Chapter 21 Section 1
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Kennedy became the 35th president
of the U.S. and told American people
that America should confront
communism
The United States presidential
election of 1960 marked the end of
Dwight D.Eisenhower's two terms as
President. Eisenhower's Vice
President, Richard Nixon, who had
transformed his office into a national
political base, was the Republican
candidate.
Chapter 21 Section 1
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The Democrats nominated Massachusetts Senator
John F. Kennedy (JFK).
He became the first Roman Catholic to be elected
President, and he remains the only Roman
Catholic to be elected to the Presidency.
The electoral vote was the closest in any
presidential election dating to 1916, and
Kennedy's margin of victory in the popular vote is
among the closest ever in American history.
The 1960 election also remains a source of debate
among some historians as to whether vote theft
in selected states aided Kennedy's victory.
Chapter 21 Section 1
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This was the first election in which
Alaska and Hawaii were included in
the election, having been granted
statehood on January 3 and August
21 of the previous year.
It was also the first election in which
both candidates for president were
born in the 20th century.
Chapter 21 Section 1
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During the campaign Kennedy
charged that under Eisenhower and
the Republicans the nation had
fallen behind the Soviet Union in
the Cold War, both militarily and
economically, and that as President
he would "get America moving
again."
Nixon responded that, if elected, he
would continue the "peace and
prosperity" that Eisenhower had
brought the nation in the 1950's.
Nixon also argued that with the
nation engaged in the Cold War
with the Soviets, that Kennedy was
too young and inexperienced to be
trusted with the Presidency.
Chapter 21 Section 1
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Kennedy was assassinated by Lee
Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963 in
Dallas during a parade. Jack Ruby shot
Oswald on TV when on way to jail. After
Kennedy's death, America reeled from
the shock of an assassinated President.
A President who declared that they were
on the verge of the New Frontier and
who offered to guide them was now
dead, shot through the head.
Chapter 21 Section 1
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The Kennedy Obsession came into
being after Kennedy's death in 1963.
Everyone was mystified, intrigued,
and enchanted by the large,
charming, extended, Irish Catholic
Family and many wanted to know
more about them.
Chapter 21 Section 1
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America honored John F.
Kennedy in death with the
eternal flame and the grandest
funeral ever seen for a
President.
His death became all the more
painful to many Americans,
when on live television little
John F. Kennedy Jr. aged three
and therefore barely aware of
the full magnitude of the event,
stepped forward and saluted his
father's casket.
Chapter 21 Section 1
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As goes the case of fallen heroes,
Kennedy, his words, his images, and even
ideas were immortalized after death.
No other President, before, since, or
during has had as many buildings,
monuments, schools, named after him or
is the topic of a myriad of films on his
family, himself, his wife, or just his
assassination.
Chapter 21 Section 1
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. Many have not been able to accept that JFK was
killed by a lone gunman.
With the convenient death of his assassin Lee
Harvey Oswald at the hands of Jack Ruby, and a
later convenient death of Jack Ruby, many
questions were left unanswered.
And many films and books afterwards were
written in an attempt to answer such questions.
One such popular film, JFK, which is directed by
Oliver Stone, played a popular conspiracy theory
of his assassination.
The film was so popular that it revived old
interest in JFK's death in the early nineties and
forced Congress to pass a resolution to release
the rest of the Warren Commission papers on
JFK's assassination.
Chapter 21 Section 1
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Never before had so many Americans related to the Jack
Kennedy and his family.
Many blue-collar and middle class families in America saw
and always have enwrapped in the Kennedys the greatness
of the American Dream.
From poor Irish immigrants and in three generations a rich,
extended, large family dominating the White House and the
political scene.
The Kennedys faith, as Catholics, made them outsiders so it
gave them appeal to those nations abroad and those
Americans who were Catholic a validation.
First, second, and third generation immigrant families of all
nationalities relate to the Kennedys. And for Jews, Blacks,
Asians, seeing the Kennedys, once in their place as the
degraded Irish Catholic, now a powerful family with a son in
the White House. It made them feel as if the sky was the
limit for them as well.
Chapter 21 Quiz
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1.) What president did J.F.K. follow?
a.) Richard Nixon
b.) Franklin Roosevelt
c.) Dwight D. Eisenhower
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6.) Where was J.F.K. when he was shot?
a.) Washington D.C.
b.) Out of the country
c.) Dallas
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2.) What future president did J.F.K. defeat in the
1960 Election?
a.) Richard Nixon
b.) Franklin Roosevelt
c.) Dwight D. Eisenhower
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7.) Where was J.F.K.’s shooter when he shot
J.F.K.?
a.) A Book depository building
b.) Along the street in the crowd
c.) In the parade
3.) What two states were included in the election
process for the first time during the
1960 election?
a.) Puerto Rico and Cuba
b.) Alaska and Hawaii
c.) Oklahoma and Hawaii
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4.) Who shot J.F.K.?
a.) Lee Harvey Oswald
b.) Jack Ruby
c.) John Wilkes Booth
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5.) Who killed Lee Harvey Oswald?
a.) Jack Ruby
b.) James Earl Ray
c.) John Wilkes Booth
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8.) What event was J.F.K. participating in when
he was shot?
a.) Democratic Convention
b.) A sporting event
c.) Parade
9.) Was the Nixon/J.F.K. election close or not
close?
a.) Close
b.) Not Close
c.) J.F.K never ran against Nixon
10.) Describe one fact about the J.F.K./Nixon
election.
a.) It was the first time both candidates had
been born in the 20th century
b.) It was the first time neither candidate had
been born in the 19th century
c.) It was the first time a Democrat had defeated
a Republican