1960 Election: When Presidents Became Celebrities (Nixon vs. Kennedy)

The 1960 US Presidential Race is recognized in history as the United States' first commercial election. It was quite special for one specific reason: television. Just one ad from the democratic party was able to strongly influence who the next president was going to be, something a bit unprecedented. Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon were running as the primary candidates of the 1960 election to replace incumbent president Dwight D. Eisenhower. As a democrat, Kennedy’s campaign focused on liberal reform and implementing innovative legislation that would resist the upcoming wave of communism. As a republican, Nixon aimed to continue the strong leadership and American prosperity that Eisenhower had started. Both of them had some pretty convincing campaign promises, and in many respects, the election started off being like, any other election.

Though the 1960 US presidential race did not just become the first commercial election overnight. It was because of a truly game changing event: September 26, 1960. Over 66 million people across the United States sat in front of their television sets to watch Nixon and Kennedy kick off the country’s first ever televised presidential debate. It would cement who the next president was going to be and permanently influence following US elections. In many ways, it would turn the conventionally boring politics into a spectator sport that would appeal to the masses. The debate had a significant impact on all this, but there were a lot of other things involved too. What particularly makes the 1960 election not only so influential but also a turning point in politics is that it took advantage of the groundbreaking innovations of the time to change what exactly now mattered in becoming the president, and that was “image.”

In 1960, there was a whole new medium of accessing information at the scene: television. In 1950, 11% of Americans had a television set. By 1959, that number had shot up to 80%. That is 4 out of 5 households owning a television. It was a breakthrough in technology just as incredible as the telegraph in the 1848 election and eventually the internet in 1996. But with great innovation comes confusion. With television becoming so exponentially ubiquitous, people didn’t really have enough time to get acquainted with it. In other words, people were still so unfamiliar with television, they didn’t really understand it and frankly, really know what to do with it. The culture of TV was very different than what it is now. It was primarily meant for just entertainment. This doesn’t mean that there was no news on TV at the time. No one is arguing that. Election night coverage goes as far as 1948, but its role, particularly in politics, was arguably way less prevalent before 1960 came along.

When CBS made its decision to air the first presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon, it had to replace a timeslot initially reserved for the pilot episode of the Andy Griffith Show. This was actually quite controversial. Not because people wanted to watch Andy Griffith instead though I’m sure that’s partly a reason but because some people felt that television might have a little too much influence on an election, and they’re kind of right. Along with the first televised debate came an interesting phenomenon. Public polls revealed that most people who listened to the debate on the radio felt that it was either a draw, or that Nixon had won. Those who watched the debate on television, felt that Kennedy won by a huge margin. When viewing the debate in retrospect, it makes perfect sense why. Kennedy appears tan, handsome, and speaks directly at the camera, exerting a lot of charisma. Though his voice is more monotone and pedestrian. Nixon, on the other hand, doesn’t look as good. His outfit blends in with the set, and he’s pale, sweaty, and looks a bit sickly. He had just gotten out of the hospital for a knee injury and was recovering from the flu, but compared to Kennedy, he speaks with a much better cadence, more emotion, and arguably just sounds more presidential. But since 40% of the United States population watched the debate on TV, Kennedy now had the advantage to winning the presidency, and everyone’s view on politics and television changed. As broadcaster Bruce DuMont puts it, “The Innocence of the 1950s ended with [bumping] ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ and the seriousness of the 1960s began with the first Kennedy-Nixon debate.”

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Beauty Flow by Kevin MacLeod
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