Claim: Richard Nixon was in an election.

The United States presidential election of 1960 was the 44th quadrennial presidential election , held on Tuesday , November 8 , 1960 . The Republican Party nominated incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon , while the Democratic Party nominated John F. Kennedy , U.S. Senator from Massachusetts . The incumbent President , Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower , was not eligible for re-election after being elected the maximum two times allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment ; he was the first President denied the choice to run for a third term by that amendment . This was the first presidential election in which voters in Alaska and Hawaii were able to participate , as both had become states in 1959 .   Kennedy is generally considered to have won the national popular vote by 112,827 , a margin of 0.17 % -LRB- although the unusual nature of the election in Alabama has caused some to question this figure -RRB- , and though Nixon carried more individual states -LRB- 26 to 22 -RRB- , Kennedy won a 303 to 219 Electoral College victory .   The 1960 presidential election was the closest election since 1916 , which can be explained by a number of factors . Kennedy benefited from the economic recession of 1957 -- 58 , which hurt the standing of the incumbent Republican Party , and he had the advantage of 17 million more registered Democrats than Republicans . Furthermore , the new votes that Kennedy , the first Roman Catholic president , gained among Catholics almost neutralized the new votes Nixon gained among Protestants . Kennedy 's campaigning skills decisively outmatched Nixon 's . In the end , Nixon 's emphasis on his experience carried little weight , and he wasted energy by campaigning in all 50 states instead of concentrating on the swing states . Kennedy used his large , well-funded campaign organization to win the nomination , secure endorsements , and , with the aid of the big-city bosses , get out the vote in the big cities . Kennedy relied on running mate Lyndon B. Johnson to hold the South , and used television effectively . There were 14 unpledged electors and one faithless elector in the election : eight unplugged electors lfrom Mississippi , six out of 11 from Alabama , one out of eight from Oklahoma for the Byrd/Thurmond ticket , and one for the Byrd/Goldwater ticket .   Following the election , Nixon unsuccessfully ran for governor of California in 1962 , before making a successful campaign for the presidency in 1968 , winning re-election by a landslide in 1972 . He was later the first United States President to resign , following the Watergate scandal .   This election also features the last time the state of Ohio was on the losing end of the presidential election . From 1964 onward , the candidate who won Ohio won the election nationwide .