1960 United States presidential election in Tennessee

none June 2025 September 2023 1960 United States presidential election 1960 United States presidential election in Tennessee Tennessee presidential no 1956 United States presidential election in Tennessee 1956 1964 United States presidential election in Tennessee 1964 November 8, 1960https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1960 United States Presidential election of 1960 – Encyclopædia Britannica June 7, 2017 x200px Richard Nixon official portrait as Vice President (cropped).tiff Richard Nixon Republican Party (United States) California Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. 11 556,577 52.92% Jfk2 (3x4).jpg John F. Kennedy Democratic Party (United States) Massachusetts Lyndon B. Johnson 0 481,453 45.77% 350px County results 350px Congressional district results 350px Nixon #f2b3be 40–50% #e27f90 50–60% #cc2f4a 60–70% #d40000 70–80% #aa0000 80–90% Kennedy #b9d7ff 40–50% #86b6f2 50–60% #4389e3 60–70% #1666cb 70–80% President Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Party (United States) John F. Kennedy Democratic Party (United States) The 1960 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. Tennessee voters chose 11https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/votes/1953_1957.html#1960 1960 Election for the Forty-Fourth Term (1961-65) June 7, 2017 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Ever since the Civil War, Tennessee's white citizenry had been divided according to political loyalties established in that war. Unionist regions covering almost all of East Tennessee, Kentucky Pennyroyal-allied Macon County, and the Western Highland Rim counties of Carroll, Henderson, McNairy, Hardin and WayneWright John K. Voting Habits in the United States: A Note on Two Maps Geographical Review 22 4 October 1932 666–672 10.2307/208821 208821 1932GeoRv..22..666W voted Republican — generally by landslide margins — as they saw the Democratic Party as the "war party" who had forced them into a war they did not wish to fight.Key (Jr.), Valdimer Orlando; Southern Politics in State and Nation (New York, 1949), pp. 282-283 Contrariwise, the rest of Middle and West Tennessee who had supported and driven the state's secession were equally fiercely Democratic as it associated the Republicans with Reconstruction.Lyons William Scheb (II) John M. Stair Billy Government and Politics in Tennessee 2001 183–184 1572331410 The Democratic Party was certain of winning statewide elections if united,Grantham Dewey W. Tennessee and Twentieth-Century American Politics Tennessee Historical Quarterly 54 3 Fall 1995 210–229 although unlike the Deep South Republicans would almost always gain thirty to forty percent of the statewide vote from mountain and Highland Rim support even after most blacks were disenfranchised around 1890 by a poll taxPhillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210 9780691163246 and intimidation. Between 1896 and 1948, the Republicans would win statewide contests three times but only in the second amidst the national anti-Wilson tide of 1920Reichard Gary W. The Aberration of 1920: An Analysis of Harding's Victory in Tennessee The Journal of Southern History 36 1 February 1970 33–49 10.2307/2206601 2206601 did they receive down-ballot coattails (in that election, winning three congressional seats in addition to the rock-ribbed GOP 1st and 2nd districts).Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 287 After the beginning of the Great Depression, however, for the next third of a century the Republicans would rarely seriously contest statewide offices, despite ongoing dominance of East Tennessee and half a dozen Unionist counties in the middle and west of the state.Majors William R. Change and continuity: Tennessee politics since the Civil War 72 9780865542099 1986 Mercer University Press State GOP leader B. Carroll Reece is widely believed to have had agreements with Democratic leaders E. H. Crump and later Frank G. Clement and Buford Ellington that Republicans would not contest offices statewide or outside their traditional pro-Union areas.Vile John R. Byrnes Mark Eaton Tennessee government and politics: democracy in the volunteer state 1998 2–3 Vanderbilt University Press 0826513093 Despite this, the capture of a substantial part of the West Tennessee Dixiecrat vote of 1948 allowed Dwight D. Eisenhower to narrowly carry the state for the GOP in both 1952Strong Donald S. August 1955 The Presidential Election in the South, 1952 The Journal of Politics The University of Chicago Press 17 3 343–389 10.1017/S0022381600091064 154634842 and 1956. For 1960, the nomination of Irish Catholic John F. Kennedy by the Democratic Party — who had made major gains in the 1958 midterm elections — led to severe questioning of how Tennessee's heavily fundamentalist electorate would react to Kennedy's Catholicism.Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 221 Campaign During the campaign, both Kennedy and Republican nominee incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon visited Tennessee in the second week of October.Scott Gavin Both received Warm Welcomes: Many Sized Up Kennedy, Nixon on Tennessee Visits The Knoxville News-Sentinel October 9, 1960 A-6 Kennedy focused on Nixon's supposed opposition to the Tennessee Valley Authority, whilst Nixon focused on how his platform was closer to that of the Founding Fathers and Andrew Jackson than Kennedy's. Kennedy, for his part, noted that the Democratic Party was founded by Tennessean Jackson. Predictions This section may contain fabricated content. Terms such as "Lean" and "Tilt" are anachronistic. Polling aggregates ("Poll of Polls") were not commonly used in 1960 journalism. July 2025 SourceRankingAs ofThe Philadelphia InquirerHoffman Fred S. How Election Looks Today The Philadelphia Inquirer Philadelphia October 3, 1960 1, 3TossupOctober 3, 1960Knoxville News SentinelPopulous States Are Key: Both Parties Claim Enough Votes To Win A-4 October 23, 1960 Knoxville News Sentinel Knoxville, TennesseeLean ROctober 23, 1960Daily NewsLewis Ted Campaign Circus Daily News Jersey City, New Jersey October 28, 1960 4CLean D flipOctober 28, 1960The Daily ItemPoll of Editors Predicts Victory for Nixon—Lodge: Republican