National Politics: 1960 Elections

The Democratic Nomination Race

Kennedy's Strategy.

The biggest obstacle Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts faced in his bid for the presidency was his religion. He was the second Roman Catholic to run for the highest elected office in the United States on a major-party ticket. The first, Democratic governor Alfred E. Smith of New York, had won only eight states when he ran against Republican Herbert Hoover in 1928, convincing leaders in both parties that a Catholic could not win a national election. Kennedy knew that his first task in seeking the Democratic nomination was to convince party leaders that he could attract a broad range of voters. He needed not just to win primaries but to win them in ways that proved his appeal to non-Catholics.

Delegate Selection Processes.

By 1972 primary elections were the principal vehicle for securing the presidential nomination of a major party, but in 1960...

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