1960 United States presidential election in Iowa

Last updated

1960 United States presidential election in Iowa
Flag of Iowa (xrmap collection).svg
  1956 November 8, 1960 [1] 1964  
  Richard Nixon official portrait as Vice President (cropped).tiff Jfk2 (3x4).jpg
Nominee Richard Nixon John F. Kennedy
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California Massachusetts
Running mate Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Lyndon B. Johnson
Electoral vote100
Popular vote722,381550,565
Percentage56.71%43.22%

Iowa Presidential Election Results 1960.svg
County Results

President before election

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

Elected President

John F. Kennedy
Democratic

The 1960 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. Voters chose ten [2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

Iowa was won by incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon (RCalifornia), running with United States Ambassador to the United Nations Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., with 56.71% of the popular vote, against Senator John F. Kennedy (DMassachusetts), running with Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, with 43.22% of the popular vote. [3] [4] As of the 2024 presidential election , this is the last election in which Johnson County, home to Iowa City and the University of Iowa, voted for a Republican presidential candidate. [5]

Kennedy became the fourth American president to have ever held office without carrying Iowa in an election.

Primaries

Democratic precinct caucuses

While no statewide vote was held, a system of precinct caucuses were used to select delegates. [6] Edward A. McDermott led a, first-of-its-kind- coordinated effort for the Kennedy campaign which sought to shape the results of Iowa's precinct caucuses in order to secure an Iowa delegation which favored Kennedy's candidacy. [6] These precinct caucuses had been largely ignored by most political circles, providing an opportunity for Kennedy. [6] His campaign had been targeting Iowa as a top priority state in its delegate strategy since, at latest, 1959, setting a goal to secure the support of 18 of the state's 26 delegates. [6]

For years, Kennedy had been seeking to curry favor with Iowa's Democratic governor, Herschel Loveless, who had fiercely opposed Kennedy's effort to secure the vice-presidential nomination at the 1956 Democratic National Convention. [6] Kennedy hoped to persuade Loveless against putting himself forward in 1960 as a favorite son (carrying the support of his state's delegation for himself in order to leave it united and unbound to any top contender). [6] Loveless had been neutral for a long time, and continued to remain open to a multitude of candidates as well as a prospect of running as a favorite son (perhaps leveraging that as a means of securing the vice-presidential nomination). [6] However, Kennedy began to secure more and more grassroots support in Iowa. [6]

McDermott heavily organized in Iowa, more than compensating for the potential disadvantage Kennedy held due to the fact that a number of possible opponents (such as Hubert Humphrey, Stuart Symington, and Adlai Stevenson II) came from states which directly neighbored Iowa. [6] In the Spring of 1959, McDermott founded the "Iowans for Kennedy" political club and appointed Lumond F. Wilcox, a leading Medodist figure in the state, as its co-chairman in an effort to alleviate the concerns many Iowans still held about Kennedy's Catholic faith. [6]

McDermott also recruited Iowan Democrats to run at local precinct caucuses. [6]

By late autumn, a Des Moines Register poll of the Iowa Democratic Party's 99 county party chairmen showed that the county leaders had come to favor Kennedy 3 to 2 over Symington and 3 to 1 over either Stevenson of Humphrey. [6]

Results

1960 United States presidential election in Iowa
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Richard Nixon 722,381 56.71%
Democratic John F. Kennedy 550,56543.22%
No Party Listed Farrell Dobbs 6340.05%
Socialist Labor Eric Hass 2300.02%
Total votes1,273,810 100%