Ticket Seen Winning in 28 States and Democrats in 19 The Daily Evening Item November 4, 1960 3Tilt RNovember 4, 1960Los Angeles Times"Poll of Polls" Sums Up Major Opinion Surveys Los Angeles Times November 6, 1960 27 Los Angeles, CaliforniaTossupNovember 6, 1960 Results 1960 United States presidential election in Tennessee Richard Nixon Republican Party (United States) 556,577 52.92% John F. Kennedy Democratic Party (United States) 481,453 45.77% Orval Faubus National States' Rights Party #f5bca9 11,304 1.07% Rutherford Decker Prohibition Party 2,458 0.23% 1,051,792 100% Results by county CountyOur Campaigns https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=2599 TN US President, November 08, 1960 Richard NixonRepublican John F. KennedyDemocratic Orval FaubusNational States’ Rights Rutherford DeckerProhibition Margin Total votescast # % # % # % # % # % Anderson 11,153 52.56% 9,878 46.55% 152 0.72% 38 0.18% 1,275 6.01% 21,221 Bedford 2,633 36.81% 4,457 62.32% 62 0.87% 0 0.00% -1,824 -25.51% 7,152 Benton 1,773 45.20% 2,030 51.75% 120 3.06% 0 0.00% -257 -6.55% 3,923 Bledsoe 1,439 58.69% 981 40.01% 24 0.98% 8 0.33% 458 18.68% 2,452 Blount 13,552 68.20% 6,213 31.27% 67 0.34% 40 0.20% 7,339 36.93% 19,872 Bradley 7,865 69.69% 3,307 29.30% 91 0.81% 22 0.19% 4,558 40.39% 11,285 Campbell 5,079 61.21% 3,134 37.77% 63 0.76% 21 0.25% 1,945 23.44% 8,297 Cannon 1,195 48.05% 1,275 51.27% 14 0.56% 3 0.12% -80 -3.22% 2,487 Carroll 4,517 59.36% 2,961 38.91% 117 1.54% 14 0.18% 1,556 20.45% 7,609 Carter 12,214 77.31% 3,412 21.60% 94 0.60% 78 0.49% 8,802 55.71% 15,798 Cheatham 683 26.20% 1,883 72.23% 34 1.30% 7 0.27% -1,200 -46.03% 2,607 Chester 1,807 59.05% 1,192 38.95% 54 1.76% 7 0.23% 615 20.10% 3,060 Claiborne 3,888 64.20% 2,142 35.37% 18 0.30% 8 0.13% 1,746 28.83% 6,056 Clay 1,098 52.14% 976 46.34% 32 1.52% 0 0.00% 122 5.80% 2,106 Cocke 6,581 81.30% 1,442 17.81% 34 0.42% 38 0.47% 5,139 63.49% 8,095 Coffee 3,058 39.79% 4,555 59.26% 66 0.86% 7 0.09% -1,497 -19.47% 7,686 Crockett 1,467 48.69% 1,438 47.73% 95 3.15% 13 0.43% 29 0.96% 3,013 Cumberland 3,523 60.70% 2,189 37.72% 62 1.07% 30 0.52% 1,334 22.98% 5,804 Davidson 52,077 46.25% 59,649 52.98% 666 0.59% 205 0.18% -7,572 -6.73% 112,597 Decatur 1,684 54.76% 1,321 42.96% 51 1.66% 19 0.62% 363 11.80% 3,075 DeKalb 1,440 47.59% 1,547 51.12% 29 0.96% 10 0.33% -107 -3.53% 3,026 Dickson 1,928 32.71% 3,930 66.68% 33 0.56% 3 0.05% -2,002 -33.97% 5,894 Dyer 4,097 49.95% 3,868 47.15% 221 2.69% 17 0.21% 229 2.80% 8,203 Fayette 1,370 48.95% 892 31.87% 517 18.47% 20 0.71% 478 17.08% 2,799 Fentress 2,726 71.89% 1,014 26.74% 37 0.98% 15 0.40% 1,712 45.15% 3,792 Franklin 2,041 28.59% 5,041 70.61% 45 0.63% 12 0.17% -3,000 -42.02% 7,139 Gibson 5,173 45.66% 5,796 51.16% 330 2.91% 30 0.26% -623 -5.50% 11,329 Giles 1,598 24.54% 4,879 74.91% 24 0.37% 12 0.18% -3,281 -50.37% 6,513 Grainger 3,017 75.86% 939 23.61% 12 0.30% 9 0.23% 2,078 52.25% 3,977 Greene 8,835 66.55% 4,406 33.19% 20 0.15% 15 0.11% 4,429 33.36% 13,276 Grundy 786 26.55% 2,143 72.40% 19 0.64% 12 0.41% -1,357 -45.85% 2,960 Hamblen 7,093 69.23% 3,122 30.47% 30 0.29% 0 0.00% 3,971 38.76% 10,245 Hamilton 39,703 