John F. Kennedy
In the Presidential election of 1960 John F. Kennedy faced off against Richard Nixon. Kennedy was Democratic with his running mate being Lyndon B. Johnson and senator from Massachusetts, while Nixon the previous Vice-President was Republican with his running mate being Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. and from with California. This was the 44th American Presidential Election and was held on November 8th, 1960. The winner of the election would start their term on January 20th, 1961, and end on January 20th, 1965. Dwight D. Eisenhower couldn't be in this election because he had just served two consecutive terms as president. Kennedy won 0.16% of the popular vote, which won him the 1960 US presidential election against Nixon (303 to 219 in the Electoral College) which was the closest since 1916. There are many reasons why Kennedy overcame Nixon in the 1960 presidential election. One being the fact that there were 17 million democratics than republicans. Another being the fact that his campaigning skills were far greater than that of Nixon's. For instants Kennedy only went after the votes of big cities, while Nixon wasted his time campaigning in all 50 states instead of just the swing states.
On Friday November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy (the 35th US president) was assassinated at 12:30 pm (Central Standard Time) in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. It happened when he was on his way to a luncheon with his wife, Jacqueline, Texas governor John Connally, and the governor's wife, Nellie in a presidential motorcade. The assassination was the result of gunfire coming from a Italian Carcano bolt action sniper rifle. Kennedy was not the only person shot at his assassination, two others were wounded, Governor Connally and James Tague. After a ten month investigation (1963-1964) by Warren Commission, they concluded that JFK was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. Many believe that his assassination was the consequence of a conspiracy. Lee Harvey Oswald never got to trail though because when he was on his way from the Dallas Police Headquarters to Dallas County Jail he died from the gunfire of Jack Ruby on live television. John F. Kennedy's funeral was held on November 25 in Arlington National Cemetery. There have been a total of four US president assassinations ever (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy) with Kennedy being the most recent of all of them.
Assassination Information Source
Opinion: I believe that I have learned a lot about John F. Kennedy that I previously didn't know. Starting with all the things in his election. I didn't know he went up against Nixon and I figured that whoever he did go against he defeated with ease, but I was wrong when I found out it was one of the closest elections. Another thing I didn't know was pretty much every about his assassination. I didn't know where it occurred, who did it, and why it happened until after I did this. I am glad I did this assigned blog because I think that I have learned a lot about JFK.
Comments
Well done! Looking forward to our JFK assassination discussion in class!