Results by county

County [7] Richard Nixon
Republican
John F. Kennedy
Democratic
Farrell Dobbs
No Party Listed
Eric Hass
Socialist Labor
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %# %
Adair 3,38360.09%2,24539.88%10.02%10.02%1,13820.21%5,630
Adams 2,18557.08%1,64342.92%00.00%00.00%54214.16%3,828
Allamakee 4,97062.78%2,93337.05%70.09%60.08%2,03725.73%7,916
Appanoose 5,04059.43%3,42240.35%150.18%30.04%1,61819.08%8,480
Audubon 2,93553.05%2,59546.91%20.04%00.00%3406.14%5,532
Benton 5,97256.33%4,62043.58%60.06%30.03%1,35212.75%10,601
Black Hawk 28,43554.11%24,07845.82%260.05%120.02%4,3578.29%52,551
Boone 6,76153.97%5,75945.97%60.05%10.01%1,0028.00%12,527
Bremer 6,50466.76%3,23433.20%40.04%00.00%3,27033.56%9,742
Buchanan 5,17954.90%4,25145.07%30.03%00.00%9289.83%9,433
Buena Vista 6,35163.54%3,63736.38%50.05%30.03%2,71427.16%9,996
Butler 5,34570.18%2,26829.78%10.01%20.03%3,07740.40%7,616
Calhoun 4,48558.90%3,12341.01%40.05%30.04%1,36217.89%7,615
Carroll 4,64839.66%7,06460.27%60.05%30.03%-2,416-20.61%11,721
Cass 6,29067.24%3,05932.70%50.05%00.00%3,23134.54%9,354
Cedar 5,21761.92%3,20338.02%50.06%00.00%2,01423.90%8,425
Cerro Gordo 12,83056.05%10,04443.88%150.07%00.00%2,78612.17%22,889
Cherokee 4,79159.10%3,30940.82%50.06%10.01%1,48218.28%8,106
Chickasaw 3,82248.45%4,06351.50%40.05%00.00%-241-3.05%7,889
Clarke 2,63157.82%1,90641.89%120.26%10.02%72515.93%4,550
Clay 5,16560.03%3,43739.95%20.02%00.00%1,72820.08%8,604
Clayton 6,44158.25%4,61241.71%40.04%00.00%1,82916.54%11,057
Clinton 13,79756.71%10,50843.19%110.05%140.06%3,28913.52%24,330
Crawford 4,79156.25%3,72043.67%30.04%40.05%1,07112.58%8,518
Dallas 6,56653.93%5,59745.97%110.09%20.02%9697.96%12,176
Davis 2,64153.36%2,30346.53%40.08%10.02%3386.83%4,949
Decatur 3,03955.69%2,41144.18%70.13%00.00%62811.51%5,457
Delaware 5,01557.62%3,68842.38%00.00%00.00%1,32715.24%8,703
Des Moines 10,67851.86%9,87247.94%360.17%50.02%8063.92%20,591
Dickinson 3,57556.99%2,69642.98%20.03%00.00%87914.01%6,273
Dubuque 12,74036.64%22,00763.30%100.03%90.03%-9,267-26.66%34,766
Emmet 4,28462.51%2,56337.40%30.04%30.04%1,72125.11%6,853
Fayette 8,33061.20%5,25638.62%210.15%40.03%3,07422.58%13,611
Floyd 5,77459.24%3,97040.73%10.01%10.01%1,80418.51%9,746
Franklin 4,51464.52%2,47635.39%30.04%30.04%2,03829.13%6,996
Fremont 3,02756.73%2,30743.23%20.04%00.00%72013.50%5,336
Greene 4,06358.43%2,87941.40%70.10%50.07%1,18417.03%6,954
Grundy 4,98969.62%2,17430.34%30.04%00.00%2,81539.28%7,166
Guthrie 4,04658.22%2,89641.68%60.09%10.01%1,15016.54%6,949
Hamilton 5,26557.39%3,90542.57%40.04%00.00%1,36014.82%9,174
Hancock 4,17960.24%2,75739.74%10.01%00.00%1,42220.50%6,937
Hardin 6,43862.32%3,88837.64%20.02%20.02%2,55024.68%10,330
Harrison 4,94057.70%3,61342.20%80.09%10.01%1,32715.50%8,562
Henry 5,53166.03%2,83933.89%70.08%00.00%2,69232.14%8,377
Howard 3,37849.79%3,40650.21%00.00%00.00%-28-0.42%6,784
Humboldt 3,53756.66%2,70643.34%00.00%00.00%83113.32%6,243
Ida 3,29062.77%1,94937.19%20.04%00.00%1,34125.58%5,241
Iowa 4,94463.47%2,82836.30%120.15%60.08%2,11627.17%7,790
