Tuesday, November 8, 1960: John F. Kennedy elected president

Democrat John F. Kennedy is elected president of the United States, defeating Republican Richard Nixon in the closest race of the 20th century. The New York Times put the narrowness of the race into perspective, writing that Kennedy won "by the astonishing margin of less than two votes per voting district." The outcome was not decided until Wednesday, November 9, when Minnesota came in for Kennedy, and Nixon finally conceded.

The final numbers:

-- Kennedy: 34.2 million votes (49.7%), 303 electoral votes (269 needed for victory).

-- Nixon: 34.1 million votes (49.5%), 219 electoral votes.

Among the states that Kennedy barely won:

-- Illinois (27 electoral votes): Kennedy 2,377,846; Nixon 2,368,988

-- Texas (24): Kennedy 1,167,567; Nixon 1,121,310

-- New Jersey (16): Kennedy 1,385,415; Nixon 1,363,324

-- Missouri (13): Kennedy 972,201; Nixon 962,221

-- Minnesota (11): Kennedy 779,933; Nixon 757,915

Just over 40,000 votes -- the combined margins of Illinois, New Jersey and Missouri -- denied Nixon the presidency. (Use the link below to calculate other scenarios that would have given Nixon the victory.)

Computers made their election-night debut on TV, introducing the concept of "projections" to viewers. Time magazine wrote: "ABC promises a cast of 1,000, not counting Univac, headed by John Daly. CBS counters with the new IBM 7090 and its sidekick RAMAC 305 to tally ballots 'within thousandths of a second,' will also use humans, with Walter Cronkite as anchor man. NBC boasts an RCA 501 and a similar 1,000-man task force, commanded by Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, needless to say."

* Election night footage from NBC:

-- Part 1: @

-- Part 2: @

-- Part 3: @

-- Part 4: @

-- Part 5: @

-- Part 6: @

-- Part 7: @

-- Part 8: @

-- Part 9: @

-- Observations about NBC's coverage: @

-- "They'll Tell You How You'll Vote" (Popular Mechanics article on computers, 1964): @

Other links:

-- State-by-state results: @ and @

-- Calculate different scenarios: @

-- 2000 Washington Post story on vote totals and Nixon's decision not to ask for a recount: @

-- Los Angeles Times front pages (November 8-9): @

-- Boston Globe front page (November 9): @

-- New York Times front page (November 9 - page @ and story @)

-- New York Times front page (November 10): @

-- Kennedy speeches, November 7: @ (transcript, Faneuil Hall) and @ (video, Boston Garden)

-- Nixon appearance, early November 9: @

-- Kennedy acceptance speech, November 9: @

-- Newsreel: @

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