JFK: John F. Kennedy was the democrat running in the election. He was the youngest person to run for president up to that time at only 43 years old (Which is relatively young considering the minimum age to run for president is 35 years old). He was also Roman Catholic, which was a major deciding factor for many voters. He was born to a rich family, yet surprisingly he appealed to poor voters. He served in WWII, and was a hero of several soldiers when he sent a message via coconut to a US base to signal for help. He was also good looking, which helped considering this was the first televised election, and many women voted based on the looks of the candidates.
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Richard Nixon:Richard Nixon was Kennedy’s opponent. He was older and less good looking at age 56. He was a Quaker. During the first televised debate, He had recently been sick, and he was sweating like crazy. Nixon Lost by a landslide (though only by 0.2% for the popular vote) but would later return and run again.
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Bay of Pigs:Around the same time, Nikita Khrushchev rose to power in the USSR. The leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro, became allies with Khrushchev. The US worried because Cuba was so close to florida. Kennedy authorized an organized rebellion in Cuba, funded by the US to try to overthrow Castro. It failed.
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