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

Sort by

John F. Kennedy

Democratic · 49.70% of votes

303

electoral votes

Richard Nixon

Republican · 49.60% of votes

219

electoral votes

Harry F. Byrd

Dixiecrat · 0.40% of votes

electoral votes

Democratic · 0.42% of votes

—

electoral votes

Eric Hass

Socialist Labor · 0.07% of votes

—

electoral votes

Rutherford Decker

Prohibition · 0.07% of votes

—

electoral votes


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

Sort by

Alabama

John F. Kennedy · 56.8% · runner-up Richard Nixon 42.1%

electoral votes

Alaska

Richard Nixon · 50.9% · runner-up John F. Kennedy 49.1%

electoral votes

Arizona

Richard Nixon · 55.5% · runner-up John F. Kennedy 44.4%

electoral votes

Arkansas

John F. Kennedy · 50.2% · runner-up Richard Nixon 43.1%

electoral votes

California

Richard Nixon · 50.1% · runner-up John F. Kennedy 49.6%

electoral votes

Colorado

Richard Nixon · 54.6% · runner-up John F. Kennedy 44.9%

electoral votes

Connecticut

John F. Kennedy · 53.7% · runner-up Richard Nixon 46.3%

electoral votes

Delaware

John F. Kennedy · 50.6% · runner-up Richard Nixon 49.0%

electoral votes

Florida

Richard Nixon · 51.5% · runner-up John F. Kennedy 48.5%

electoral votes

Georgia

John F. Kennedy · 62.5% · runner-up Richard Nixon 37.4%

electoral votes

Hawaii

John F. Kennedy · 50.0% · runner-up Richard Nixon 50.0%

electoral votes

Idaho

Richard Nixon · 53.8% · runner-up John F. Kennedy 46.2%

electoral votes


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 control · Democratic–Republican

House

262–175

Democratic control · Democratic–Republican