Elect Nixon and Lodge

This button dates from the 1960 US Presidential campaign of Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994) and Henry Cabot Lodge (1902-1985).  At the time of the campaign, Nixon was the US Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) and Lodge was the US Ambassador to the UN. Nixon and Lodge, Republicans, were opposed by the Democrats John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) and Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973). The race was close in the popular election, but Kennedy and Johnson received 303 of the 537 Electoral College votes. Nixon and Lodge received only 219.

The 1960 US Presidential election is often remebered as the first election with live televised candidate debates. Kennedy appeared cool and collected, while Nixon, who had been ill and refused to wear television make-up, was fidgety and noticeably sweating.