The Presidential Elections of 1960The presidential elections that took place in 1960 were interesting. The newcomer, John F. Kennedy, against the vice president, Richard M. Nixon. He was experimental with his trail of televised debates. It also marked the second time a Catholic ran for president and, more importantly, the first time a Catholic achieved victory. John F. Kennedy, of Irish descent, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. He joined the Navy after graduating from Harvard in 1940. In 1946, home from World War II, Kennedy became a Democratic congressman and in 1953 he joined the Senate. A "privileged aristocrat", his father's wealth and influence contributed largely to Kennedy's political career. 1 John's father, Joseph Kennedy, was a self-made millionaire. "In Joseph's political career, he accompanied President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal, as president of the new Securities and Exchange Commission. Joseph was also president of the Maritime Commission and from 1937 to 1940 he was ambassador to Great Britain." 2 John's mother, Rose (Fitzgerald) Kennedy, was the daughter of John F. Fitzgerald, mayor of Boston. John's paternal grandfather, Patrick J. Kennedy, had served in the Massachusetts Senate. Richard Milhouse Nixon was born to a Quaker family on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California. He graduated second in his class at the local Whittier College in 1934 and later graduated third in his class at Duke University Law School. From there Nixon joined a law firm and then worked briefly for the tire rationing section of the Office of Price Administration, in Washington, DC. Eight months into World War II, he joined the Navy and moved to the Pacific to become a supplier. ...... middle of paper ...... Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999.David, Paul T. The Presidential Election and the Transition 1960-1961.Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1961.Divine, Robert A. Foreign Policy and the U.S. Presidential Election 1952-1960New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1974. Kennedy, John F. White Househttp://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/glimpse/presidents/html/jk35.htmlMoss, George Donelson. America in the twentieth century. Fourth edition.New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000.Nixon, Richard Milhoushttp://www.cwu.edu/~millerj.writings/nixon.htmlRobinson, Lloyd. The Hopeful: Ten Presidential Campaigns. New York: Doubleday, 1966. Roseboom, Eugene H. A History of Presidential Elections: From George Washington to Richard M. Nixon. London: Macmillan, 1970. Sevareid, Eric. Candidates 1960. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1959.