Music of the 1960 Presidential Election
by Alex Cosper (12/19/15)
Democrat U.S Senator from Massachusetts John F. Kennedy defeated Republican Vice
President Richard M. Nixon by a razor thin margin in the popular vote (49.7% - 49.5%).
But the vote that counted, electoral votes, wasn't even close as JFK won 303-219. He could not
have won without carrying Illinois and Texas, the home state
of his running mate, U.S. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson.
Kennedy's strength was in most northeastern states, parts of the midwest and parts of the south.
Nixon, who was from California, carried most to the west except for Hawaii and Nevada. It was the first
time Hawaii and Alaska, both admitted to the union in 1959, participated in a U.S. election. Nixon's
running mate was Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.
Harry F. Byrd won 15 electoral votes that came from Alabama and unpledged electors in Mississippi
and one electoral vote from Oklahoma. Kennedy attracted 34.2 million votes verses Nixon's 34.1
million votes. At the time there were 17 million more registered Democrats than Republicans while
both candidates were considered moderate by voters, although Nixon was seen as fiercely anti-communist.
President Kennedy's theme song was the Frank Sinatra hit "High Hopes," in which the words were changed
to include Kennedy's name. At the time Sinatra was a huge JFK supporter, but he eventually became a
conservative Republican supporter for Ronald Reagan during the 1966 California governor's race.
During the 1960 campaign Kennedy also used a campaign song called "Kennedy, Kennedy" while
Nixon used jingles that were titled "Click With Dick" and "Buckle Down with Nixon," which was a parody
of a 1940s Broadway tune called "Buckle Down, Winsocki." Prior to JFK's
nomination, challenger Humphrey used a jingle called "Hubie Humphrey, We Love You."
Political music was not yet on the charts during the early 1960s, except for a few songs here and there
that did not make a huge impact. Folk music had its niche following, but most of the folk hits of the
early sixties did not deal with current issues. On the popular music scene, dance craze records like
"The Twist" by Chubby Checker were more reflective of the era. It was also a period of ballads, novelty
records and nostalgia for lounge and big band music.
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