Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1960
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1960
OR:
Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1960 on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The selection of the Democratic Party's vice presidential candidate for the
1960 United States presidential election The 1960 United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. In a closely contested election, Democratic United States Senator John F. Kennedy defeated the incumbent V ...
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 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. In ...
, 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 Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...
, 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. The Kennedy–Johnson ticket narrowly defeated incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon and his running mate, former Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, in the 1960 election. Coincidental to the presidential election, Johnson was re-elected for a third term as a Senator from Texas but did not take office. Johnson eventually ascended to the presidency in 1963 upon the assassination of Kennedy.


Potential running mates


Finalists

*Senate Majority Leader
Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
of Texas *Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey *Missouri Senator Stuart Symington *Washington Senator Henry M. Jackson *Minnesota Governor Orville Freeman


Others

*Florida Governor LeRoy Collins *Kansas Governor George Docking *California Senator Clair Engle *Iowa Governor
Herschel C. Loveless Herschel Cellel Loveless (May 5, 1911May 4, 1989) was the 34th Governor of Iowa, from 1957 to 1961. He was also mayor of Ottumwa, Iowa. He was born in 1911 in Hedrick, Iowa and died in 1989 in Winchester, Virginia. When elected governor in 195 ...
*Wisconsin Governor Gaylord Nelson * United Automobile Workers President Walter Reuther of Michigan *Former Illinois Governor and two-time Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson II *Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough


See also

*
1960 Democratic National Convention 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. In ...
*
1960 Democratic Party presidential primaries From March 8 to June 7, 1960, voters of the Democratic Party elected some of the delegates to the 1960 Democratic National Convention. The presidential primaries were inconclusive, as several of the leading contenders did not enter them, but U.S. ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1960 Vice presidency of the United States John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Hubert Humphrey 1960 United States presidential election