Evening star., 1961-01-01

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of the United States. His
President Richard M. Nixon in
!. November long will be remem-
hered and discussed.
The Kennedy victory, a remark
able one for many reasons, marked
the end of eight years Of Repuhli-
can control of the White House.
o period Of consolidation in which
President Dwight d. Eisenhower.
enormously popular hero Of World
War II, took the country down
the middle of the road.
Mr.. Kennedy's electoral vote
was 800 to Mr.. Nixon's 219, but
his popular margin was q skimpy
$4,000, making it the closest
election since the Cleveland
Blaine contest Of 1875. Each can
didate received more than "a mill
lion votes. The total of 68 mil.
lion-plus broke the 1852 record by
about 6 million.
A Minority President
After votes for splinter party
candidates were figured. Mr.. Ken
nedy wound up. like Harry Tru-
man and 10 or more others, q
minority President. That is, he
received less than half the total
votes cast.
In winning. Mr.. Kennedy broke
one Of the most rigorous Of the
unwritten laws of American poll
tics-the one which said no Roman
Catholic could be elected Presi.
dent.
Curiously enough, many political
observers believe that Mr.. Ken
nedy's religion. perhaps the issue
which decided more individual
votes than anything but strict
party loyalty, won the election for
him. The theory: Catholic hlocs
in the big industrial States helped
produce his electoral college
margin.
Mr.. Kennedy set another rec
ord. He became the youngest
man ever elected President. Theo-
dore Roosevelt became President
when he was only ~, but, as
Vice President. he succeeded VII
liam Mckinley, who was killed
by an assassin's bullet.
The nomination Mr.. Kennedy
won at Los Angeles last July
was the elimination Of four years
Of planning and struggle. He left
IS little to chance as humanity
possible. His well-financed and
skillfully directed organization
made even the political masters
sit up and take admiring notice.
He met and defeated all comers,
including Senator's Lyndon john
SON, Stuart Symington and Hubert
II. Humphrey.
Met o Challenge
Mr.. Humphrey was the only
one to challenge him In Q pref.
erential primary. The Kennedy
victories over the Minnesotan in
Wisconsin and West Virginia, q
State 95 per cent Protestant,
really got the bandwagon rolling.
Mr.. Kennedy won the nomina-
ton on the first ballot. Then,
to the CONSERVATION of the ultra
liberals, he offered the vice
presidential nomination to Mr..
johnson, who promptly accepted.
The Kennedy Nixon contest
was fought in q nearly nonstop
fashion. At the end, the Senator
had campaigned in more than
20 States while the Vice Presi-
dent, four years older but Just as
vigorous, spoke in all so.
Looking back, many feel that
Mr.. Kennedy took o long step
toward victory when the Vice
President agreed to debate with
him over Nationwide television.
This was the first TV debate by
the top candidates in an American
presidential campaign.
The relatively unknown Massa-
chusetts Senator exposed his
bright mind and good looks to
IS to 10 million Americans as
he dueled with Mr.. Nixon on four
occasions. The first debate, how
ever, was the really significant
one. The Vice President did not
look well because of inexpertly
applied makeup. And too often
he declared II agree" with Mr..
Kennedy. His opponent, mean
while. demonstrated that he was
not immature and that he had
Q grasp of the major United
States and world problems.
About three weeks before the
election, signs began to point to
Q Kennedy victory. Mr.. Nixon
turned on the steam and prevailed
upon Mr.. Eisenhower to do the
same in his behalf. But it was
too late.
The Republicans - surprisingly
30. because 1t rarely happens this
way-made gains In both Houses
Of Congress. They picked up two
Senate seats (then lost one Of
them with the death Of Keith
Thomson Of Wyoming) and "a
In the House. The lineup for
the 87th Congress. which will or
garIize next week, viii be: Senate,
IS Democrats, IS Republicans.
House-261 Democrats, 176 Re-
publicans.
There were several reasons for
the large vote, but one was quite
simple: The mounting population
Of the United States. The decen-
nial census taken last year showed
the count to be 179,323,175 per-
sons. (The Bureau Of the Census
estimates that as Of 8 am. today
there were 182,236,67S.)
IT, E