Campaign Trail Results: Game #750158
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1960
- Player Candidate: John F. Kennedy
- Running Mate: Lyndon Johnson
- Difficulty Level: Normal
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- Richard Nixon | 476 | 36,402,971 | 54.60 |
| ---- John F. Kennedy | 47 | 29,864,252 | 44.79 |
| ---- Harry Byrd | 14 | 409,450 | 0.61 |
Visits:
- Texas:5
- California:4
- New York:3
Answers:
- What kind of tone will you attempt to set in your campaign this fall?I have always been on the more moderate wing of the party. We need to emphasize my anti-Communism and my record as a Senator if we hope to win back the Eisenhower Democrats.
- What do you have to say about the selection of Lyndon Johnson as your running mate?Lyndon Johnson is a loyal Southerner and Senator from Texas who will spare no effort to advance a Democratic agenda.
- Lady Bird Johnson, LBJ's wife, has been spat on by a gathering of far-right protestors in a Dallas hotel lobby. What are your thoughts?I have no real comment to make, but I'm sure that the voters in Texas will be incensed at the incivility of this episode.
- There has been a proposal for a series of television debates between you and Kennedy. Is this something you are interested in?I would love to go against Nixon in a televised debate. We could use the exposure and I'm confident that I would win.
- Anti-Catholicism has been a huge issue thus far in the campaign, with hundreds of pamphlets and leaflets being distributed across the South and Midwest. Do you have any comment?Let's gather some of these leaflets and show them to the media and to major newspapers. I think they demonstrate the lengths that some people will go to discredit my candidacy.
- Anti-Catholicism continues to be an issue. Major newspapers have published a statement by 150 Protestant clergy, including Norman Vincent Peale, opposing any Catholic as President. Do you have any comment?I am Catholic and proud of it. I will not respond to bigoted attacks or innuendo, and I trust that these attacks will only help me by driving higher Catholic turnout.
- There have been a large number of sit-ins recently, where black students and activists are sitting at whites-only lunch counters and department stores to advocate for desegregation. Do you support this movement?This movement has my full support, as do the other civil rights measures of our day. I will push for a Civil Rights Act as President.
- Richard Nixon has made "experience" the centerpiece of his campaign. What do you have to say on this point?I will bring new, dynamic leadership to this country as President. I don't see how this line of argument puts me at any disadvantage.
- There was a recent effort in Congress to pass a program to provide medical care to elderly Americans, but it was narrowly defeated. Will you make a further push for this type of program as President?I would redouble our efforts on this front. Too many of our nation's elderly are unable to afford decent medical care in their advanced years.
- Do you believe that the islands of Quemoy and Matsu should fall within the United States defense perimeter in Asia?I'm not sure it's practical or desirable from a military standpoint to defend two tiny islands that are much closer to the Chinese mainland than they are to Formosa.
- Currently the highest income tax bracket pays a rate of 91%. Will you work harder to cut tax rates as President?We need to cut this rate substantially. It is way too high.
- Is the United States adequately prepared to defend against the Soviet threat today?I am satisfied with our progress over the past few years. We have prevented further expansion while avoiding any major wars.
- Do you believe the United States is adequately prepared to defend against the Soviet threat over the next ten years?We have a missile gap, and an overly tight monetary policy that is constraining our growth. I'm very concerned that these shortfalls will allow the Soviet Union to gain an advantage if they are not addressed.
- During the Great Depression, the federal government began a policy of farm subsidies to stabilize farm incomes and to target a specific output of each crop. Are these policies still necessary in 1960?They are absolutely necessary. Farmers are not in a good position to bargain for their crops, and any economic weakness in that sector can easily cause a recession in the broader economy.
- What is your opinion on the current level of education funding in the United States? Would you increase federal education funding, even if it meant higher taxes or a larger budget deficit?We need to minimize the federal funding of education, even in block grants. It could easily open the door to federal control of our schools.
- Recently, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested at a sit-in in Atlanta, and has now been sentenced to four months in prison for failing to get a Georgia driver's license after moving to that state. Do you have any comment or action you would like to take?I will give a statement encouraging the State of Georgia to protect the safety of Mr. King, while criticizing him for participating in these inflammatory and illegal protests.
- Are you satisfied with the economy and the economic policies of this country over the past eight years?We must do better. Our present Administration has advocated a hard money policy which caused the recession of 1958 and left idle industrial capacity in our country.
- Do you support a minimum wage of $1.25 per hour, with some exceptions for small business? Such a measure was recently defeated in Congress.I support this measure, and believe it would be greatly beneficial to millions of American workers.
- How serious, at the current time, do you believe the internal Communist threat is?We should always be concerned about internal subversion, but the external Soviet threat should be our primary focus at this point.
- Should the United States apologize to the Soviet Union for the controversy surrounding the downed U-2 spy plane and surrounding espionage?We lost a lot of ground diplomatically after this event, and much of that could have been avoided had we issued a formal apology.
- Did Dwight Eisenhower do the right thing when he sent federal troops to Little Rock to ensure the integration of the high school there?I believe that Eisenhower did what he had to do in this case, to make sure the decisions of our Supreme Court are enforced.
- Has the United States adequately defended against the Communist threat in Indochina? Would you support further action there if necessary?I would support the use of massive air strikes or tactical nuclear weapons to defend our ally, South Vietnam.
- What is your position on the power of labor unions in the United States?We need to do anything we can to reduce the power of labor unions in this country, including a national right-to-work law.
- Do you believe that current levels of defense spending are adequate?I believe that we need more vigilance in the area of defense, for both military equipment and for missile development. We currently have a missile gap with the Soviet Union.
- Where will you spend your final day before the election?We will campaign up and down New York and the Eastern Seaboard.