answers back and forth. if you have questions, i d love to get your feedback as we go through it. well, there s a number of reasons to look at that 1960 election. first of all, you have two fascinating political characters. john kennedy and richard nixon were two of the most brilliant political minds america produced in the 60s. nixon was on the national ticket five times and won four of the five times, and last i checked that s one of the best batting averages of anybody who s run for the american presidency. and, of course, john kennedy becoming the first and only roman catholic president in american history is an interesting story in and of itself. secondly, it was an extraordinarily close election. kennedy won by just a tick or two over 100,000 votes out of the tens of millions that were cast, so it was extraordinarily close. it was also, i argue, really the first modern campaign when you think about pollsters, you think about use of media, you think of mass buying of ad