55.70% 30,482 42.77% 959 1.35% 133 0.19% 9,221 12.93% 71,277 Hancock 2,107 82.56% 438 17.16% 7 0.27% 0 0.00% 1,669 65.40% 2,552 Hardeman 1,601 44.42% 1,711 47.48% 288 7.99% 4 0.11% -110 -3.06% 3,604 Hardin 3,323 65.18% 1,690 33.15% 73 1.43% 12 0.24% 1,633 32.03% 5,098 Hawkins 7,010 72.48% 2,586 26.74% 65 0.67% 11 0.11% 4,424 45.74% 9,672 Haywood 1,188 35.63% 1,867 56.00% 258 7.74% 21 0.63% -679 -20.37% 3,334 Henderson 3,597 70.14% 1,490 29.06% 31 0.60% 10 0.20% 2,107 41.08% 5,128 Henry 3,033 36.93% 5,049 61.48% 131 1.60% 0 0.00% -2,016 -24.55% 8,213 Hickman 1,224 33.20% 2,401 65.12% 38 1.03% 24 0.65% -1,177 -31.92% 3,687 Houston 366 23.87% 1,150 75.02% 13 0.85% 4 0.26% -784 -51.15% 1,533 Humphreys 1,126 29.90% 2,592 68.83% 27 0.72% 21 0.56% -1,466 -38.93% 3,766 Jackson 1,049 39.80% 1,539 58.38% 10 0.38% 38 1.44% -490 -18.58% 2,636 Jefferson 6,141 78.79% 1,620 20.79% 28 0.36% 5 0.06% 4,521 58.00% 7,794 Johnson 3,854 86.74% 571 12.85% 13 0.29% 5 0.11% 3,283 73.89% 4,443 Knox 50,811 61.00% 31,990 38.40% 413 0.50% 86 0.10% 18,821 22.60% 83,300 Lake 732 34.03% 1,346 62.58% 62 2.88% 11 0.51% -614 -28.55% 2,151 Lauderdale 1,322 27.36% 3,462 71.65% 48 0.99% 0 0.00% -2,140 -44.29% 4,832 Lawrence 5,709 53.66% 4,862 45.70% 47 0.44% 21 0.20% 847 7.96% 10,639 Lewis 580 25.09% 1,723 74.52% 4 0.17% 5 0.22% -1,143 -49.43% 2,312 Lincoln 1,428 22.53% 4,862 76.71% 30 0.47% 18 0.28% -3,434 -54.18% 6,338 Loudon 5,356 65.47% 2,722 33.27% 61 0.75% 42 0.51% 2,634 32.20% 8,181 Macon 2,829 74.80% 915 24.19% 38 1.00% 0 0.00% 1,914 50.61% 3,782 Madison 8,863 50.09% 8,083 45.68% 717 4.05% 30 0.17% 780 4.41% 17,693 Marion 2,657 45.30% 3,124 53.27% 76 1.30% 8 0.14% -467 -7.97% 5,865 Marshall 1,717 31.87% 3,625 67.29% 38 0.71% 7 0.13% -1,908 -35.42% 5,387 Maury 4,133 37.99% 6,615 60.81% 113 1.04% 18 0.17% -2,482 -22.82% 10,879 McMinn 6,586 61.17% 4,111 38.18% 70 0.65% 0 0.00% 2,475 22.99% 10,767 McNairy 3,310 59.15% 2,173 38.83% 93 1.66% 20 0.36% 1,137 20.32% 5,596 Meigs 901 56.14% 691 43.05% 7 0.44% 6 0.37% 210 13.09% 1,605 Monroe 4,991 59.05% 3,375 39.93% 36 0.43% 50 0.59% 1,616 19.12% 8,452 Montgomery 2,550 24.83% 7,635 74.34% 61 0.59% 24 0.23% -5,085 -49.51% 10,270 Moore 313 26.37% 863 72.70% 9 0.76% 2 0.17% -550 -46.33% 1,187 Morgan 2,241 58.13% 1,576 40.88% 38 0.99% 0 0.00% 665 17.25% 3,855 Obion 3,800 46.36% 4,244 51.78% 122 1.49% 30 0.37% -444 -5.42% 8,196 Overton 1,831 43.06% 2,389 56.19% 23 0.54% 9 0.21% -558 -13.13% 4,252 Perry 645 37.13% 1,076 61.95% 8 0.46% 8 0.46% -431 -24.82% 1,737 Pickett 1,154 67.05% 567 32.95% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 587 34.10% 1,721 Polk 2,187 58.30% 1,532 40.84% 23 0.61% 9 0.24% 655 17.46% 3,751 Putnam 4,240 48.65% 4,443 50.98% 32 0.37% 0 0.00% -203 -2.33% 8,715 Rhea 2,721 59.78% 1,761 38.69% 52 1.14% 18 0.40% 960 21.09% 4,552 Roane 6,540 56.25% 4,953 42.60% 108 0.93% 25 0.22% 1,587 13.65% 11,626 Robertson 1,776 30.15% 4,053 68.80% 46 0.78% 16 0.27% -2,277 -38.65% 5,891 Rutherford 4,526 40.95% 6,410 58.00% 91 0.82% 25 0.23% -1,884 -17.05% 11,052 Scott 3,301 74.84% 1,098 24.89% 3 0.07% 9 0.20% 2,203 49.95% 4,411 Sequatchie 703 42.48% 930 56.19% 18 1.09% 4 0.24% -227 -13.71% 1,655 Sevier 7,818 85.05% 1,341 14.59% 27 0.29% 6 0.07% 6,477 70.46% 9,192 Shelby 87,191 49.37% 86,270 48.85% 2,956 1.67% 190 0.11% 921 0.52% 176,607 Smith 1,601 39.43% 2,411 59.38% 36 0.89% 12 0.30% -810 -19.95% 4,060 Stewart 539 22.59% 1,810 75.86% 31 1.30% 6 0.25% -1,271 -53.27% 2,386 Sullivan 22,354 59.46% 14,731 39.18% 139 0.37% 374 0.99% 7,623 20.28% 37,598 Sumner 3,491 34.02% 6,687 65.17% 58 0.57% 25 0.24% -3,196 -31.15% 10,261 Tipton 1,829 30.91% 3,853 65.12% 211 3.57% 24 0.41% -2,024 -34.21% 5,917 Trousdale 308 22.71% 1,036 76.40% 9 0.66% 3 0.22% -728 -53.69% 1,356 Unicoi 4,004 75.04% 1,322 24.78% 7 0.13% 3 0.06% 2,682 50.26% 5,336 Union 2,082 75.63% 652 23.68% 11 0.40% 8 0.29% 1,430 51.95% 2,753 Van Buren 401 40.30% 577 57.99% 7 0.70% 10 1.01% -176 -17.69% 995 Warren 2,682 45.92% 3,119 53.40% 32 0.55% 8 0.14% -437 -7.48% 5,841 Washington 14,851 69.93% 6,283 29.59% 63 0.30% 39 0.18% 8,568 40.34% 21,236 Wayne 2,912 75.21% 931 24.04% 17 0.44% 12 0.31% 1,981 51.17% 3,872 Weakley 3,543 43.69% 4,488 55.35% 78 0.96% 0 0.00% -945 -11.66% 8,109 White 1,725 43.15% 2,207 55.20% 35 0.88% 31 0.78% -482 -12.05% 3,998 Williamson 2,699 37.34% 4,471 61.86% 49 0.68% 9 0.12% -1,772 -24.52% 7,228 Wilson 3,383 40.77% 4,857 58.54% 49 0.59% 8 0.10% -1,474 -17.77% 8,297Totals556,57752.92%481,45345.77%11,3041.07%2,4580.23%75,1247.15%1,051,792 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Chester Clay Crockett Decatur Dyer Madison Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Marion Counties that flipped from States' Rights to Republican Fayette Analysis Tennessee was, despite unclear predictions before the election, comfortably won by Nixon and United States Ambassador to the United Nations Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., with 52.92 percent of the popular vote. Kennedy and running mate Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson won 45.77 percent of the popular vote.http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?f=0&fips=47&year=1960 1960 Presidential General Election Results – Tennessee June 7, 2017http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1960 The American Presidency Project – Election of 1960 June 7, 2017 Nixon was the first losing Republican to win Tennessee and the only one until John McCain in 2008. Kennedy was the first Democrat to win without the state since 1852. Nixon's win was due to general gains due to the strong anti-Catholicism of this “Bible Belt” state.Larson Edward J. Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion 3 October 2006 Basic Books 9780465075102 Unlike Herbert Hoover’s 1928 victory against previous Catholic nominee Al Smith, Nixon also made strong gains amongst white voters of the Black Belt who had deserted the Democrats since Harry S. Truman’s first civil rights proclamations.Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 357-361 Tennessee was one of six states that swung towards Republicans compared to 1956, alongside Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; 1960 Presidential General Election Data -- National References Tennessee 1960 Category:1960 Tennessee elections