1960 United States presidential election

====Democratic candidates====
<gallery perrow="6">
File:John F. Kennedy - NARA - 518134.jpg|Senator '''[[John F. Kennedy]]''' from [[Massachusetts]]
File:Senator Lyndon Johnson.jpg| [[Senate Majority Leader]] '''[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]''' from [[Texas]]
File:Stuart Symington.jpg|Senator '''[[Stuart Symington]]''' from [[Missouri]]
File:Hubert Humphrey crop.jpg|Senator '''[[Hubert Humphrey]]''' from [[Minnesota]]
File:Wayne Morse.jpg|Senator '''[[Wayne Morse]]''' from [[Oregon]]
File:George smathers.jpg|Senator '''[[George Smathers]]''' from [[Florida]]
File:AdlaiEStevenson1900-1965.jpg|Former [[Governor of Illinois|Governor]] '''[[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]]''' of [[Illinois]]
</gallery>

The major candidates for the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination were [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] [[John F. Kennedy]] from Massachusetts, Governor [[Pat Brown]] of California, Senator [[Stuart Symington]] from Missouri, Senator [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] from Texas, former nominee [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]], Senator [[Wayne Morse]] from Oregon, and Senator [[Hubert Humphrey]] from Minnesota. Several other candidates sought support in their home state or region as "[[favorite son]]" candidates, without any realistic chance of winning the nomination. Symington, Stevenson, and Johnson all declined to campaign in the presidential primaries. While this reduced their potential delegate count going into the Democratic National Convention, each of these three candidates hoped that the other leading contenders would stumble in the primaries, thus causing the convention's delegates to choose him as a "compromise" candidate acceptable to all factions of the party.

Kennedy was initially dogged by suggestions from some [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] elders (such as former United States President [[Harry S. Truman]], who was supporting Symington) that he was too youthful and inexperienced to be president; these critics suggested that he should agree to be the [[running mate]] for another Democrat. Realizing that this was a strategy touted by his opponents to keep the public from taking him seriously, Kennedy stated frankly, "I'm not running for vice president; I'm running for president."<ref>[[Jeff Zeleny|Zeleny, Jeff]]; Bosman, Julie (March 11, 2008). [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/us/politics/11clinton.html "Obama Rejects Idea of Back Seat on Ticket"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref>

[[File:1960 Dem Primaries.svg|thumb|400px|1960 Democratic primaries results<br>
{{legend|#81B5FF|John F. Kennedy}}
{{legend|#D40000|Lyndon B. Johnson}}
{{legend|#FFA500|Hubert H. Humphrey}}
{{legend|#916F6F|Various{{efn|[[Favorite son]]s received the support of Missouri ([[Stuart Symington]]), Florida ([[George Smathers]]), New Jersey ([[Robert Meyner]]), Mississippi ([[Carroll Gartin]]), and Hawaii.}}}}]]
The next step was the primaries. Kennedy's [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] religion was an issue. Kennedy first challenged Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey in the Wisconsin primary, and defeated him. Kennedy's sisters, brothers, and wife Jacqueline combed the state, looking for votes, leading Humphrey to complain that he "felt like an independent merchant competing against a chain store."<ref>Humphrey, Hubert H. (1992). Kennedy also defeated Morse in the Maryland and Oregon primaries. ''The Education of a Public Man'', p. 152. University of Minnesota Press. {{ISBN|0-8166-1897-6}}.</ref> However, some political experts argued that Kennedy's margin of victory had come almost entirely from Catholic areas, and, thus, Humphrey decided to continue the contest in the heavily Protestant state of West Virginia. The first televised debate of 1960 was held in West Virginia. Kennedy outperformed Humphrey and, in the days following, Kennedy made substantial gains over Humphrey in the polls.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reston |first=James |date=May 5, 1960 |title=Sen. Kennedy More Effective in TV Debate |pages=2 |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |agency=New York Times News Service |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/381119120/?terms=%22made%20a%20more%20vivid%20and%20effective%20presentation%20of%20his%20case%22&match=1 |access-date=May 13, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Lawrence |first=W. H. |date=May 6, 1960 |title=West Virginia Poll Finds Kennedy Gain |pages=1 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/05/06/archives/west-virginia-poll-finds-kennedy-gain-kennedy-gaining-a-poll.html |access-date=May 13, 2022}}</ref> Humphrey's campaign was low on funds, and could not compete for advertising and other "get-out-the-vote" drives with Kennedy's well-financed and well-organized campaign, which was not above using dirty tricks to win; prior to the Wisconsin primary, Catholic neighborhoods in [[Milwaukee]] were flooded with anti-Catholic pamphlets postmarked from Minnesota. It was assumed Humphrey's campaign had sent them, and it may have helped tilt voters in the Badger State away from him (it later came out that [[Robert F. Kennedy]] had deployed an assistant to mail the pamphlets). In the end, Kennedy defeated Humphrey with over 60% of the vote, and Humphrey ended his presidential campaign. West Virginia showed that Kennedy, a Catholic, could win in a heavily Protestant state. Although Kennedy had only competed in nine presidential primaries,<ref name="N&O">{{cite news |title=Another Race To the Finish |url=http://www.newsobserver.com/news/q/story/1278451.html |url-status=dead |newspaper=[[The News & Observer]] |date=November 2, 2008 |access-date=November 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115040630/http://www.newsobserver.com/news/q/story/1278451.html |archive-date=January 15, 2009}}</ref> Kennedy's rivals, Johnson and Symington, failed to campaign in any primaries. Even though Stevenson had twice been the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, and retained a loyal following of liberals, his two landslide defeats to [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] United States President [[Dwight Eisenhower|Dwight D. Eisenhower]] led most party leaders and delegates to search for a "fresh face" who could win a national election. Following the primaries, Kennedy traveled around the nation, speaking to state delegations and their leaders. As the Democratic Convention opened, Kennedy was far in the lead, but was still seen as being just short of the delegate total he needed to win.