1960 Presidential Election
November 8, 1960 · Cold War Consensus · 537 electoral votes, 269 to win
Kennedy beat Nixon by 0.17% of the popular vote, the closest of the century, after the first televised debates reshaped the race. Catholic-Protestant tensions, the missile-gap claim and disputed counts in Illinois and Texas all marked it.
Elected
John F. Kennedy
Democratic
Electoral vote
303 of 537
Popular vote
49.7%
34,220,984 votes
Turnout
63.8%
VAP 63.5%
The result
| EV share | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John F. Kennedy | Democratic | Lyndon B. Johnson | 303 | 34,220,984 | 49.70% | 23 | |
| Richard Nixon | Republican | Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. | 219 | 34,108,157 | 49.60% | 26 | |
| Harry F. Byrd | Dixiecrat | Strom Thurmond | 14 | 610,409 | 0.40% | — | |
| Democratic | — | — | 286,359 | 0.42% | — | ||
| Eric Hass | Socialist Labor | Georgia Cozzini | — | 47,522 | 0.07% | — | |
| Rutherford Decker | Prohibition | E. Harold Munn | — | 46,203 | 0.07% | — |
69,319,634 votes recorded for the candidates listed.
Results by state
| Alabama | John F. Kennedy | 56.8% | 5 | Richard Nixon · 42.1% |
| Alaska | Richard Nixon | 50.9% | 3 | John F. Kennedy · 49.1% |
| Arizona | Richard Nixon | 55.5% | 4 | John F. Kennedy · 44.4% |
| Arkansas | John F. Kennedy | 50.2% | 8 | Richard Nixon · 43.1% |
| California | Richard Nixon | 50.1% | 32 | John F. Kennedy · 49.6% |
| Colorado | Richard Nixon | 54.6% | 6 | John F. Kennedy · 44.9% |
| Connecticut | John F. Kennedy | 53.7% | 8 | Richard Nixon · 46.3% |
| Delaware | John F. Kennedy | 50.6% | 3 | Richard Nixon · 49.0% |
| Florida | Richard Nixon | 51.5% | 10 | John F. Kennedy · 48.5% |
| Georgia | John F. Kennedy | 62.5% | 12 | Richard Nixon · 37.4% |
| Hawaii | John F. Kennedy | 50.0% | 3 | Richard Nixon · 50.0% |
| Idaho | Richard Nixon | 53.8% | 4 | John F. Kennedy · 46.2% |
| Illinois | John F. Kennedy | 50.0% | 27 | Richard Nixon · 49.8% |
| Indiana | Richard Nixon | 55.0% | 13 | John F. Kennedy · 44.6% |
| Iowa | Richard Nixon | 56.7% | 10 | John F. Kennedy · 43.2% |
| Kansas | Richard Nixon | 60.5% | 8 | John F. Kennedy · 39.1% |
| Kentucky | Richard Nixon | 53.6% | 10 | John F. Kennedy · 46.4% |
| Louisiana | John F. Kennedy | 50.4% | 10 | Richard Nixon · 28.6% |
| Maine | Richard Nixon | 57.1% | 5 | John F. Kennedy · 43.0% |
| Maryland | John F. Kennedy | 53.6% | 9 | Richard Nixon · 46.4% |
| Massachusetts | John F. Kennedy | 60.2% | 16 | Richard Nixon · 39.6% |
| Michigan | John F. Kennedy | 50.9% | 20 | Richard Nixon · 48.8% |
| Minnesota | John F. Kennedy | 50.6% | 11 | Richard Nixon · 49.2% |
| Mississippi | John F. Kennedy | 36.3% | — | Richard Nixon · 24.7% |
| Missouri | John F. Kennedy | 50.3% | 13 | Richard Nixon · 49.7% |
| Montana | Richard Nixon | 51.1% | 4 | John F. Kennedy · 48.6% |
| Nebraska | Richard Nixon | 62.1% | 6 | John F. Kennedy · 37.9% |
| Nevada | John F. Kennedy | 51.2% | 3 | Richard Nixon · 48.8% |
| New Hampshire | Richard Nixon | 53.4% | 4 | John F. Kennedy · 46.6% |
| New Jersey | John F. Kennedy | 50.0% | 16 | Richard Nixon · 49.2% |
| New Mexico | John F. Kennedy | 50.2% | 4 | Richard Nixon · 49.4% |
| New York | John F. Kennedy | 52.5% | 45 | Richard Nixon · 47.3% |
| North Carolina | John F. Kennedy | 52.1% | 14 | Richard Nixon · 47.9% |
| North Dakota | Richard Nixon | 55.4% | 4 | John F. Kennedy · 44.5% |
| Ohio | Richard Nixon | 53.3% | 25 | John F. Kennedy · 46.7% |
| Oklahoma | Richard Nixon | 59.0% | 7 | John F. Kennedy · 41.0% |
| Oregon | Richard Nixon | 52.6% | 6 | John F. Kennedy · 47.3% |
| Pennsylvania | John F. Kennedy | 51.1% | 32 | Richard Nixon · 48.7% |
| Rhode Island | John F. Kennedy | 63.6% | 4 | Richard Nixon · 36.4% |
| South Carolina | John F. Kennedy | 51.2% | 8 | Richard Nixon · 48.8% |
| South Dakota | Richard Nixon | 58.2% | 4 | John F. Kennedy · 41.8% |
| Tennessee | Richard Nixon | 52.9% | 11 | John F. Kennedy · 45.8% |
| Texas | John F. Kennedy | 50.5% | 24 | Richard Nixon · 48.5% |
| Utah | Richard Nixon | 54.8% | 4 | John F. Kennedy · 45.2% |
| Vermont | Richard Nixon | 58.7% | 3 | John F. Kennedy · 41.4% |
| Virginia | Richard Nixon | 52.4% | 12 | John F. Kennedy · 47.0% |
| Washington | Richard Nixon | 50.7% | 9 | John F. Kennedy · 48.3% |
| West Virginia | John F. Kennedy | 52.7% | 8 | Richard Nixon · 47.3% |
| Wisconsin | Richard Nixon | 51.8% | 12 | John F. Kennedy · 48.1% |
| Wyoming | Richard Nixon | 55.0% | 3 | John F. Kennedy · 45.0% |
The Congress it seated
87th Congress
1961–1963
Unified government
Senate
64–36
Democratic vs Republican
House
262–175
Democratic vs Republican