Jackson 5,08453.89%4,34546.06%40.04%10.01%7397.83%9,434
Jasper 9,33256.27%7,24243.67%80.05%30.02%2,09012.60%16,585
Jefferson 4,94264.00%2,78036.00%00.00%00.00%2,16228.00%7,722
Johnson 10,92750.80%10,56349.11%150.07%30.01%3641.69%21,508
Jones 5,54158.52%3,92441.44%30.03%10.01%1,61717.08%9,469
Keokuk 4,69757.88%3,40842.00%100.12%00.00%1,28915.88%8,115
Kossuth 6,27851.95%5,80648.05%00.00%00.00%4723.90%12,084
Lee 10,76552.00%9,93648.00%00.00%00.00%8294.00%20,701
Linn 34,20055.30%27,61444.65%170.03%80.01%6,58610.65%61,839
Louisa 3,03660.67%1,96639.29%20.04%00.00%1,07021.38%5,004
Lucas 3,51259.88%2,34439.97%90.15%00.00%1,16819.91%5,865
Lyon 4,91773.65%1,75226.24%40.06%30.04%3,16547.41%6,676
Madison 3,80458.26%2,72241.69%20.03%10.02%1,08216.57%6,529
Mahaska 7,12965.40%3,74634.36%180.17%80.07%3,38331.04%10,901
Marion 7,44461.99%4,54737.87%150.12%20.02%2,89724.12%12,008
Marshall 10,26560.23%6,76139.67%130.08%30.02%3,50420.56%17,042
Mills 3,43665.37%1,82034.63%00.00%00.00%1,61630.74%5,256
Mitchell 3,91557.59%2,87342.26%90.13%10.01%1,04215.33%6,798
Monona 3,86354.64%3,20745.36%00.00%00.00%6569.28%7,070
Monroe 2,92254.20%2,45945.61%80.15%20.04%4638.59%5,391
Montgomery 4,97465.19%2,65534.80%10.01%00.00%2,31930.39%7,630
Muscatine 8,55558.21%6,13541.74%30.02%50.03%2,42016.47%14,698
O'Brien 6,50968.66%2,96731.30%40.04%00.00%3,54237.36%9,480
Osceola 2,96562.00%1,81437.93%30.06%00.00%1,15124.07%4,782
Page 7,08969.69%3,07530.23%60.06%20.02%4,01439.46%10,172
Palo Alto 3,55148.99%3,69550.97%10.01%20.03%-144-1.98%7,249
Plymouth 6,43257.93%4,67142.07%00.00%00.00%1,76115.86%11,103
Pocahontas 3,44550.23%3,40849.69%50.07%10.01%370.54%6,859
Polk 64,07753.74%55,09146.20%370.03%290.02%8,9867.54%119,234
Pottawattamie 19,22357.79%14,02542.17%80.02%50.02%5,19815.62%33,261
Poweshiek 5,23258.76%3,67141.23%10.01%00.00%1,56117.53%8,904
Ringgold 2,53858.74%1,78141.22%10.02%10.02%75717.52%4,321
Sac 4,85061.36%3,05438.64%00.00%00.00%1,79622.72%7,904
Scott 27,61754.50%23,00445.40%340.07%160.03%4,6139.10%50,671
Shelby 4,21055.08%3,42744.83%50.07%20.03%78310.25%7,644
Sioux 10,28479.51%2,64320.43%50.04%20.02%7,64159.08%12,934
Story 13,70865.26%7,28134.66%100.05%50.02%6,42730.60%21,004
Tama 5,53552.78%4,95047.21%10.01%00.00%5855.57%10,486
Taylor 3,45261.85%2,12638.09%30.05%00.00%1,32623.76%5,581
Union 4,41761.85%2,72038.08%30.04%20.03%1,69723.77%7,142
Van Buren 3,12963.94%1,76035.96%30.06%20.04%1,36927.98%4,894
Wapello 11,03649.79%11,11650.15%80.04%70.03%-80-0.36%22,167
Warren 6,01359.25%4,13640.75%00.00%00.00%1,87718.50%10,149
Washington 5,86164.48%3,22235.45%50.06%10.01%2,63929.03%9,089
Wayne 3,40159.51%2,30740.37%50.09%20.03%1,09419.14%5,715
Webster 10,74150.11%10,68049.83%120.06%20.01%610.28%21,435
Winnebago 4,08262.33%2,46337.61%40.06%00.00%1,61924.72%6,549
Winneshiek 5,73754.48%4,78645.45%50.05%20.02%9519.03%10,530
Woodbury 26,83255.05%21,90644.94%40.01%20.00%4,92610.11%48,744
Worth 2,74054.28%2,30345.62%50.10%00.00%4378.66%5,048
Wright 5,38656.34%4,15943.50%150.16%00.00%1,22712.84%9,560
Totals722,38156.71%550,56543.22%6340.05%2300.02%171,81613.49%1,273,810

