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The 1960s
Discontent, rebellion and social change defined the 1960s in the United States, shaking the country to its core.
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1864 Election
The 1864 election, held during the Civil War, pitted President Abraham Lincoln against Democrat George B. McClellan.
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1900 Election
In 1900 the Republicans nominated President William McKinley.
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1828 Election
Andrew Jackson won the presidency in 1828 by a landslide, receiving a record 647,292 popular votes (56 percent) to 507,730 (44 percent) for the incumbent John Quincy Adams.
In 1960 the Democratic party nominated John F. Kennedy, a senator from Massachusetts, for president. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas was his running mate. The Republicans nominated Vice President Richard M. Nixon to succeed Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was prohibited from running for a third term by the recently adopted Twenty-second Amendment. The Republican nominee for vice president was Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., of Massachusetts.
Although much of the campaign centered on style rather than substance, Kennedy stressed what he claimed was a "missile gap" between the United States and the Soviet Union. Kennedy was Catholic, and though religion was not a major issue, it had considerable influence on many voters.
Kennedy won the presidency by a popular margin of less than 120,000, receiving 34,227,096 votes to Nixon's 34,107,646. The race was not as close in the electoral college where Kennedy got 303 votes to Nixon's 219. Kennedy was the first Catholic and the youngest person to be elected president.
The Reader's Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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This Day in History
Feb 9
Lead Story
Satchel Paige nominated to Baseball Hall of Fame, 1971
On this day in 1971, pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame. In August of that…
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The 60s
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