Description
We will explore the 1960 election battle between two titans of American politics, John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. We’ll learn about both men’s lives and backgrounds and see how Kennedy ultimately became president by using innovative campaign techniques that set the model for presidential election campaigns to this very day. But 1960 also saw an election that was plagued by allegations of voter fraud, rigged counts, and problematic absentee voting. When it became clear that Kennedy only won by 113,000 votes, outraged Republicans grew convinced that cheating had tipped the election. What can we learn from this fraught election about American politics, then and now?