Figure 1.--By all accounts, Sentor Kennedy with his big-city northern image, Catholicism, amd embrace of Doctor King should have lost the South. In fact he did better than any Democratic candidate since Franklin Roosevelt. It is difficult to quantify, but surly a major factor here was his running mate, Texas Senator and Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon Johnson. Kennedy not only carried Texas, but most of the Deep South (Alabana, Georgia, and South Carolina). The press capton here read, "Beagle for a Beagle Lover: Vice-Presidential candidate Lynson B. Johnson is presented with a puppy by Jimmy Diamond, small Jackson [Tennessee] resident. Johnson spoke in Jackson as he campaigned across Tennessee." The photograph was dated September 30, 1960.

Since the Civil War, a Democratic candidate had little chance of winning the election without the Solid South. President Truman in 1948 was the only Democrat to win the presidency without the Solid South (1948). The Democratic dominance in the South began to decline in the South with President Tuman because of his and the northern Democratic Party's commitment to civil rights. This and Gen Eisenhower's popularity meant that Democrats failed to hold the Solid South. Kennedy if he was to win the election would have to carry most of the South. But this presented a special problem. Not only was thenationsal Democratic Party unpooular because of its Civil Rights commitment, but Kennedy was a Catholic. The South was the most Protestant section of the country and their was still substantial anti-Catholic feeling especially among Southern Baptists and Lutherans. Religious feeling was part of it, but the idea that Catholic were more loyal to the Pope than America was widespread. The only other Catholic Democrat, New York Governor Al Smith, lost much of the South (1928). His Catholicism hurt him badly in the South. Kennedy's only days before the election embraced Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil-rights leader, after he was was arrested in Georgia for taking part in a sit-in. [Kennedy, Letter] This further hurt him in the South, but gained him votes in northern cities. This turned many black voters in major cities permanetly toward the Democrats. Until this there were many African-Americans that voted Republican. This chanbged dramatically. Of course this did not help in the South where most African-Americans were prevented from voting. It was here that Kennedy's asute choice of Texas Sentator Lyndon Johnson made a crucial difference. Unlike most vice-presidential candidates, he did not campaign much in the North. Most of his campaigning was in the South. Coming from the South and sporting a Southern accent, Johnson had an appeal that helped to blunt Kennedy's liberal northern image. There is no way of knowing just how important Johnson was. But he appears to have had a sinifgicant impact. Kennedy as a result managed to carry more of the South than any Democratic candidate since Franklin Roosevelt, including the Electoral College rich Texas.

Sources

Kennedy, John F. "Letter to Georgia Governor Ernest Vandiver (October 26, 1960).

Created: 6:17 AM 3/7/2017
Last edited: 6:17 AM 3/7/2017