John F. Kennedy ran for President in 1960. What techniques did he use in his campaign? How do presidential elections differ today?

The analysis below comes from David M. Rubenstein’s fascinating book, The Highest Calling, Conversations on the American Presidency.

During World War II, Kennedy commanded a PT boat. On a moonless night, and without radar, it was cut in half by a Japanese destroyer. Two of his sailors died. Another was injured. Kennedy swam several hours in shark-infested waters with an injured man on his back to a nearby island. He and his crew were later rescued. He returned to the United States for the rest of the war.

Kennedy decided: “I’m going to go back and run for office and try to use my war story.” He ran as a Democrat for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1946, 1948, and 1950, winning them all. In 1952, Kennedy decided to run for the U.S. Senate against Massachusetts Republican incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge.

Kennedy was a hard worker. He started early, visiting small towns every weekend, making speeches in western Massachusetts. He had a gift for connecting with voters. At first, Kennedy was a poor speaker but he was a quick learner who improved his speaking over time. With his father’s financial help, Kennedy barely beat Lodge, 51% to 48% due to Lodge’s incumbent complacency and his focus on getting General Eisenhower elected president.

In 1956, Kennedy openly lobbied to become vice-president under Adlai Stevenson, who had already lost overwhelmingly in 1952 to Eisenhower. Kennedy’s father, Joe Kennedy, had a fit because it was obvious that Eisenhower would win a second term, and the Kennedys were Catholic — a political kiss of death. Fortunately, Kennedy lost the nomination, but the attempt ushered him onto the national scene.

In 1957, Kennedy decided to run for president in 1960. His major foes were, surprisingly, two-time loser Adlai Stevenson, Lyndon Johnson, powerful Senate majority leader from Texas, and Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey, a firebrand liberal.

Back then, only a third of the states held primaries. Candidates were chosen in the rest of the states by party bosses. Kennedy decided that primaries would be his ticket to the presidential election. He knew he was young, Catholic, and inexperienced. Kennedy realized: “They’re never going to accept me if I don’t show that I can win primaries.”

The first primary then was in New Hampshire. Johnson made the mistake of not running, thinking his power and his Congressional allies would win him the Democratic nomination. Kennedy won.

Then Kennedy ran in Minnesota’s primary, taking on Hubert Humphrey on his own turf. Kennedy hired Louis Harris to do polling systematically, something no other candidate had done. He beat Humphrey by a small margin.

The next primary state was West Virginia, which was 97% Protestant. Kennedy knew that the way for a Catholic to win was to meet the religious issue head on. He and his volunteers flooded the state for a month, working 20-hour days. Kennedy used his and his brother Joe Jr’s. service during World War II, arguing that one’s religion didn’t mean anything when fighting and dying, as his brother Joe did, for your country.

Campaign finance laws did not yet exist. His father’s financial support made a big difference. Kennedy won in West Virginia with 52.7% of the Democratic primary vote to Republican candidate Richard Nixon’s 47.27% against Henry Cabot Lodge.

Kennedy won the Democratic nomination through the primaries by showing party bosses he could win the general election in November. He chose Lyndon Johnson as his vice-presidential candidate, even though they hadn’t gotten along. LBJ correctly pointed out that JFK had health issues (Addison’s disease), although Kennedy denied it. JFK knew he needed Johnson, a Texas Senator, to win the South. Jack Kennedy’s brother, Bobby, despised Johnson. Bobby tried to convince LBJ to withdraw several times. Jack knew the election would be close and stuck with LBJ.

The first presidential debate in U.S. history pitted JFK and Richard Nixon. Nixon hadn’t shaved before the debate and looked terrible on black-and-white TV. Kennedy looked fresh and youthful. Nixon refused to debate, saying several times, “I agree with the senator.” In later debates, Nixon became more aggressive, but it was too late.

Kennedy won by just over 100,000 votes. The Electoral College vote was 303-219. Nixon, behind the scenes, contested the election in Texas and Illinois, but for national security reasons and his own reputation, conceded the election, thinking, “I’ll live to fight another day.”

Kennedy’s rise to the presidency offers a sharp contrast to our present political era.