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. The Democratic ticket of Senator John F. Kennedy and his running mate, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, narrowly defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon and his running mate, U.N. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. This was the first election in which 50 states participated, marking the first participation of Alaska and Hawaii, and the last in which the District of Columbia did not. This made it the only presidential election in which the threshold for victory was 269 electoral votes. It was also the first election in which an incumbent president—in this case, Dwight D. Eisenhower—was ineligible to run for a third term because of the term limits established by the 22nd Amendment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iowa caucuses</span> United States electoral event

The Iowa caucuses are quadrennial electoral events for the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections, where registered voters cast ballots at polling places on election day, Iowa caucuses are meetings where voters gather to discuss and select candidates for their registered party. Political parties hold the caucuses, in contrast to most state-run primaries. Both presidential and midterm elections in Iowa use caucuses. The caucuses are also held to select delegates to county conventions and party committees, among other party activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 Democratic National Convention</span> U.S. political event held in Los Angeles, California

The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles, California, on July 11–15, 1960. It nominated Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts for president and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas for vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1956 Democratic National Convention</span> U.S. political event held in Chicago, Illinois

The 1956 Democratic National Convention nominated former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois for president and Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee for vice president. It was held in the International Amphitheatre on the South Side of Chicago from August 13 to August 17, 1956. Unsuccessful candidates for the presidential nomination included Governor W. Averell Harriman of New York, Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, and Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri.

The Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Iowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 Democratic Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

From January 27 to June 8, 1976, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1976 United States presidential election. Former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1976 Democratic National Convention held from July 12 to July 15, 1976, in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Iowa</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose seven representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 Democratic Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

From March 8 to June 7, 1960, voters and members of the Democratic Party elected delegates to the 1960 Democratic National Convention through a series of caucuses, conventions, and primaries, partly for the purpose of nominating a candidate for President of the United States in the 1960 election. The presidential primaries were inconclusive, as several of the leading contenders did not enter them, but U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts emerged as the strongest candidate and won the nomination over Lyndon B. Johnson at the convention, held from July 11 to 15 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

Hubert Horatio Humphrey served as the 38th vice president of the United States (1965–1969), as a United States senator from Minnesota, and as the 35th mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota (1945–1948).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in California</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in California took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose 32 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral history of Lyndon B. Johnson</span>

Electoral history of Lyndon B. Johnson, who served as the 36th president of the United States (1963–1969), the 37th vice president (1961–1963); and as a United States senator (1949–1961) and United States representative (1937–1949) from Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral history of Adlai Stevenson II</span> List of elections featuring Adlai Stevenson as a candidate

This is the electoral history of Adlai Stevenson II, who served as Governor of Illinois (1949–1953) and 5th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (1961–1965), and was twice the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States, losing both the 1952 and 1956 presidential general elections to Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 United States presidential election in Iowa</span>

The 2012 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Iowa voters chose six electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 8, 1960 as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. Voters chose 32 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in New Hampshire</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection</span>

The selection of the Democratic Party's vice presidential candidate for the 1960 United States presidential election occurred at the party's national convention on August 13, 1960. After winning the presidential nomination on the first ballot of the 1960 Democratic National Convention, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy turned his attention to picking a running mate. Kennedy chose Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, who had finished second on the presidential ballot, as his running mate. Johnson, a Protestant Texan, provided geographical and religious balance to a ticket led by a Catholic Northeasterner, but many liberals did not like the pick. Many were surprised both that Kennedy made the offer and that Johnson accepted the offer, as the two had been rivals for the 1960 presidential nomination. According to some accounts, Kennedy had offered the position to Johnson as a courtesy and expected Johnson to decline the offer; when Johnson accepted, Kennedy sent his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, to talk Johnson out of accepting the offer. However, Kennedy may have made the offer in earnest due to Johnson's appeal in the south, Johnson's friendly relationship with Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, and Kennedy's desire to remove Johnson as Senate Majority Leader in favor of the more liberal Mike Mansfield. Regardless, Johnson decided that accepting the offer would be better for his political career and better position himself to become president, and so he chose to become Kennedy's running mate. The Democratic convention confirmed Johnson as the vice presidential nominee, although the delegation from Washington, D.C. attempted to select Minnesota Governor Orville Freeman instead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in Indiana</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in Indiana took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in Nebraska</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in Nebraska took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. Voters chose six representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in Illinois</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose 27 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

References

  1. "United States Presidential election of 1960 - Encyclopædia Britannica" . Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  2. "1960 Election for the Forty-Fourth Term (1961-65)" . Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  3. "1960 Presidential General Election Results – Iowa" . Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  4. "The American Presidency Project – Election of 1960" . Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  5. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Oliphant, Thomas; Wilkie, Curtis (2017). The road to Camelot: Inside JFK's Five-Year Campaign. Simon & Schuster.
  7. "IA US President Race, November 08, 1960". Our Campaigns.