?
Was JFK successful because of the mistakes that Eisenhower & Nixon made?
Impact of Eisenhower’s spending cuts & growing fears of recession in 1960 could have damaged the Republicans image.
Damage caused by Eisenhower not standing up to JFK’s accusations about the missile gap.
Eisenhower’s attitude to Nixon.
Eisenhower’s health.
Nixon failing to get Eisenhower out campaigning for him earlier on in the campaign. When Ike was asked what he through of Nixon is replied.... 'give me a week, i might think of one'
Nixon’s performance and appearance in the Presidential debates compared to JFK.
Nixon’s failure to react to the arrest of MLK compared with the actions of JFK.
Damaging policies:
After the 1959 budget deficit of 13 billion. Ike ignored Nixon's warning and still went ahead with huge spending cuts to ensure a surplus. However, this led to a recession.
Ik refused to refute Kennedy's accusation that there was a 'missile gap' in the Soviet's favour. This made Nixon look weak compared to Kennedy.
Was JFK successful because of his personal appeal and election campaign?
JFK’s youth and public celebrity image. How photogenic he was. Compared with Eisenhower’s age.
JFK’s dynamism and emphasis on the need for all Americans to be able to participate in the American dream.
How successfully JFK dealt with allegations that he would be loyal to Rome and not the USA.
Joseph Kennedy’s money and contribution to his son’s campaign funds.
Kennedy insanely rich.
This meant he did not need to reply on sponsors to support his campaign or have a strict budget on spending.
Instead, he could easily and completely outspend his opponent Nixon in his political campaigns.
Kennedy’s wealth meant he could spend more money buying TV ads, hiring staff in key states and, travelling around the country promoting himself and voicing his opinions.
In 1950, only 11 percent of American homes had televisions; by 1960, the number had increased to 88 percent. An estimated seventy million Americans, about two-thirds of the electorate, watched the first debate on September 26th.
Kennedy made the most of this oppunitity to stand out. Kennedy had met the day before with the producer to discuss the design of the set and the placement of the cameras.
He wore a blue suit and shirt to appeared sharply focused against the grey studio background. While, Nixon wore a grey suit and seemed to blend into the set. - The young, handsome, and charismatic Kennedy stared into the camera while answering the journalists’ questions giving the appearance of a familiarity or intimacy with those watching the debates on television. He was able to make a connection with the American people. They felt as if he were talking to them personally.
Kennedy’s selection of Johnson as Vice President anchored significant southern support and helped to improve his electability.
There were criticisms of Kennedy’s religion. Historian Robert Dallek attributes the fine margin of victory in the latter to, ‘an unyielding fear of having a Catholic in the White House’. To overcome these criticisms, he pleaded his loyalty to the First Amendment, outlining the fact that his religion had not affected his wartime service and introducing the idea that discrimination against one religion is wrong an dangerous.
He said, "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the President—should he be Catholic—how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote."
On October 26 after Martin Luther King Jr was arrested, he called Coretta Scott King and offered to help in securing her husband's safe release. This caused the African American vote to lean heavily for Kennedy across the nation, providing the winning margin in several states.
Was JFK successful because of the appeal of the New Frontier policies?
‘Peace and war’: His record as a Cold Warrior and his authorship of ‘Why England Slept’ making the case for standing up to dictators and not appeasing them.
‘A new Generation of leadership’; Emphasis on the theme of change and dynamism
‘Poverty and surplus’: Promised to not be indifferent to the problems of poverty like the Eisenhower administration had been. How JFK targeted his rhetoric at impoverished West Virginia and democrats who doubted him as a liberal.
Role of the ‘best and the brightest’ (Quote David Halberstam 1972). The appointment of able advisors like Sorensen (speech writer), Bobby Kennedy (Attourney General), McGeorge Bundy (National Security Advisor), Harris Wofford (Civil Rights aide), Robert McNamara (Defence Secretary), Douglas Dillon (Treasury Secretary) and Dean Rusk (Secretary of State – he did exactly what JFK told him to do as he was in overall charge of foreign policy). JFK balanced this with Vice President Johnson’s more down to earth attitude and his ability to understand Congressional politics better than other advisors.