Lyndon B. Johnson

===Candidacy for president===
In July 1960, Johnson finally entered the campaign. Johnson's late entry in the race, coupled with his reluctance to leave Washington, D.C., allowed rival [[John F. Kennedy]] to secure a substantial early lead in securing support from Democratic state party officials. Johnson underestimated Kennedy's endearing charm and intelligence in comparison to his perceived crude and wheeling-dealing "Landslide Lyndon" style.<ref>{{harvnb|Dallek|1991|p=560}}</ref> Caro suggests that Johnson's hesitancy to enter the race resulted from his fear of losing.<ref>Caro 2012, Part I (passim).</ref>

Johnson attempted in vain to capitalize on Kennedy's youth, poor health, and failure to take a position regarding [[McCarthyism]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dallek|1991|p=570}}</ref> He had formed a "Stop Kennedy" coalition with [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]], [[Stuart Symington]], and [[Hubert Humphrey]], but it proved a failure. Despite Johnson having the support of established Democrats and the party leadership, this did not translate into popular approval. Johnson received 409 votes on the only ballot at the Democratic convention to Kennedy's 806, and so the convention nominated Kennedy. [[Tip O'Neill]] was a representative from Kennedy's home state of [[Massachusetts]] at that time, and he recalled that Johnson approached him at the convention and said, "Tip, I know you have to support Kennedy at the start, but I'd like to have you with me on the second ballot." O'Neill replied, "Senator, there's not going to be any second ballot."<ref>{{cite book |title=Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century: A Biography |first=John A. |last=Farrell |year=2001 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-26049-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/tiponeilldemoc00farr}}</ref>