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Elections in Vermont |
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The 1960 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election which was held throughout all 50 states. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Vermont was won by the Republican nominee, incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon of California, and his running mate former Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. of Massachusetts, defeating Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts and his running mate Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas.
Nixon took 58.65% of the vote to Kennedy’s 41.35%, a margin of 17.30%.
Vermont historically was a bastion of Northeastern Republicanism, and by 1960 it had gone Republican in every presidential election since the founding of the Republican Party. From 1856 to 1956, Vermont had had the longest streak of voting Republican of any state, having never voted Democratic before, and this tradition continued in 1960. This election would prove to be the conclusion of a 104-year winning streak, as Vermont would flip to the Democrats for the first time four years later in 1964.
As Kennedy won a razor-thin victory over Nixon nationally, Vermont weighed in as about seventeen percent more Republican than the national average, and his 58.65% of the popular vote made Vermont the fourth most Republican state in the nation in the 1960 election after Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. [1]
Kennedy, an Irish Catholic Democrat from neighboring Massachusetts, did however improve dramatically on the performance of Democrat Adlai Stevenson in Vermont in 1952 and 1956. In both of those years Stevenson had taken less than 30% of the vote against Republican Dwight Eisenhower, who had received more than 70% of the vote in Vermont and had swept every county in the state.
Nixon won 11 of the 14 counties in Vermont, losing 3 counties in the northwestern part of the state. The three northwestern counties of Vermont (Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle) had long been Democratic enclaves in an otherwise Republican state through the 1930s and 1940s, but had gone Republican in the 1950s for Eisenhower. Only the second Roman Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party, Kennedy's appeal to Catholics and ethnic working class voters brought northwestern Vermont back into the Democratic column in 1960. Kennedy won Chittenden County, the most populous county, home to the state's largest city, Burlington. Chittenden County had been the only county in Vermont to flip to the Democrats for the first Roman Catholic nominee Al Smith in 1928. Kennedy also won Franklin and Grand Isle Counties, which had joined Chittenden in voting Democratic for Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, even as the rest of the state remained reliably Republican. Thus the split between the northwest and the rest of the state was a familiar result typical of New Deal coalition era elections in Vermont.
Richard Nixon would later win Vermont again against Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and then again against George McGovern in 1972.
1960 United States presidential election in Vermont [2] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
Republican | Richard Nixon | 98,131 | 58.65% | 3 | |
Democratic | John F. Kennedy | 69,186 | 41.35% | 0 | |
No party | Write-ins | 7 | 0.00% | 0 | |
Totals | 167,324 | 100.00% | 3 | ||
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | 72%/81% |
County | Richard Nixon Republican | John F. Kennedy Democratic | Various candidates Write-ins | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
Addison | 5,520 | 65.03% | 2,969 | 34.97% | 2,551 | 30.06% | 8,489 | ||
Bennington | 7,099 | 61.19% | 4,502 | 38.80% | 1 | 0.01% | 2,597 | 22.39% | 11,602 |
Caledonia | 6,688 | 69.69% | 2,909 | 30.31% | 3,779 | 39.38% | 9,597 | ||
Chittenden | 13,072 | 43.53% | 16,959 | 56.47% | -3,887 | -12.94% | 30,031 | ||
Essex | 1,439 | 57.51% | 1,063 | 42.49% | 376 | 15.02% | 2,502 | ||
Franklin | 5,444 | 43.65% | 7,028 | 56.35% | -1,584 | -12.70% | 12,472 | ||
Grand Isle | 798 | 49.35% | 819 | 50.65% | -21 | -1.30% | 1,617 | ||
Lamoille | 3,272 | 76.02% | 1,032 | 23.98% | 2,240 | 52.04% | 4,304 | ||
Orange | 5,363 | 77.23% | 1,581 | 22.77% | 3,782 | 54.46% | 6,944 | ||
Orleans | 5,027 | 59.98% | 3,354 | 40.02% | 1,673 | 19.96% | 8,381 | ||
Rutland | 12,166 | 56.82% | 9,246 | 43.18% | 2,920 | 13.64% | 21,412 | ||
Washington | 10,458 | 59.49% | 7,116 | 40.48% | 4 | 0.02% | 3,342 | 19.01% | 17,578 |
Windham | 9,128 | 67.69% | 4,358 | 32.31% | 4,770 | 35.38% | 13,486 | ||
Windsor | 12,657 | 66.94% | 6,250 | 33.05% | 2 | 0.01% | 6,407 | 33.89% | 18,909 |
Totals | 98,131 | 58.65% | 69,186 | 41.35% | 7 | 0.00% | 28,945 | 17.30% | 167,324 |
The 1960 United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. In a closely contested election, Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy defeated the incumbent Republican Vice President Richard Nixon. 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 where 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.
The 1960 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states. Voters chose 16 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1956 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose 16 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1952 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 4, 1952, as part of the 1952 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose 16 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1972 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election which was held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1968 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election which was held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1964 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 3, 1964, as part of the 1964 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Vermont voters chose 3 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson and his running mate, Senate Majority Whip Hubert Humphrey, against Republican challenger and Senator Barry Goldwater from Arizona and his running mate and Chair of the Republican National Committee, William E. Miller. It was the first time in Vermont's history that the state voted for the Democratic Party.
The 1956 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1952 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 4, 1952, as part of the 1952 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for the president and vice president.
The 1948 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1944 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 7, 1944, as part of the 1944 United States presidential election which was held throughout all 48 states. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1940 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 5, 1940, as part of the 1940 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1936 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 3, 1936, as part of the 1936 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1932 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 8, 1932, as part of the 1932 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1928 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1924 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
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.
The 1956 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1960 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 8, 1960 as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Politics in Wisconsin since the Populist movement had been dominated by the Republican Party. The Democratic Party became uncompetitive away from the Lake Michigan coast as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, fled from William Jennings Bryan’s agrarian and free silver sympathies. Although the state did develop a strong Socialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP, Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the “League” under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative “Regular” faction. This ultimately would develop into the Wisconsin Progressive Party in the late 1930s, which was opposed to the conservative German Democrats and to the national Republican Party, and allied with Franklin D. Roosevelt at the federal level.
The 1960 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. North Carolina voters chose 14 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.