JFK TAKES EARLY LEAD OVER NIXON
Hyannis, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On the evening of November 8, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy was watching presidential election returns come in along with his family and campaign staff at the compound here in Hyannis.
"The first result to come in was Connecticut which Kennedy carried by 306,000 votes."
From there, things continued to go well for JFK so that "by midnight, he was ahead by almost a million votes." If it had been 1948, the Chicago Tribune might have come out with an early headline 'KENNEDY DEFEATS NIXON!'*
But in the early morning hours of November 9, as the results in the Western states came in, the Kennedy lead was cut in half.
Nonetheless, at 3:20 a.m. eastern time, JFK's Republican opponent, Vice President Richard M. Nixon said...
"If the present trend continues, Senator Kennedy will be the next president."
*Early returns in the 1948 presidential election heavily favored Republican New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey. The Chicago Tribune prematurely published an edition with the headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN". The President was pictured holding up the paper with a big grin after he was declared the winner.
SOURCE
"Kennedy: The Life and Death of a U.S. President," by Charlotte Montague, Chartwell Books, 2017.
JFK Casts His Ballot
Boston Public Library
Nov 8 1960
AP Photo
