See how Kennedy emerged from a crowded field to become the Democratic Party's 1960 presidential nominee
See how Kennedy emerged from a crowded field to become the Democratic Party's 1960 presidential nominee
Scenes from the 1960 Democratic National Convention, which nominated as candidate for president U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy, who, in his acceptance speech, spoke of his hopes for a “New Frontier.”
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Scenes from the 1960 Democratic National Convention, which nominated as candidate for president U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy, who, in his acceptance speech, spoke of his hopes for a “New Frontier.”
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Under U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy, the number of U.S. advisers to the South Vietnamese military rose from 1,500 to 15,000. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Pres. John F. Kennedy rallying the people of the United States to support NASA's Apollo program to land human beings on the Moon, September 12, 1962.
-
© John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MassachusettsU.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy delivering his inaugural address, Washington, D.C., January 20, 1961.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Scenes from the 1960 Democratic Party primary election campaigns, with U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy striving to prove himself to the public and to party leaders in the race to become the Democratic nominee in the U.S. presidential election.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress.
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Abbie Rowe. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston; © Vasile Bobirnac/Dreamstime.com; © Carsten Reisinger/stock.adobe.comLearn how Konrad Adenauer worked to integrate West Germany into the Western community after World War II.
-
Public Domain videoWilliam Jennings Bryan's “Cross of Gold” speech, given at the Democratic National Convention, Chicago, July 8, 1896.
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzJohn F. Kennedy visiting West Berlin in June 1963 and delivering his “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I Am a Berliner”) speech.
News •
Kennedy Center Christmas Eve jazz concert canceled after Trump name added to building
• Dec. 24, 2025, 6:06 PM ET (AP)
Trump critic George Conway takes steps to run for New York City congressional seat
• Dec. 23, 2025, 10:01 AM ET (AP)
EXCERPT: In 'Storm at the Capitol,' police officers detail a brutal assault on Jan. 6, 2021
• Dec. 23, 2025, 9:45 AM ET (AP)
21 Democratic-led states sue White House over consumer protection bureau funding
• Dec. 22, 2025, 7:50 PM ET (AP)
Judge chides Ghislaine Maxwell for mentioning victim names in papers seeking to overturn conviction
• Dec. 22, 2025, 5:22 PM ET (AP)
Transcript
[Background noise from the convention]
NARRATOR: In Los Angeles the candidates made the rounds of state delegation. Each candidate urged his own nomination, but the Kennedy lead seemed insurmountable. The job of the Kennedy organization was to hold on to its committed delegates.
Adlai Stevenson still had not declared himself, but this did not dim the enthusiasm of his volunteers all over the country. A massive grass roots campaign was mounted even as Stevenson denied his own candidacy.
STEVENSON: I am not a candidate for the nomination, but I deeply care about the issues before my party and the nation and I intend to speak in support of a liberal program as forcefully as I can in the weeks ahead, as I have always done.
NARRATOR: The Stevenson forces had packed the galleries and stormed the floor. But there was little support for him among the delegations and none from the big-state leaders. Stevenson himself received a tremendous ovation when he appeared on the floor. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt urged his selection.
MRS. ROOSEVELT: If we really want to win in November, I think we will nominate a Stevenson-Kennedy ticket.
[Cheering]
NARRATOR: Senator Eugene McCarthy nominated Stevenson. It was with this speech that McCarthy first attracted national attention.
MCCARTHY: . . . the favorite son of fifty states [cheering]. This favorite son I submit to you, Adlai Stevenson of Illinois.
NARRATOR: But the Kennedy organization had the commitments, and the Kennedys were on the floor to see them honored. Governor Orville Freeman of Minnesota nominated Kennedy.
FREEMAN: . . . to a fruitful America, to a peaceful world for mankind everywhere, is the great senator from the state of Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy.
[Cheering]
NARRATOR: The big-city leaders cast their big blocks of votes for Kennedy. Daley of Illinois.
DALEY: . . . sixty-one and a half votes for John Kennedy.
[Cheering]
NARRATOR: Wagner of New York.
WAGNER: Mr. Chairman, Mayor Wagner, chairman of the delegation. Senator Johnson, three and one-half votes; Senator Kennedy, one hundred and four and a half votes.
[Cheering]
NARRATOR: Finally a small state gives JFK the nomination.
VOICE FROM WYOMING DELEGATION: Mr. Chairman, Wyoming's vote will make the majority for Senator Kennedy.
[Cheering]
NARRATOR: Tradition came into play. The candidate appeared before the convention and moved to unify the party. In a dramatic gesture, the opposition leader was offered the vice-presidency.
KENNEDY: After discussions with elements of the Democratic--with all elements of the Democratic party leadership, I've reached the conclusion that it would be the best judgment of the convention to nominate Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas for the office of Vice President.
NARRATOR: Kennedy and Johnson gave the Democratic party a balanced ticket. Kennedy accepts his nomination [music in], promises a continuity of Democratic party leadership, and proclaims a new frontier.
KENNEDY: . . . a new political and economic framework. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal promised security and succor to those in need. But the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises. It is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer to the American people but what I intend to ask of them.
NARRATOR: The victorious candidate, John F. Kennedy, all at once became the focal point for the national Democratic party. In this picture, shown with him on the podium are the powerful leaders he had to overcome on his road to victory--Lyndon Johnson, Adlai Stevenson, Stuart Symington, Hubert Humphrey. All except Symington had been, or were destined to be, Democratic candidates for the presidency.
Two of the five, Kennedy and Johnson, would serve as Presidents. One, Humphrey, would serve as Vice President and come within an inch of being elected President. Yet in the 1960 contest all of these men were outstripped by John F. Kennedy. He had outstripped them in the quality of his campaign organization, in the primaries, in back rooms, in caucuses, in public confrontation, and finally on the floor of the convention itself.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: In Los Angeles the candidates made the rounds of state delegation. Each candidate urged his own nomination, but the Kennedy lead seemed insurmountable. The job of the Kennedy organization was to hold on to its committed delegates.
Adlai Stevenson still had not declared himself, but this did not dim the enthusiasm of his volunteers all over the country. A massive grass roots campaign was mounted even as Stevenson denied his own candidacy.
STEVENSON: I am not a candidate for the nomination, but I deeply care about the issues before my party and the nation and I intend to speak in support of a liberal program as forcefully as I can in the weeks ahead, as I have always done.
NARRATOR: The Stevenson forces had packed the galleries and stormed the floor. But there was little support for him among the delegations and none from the big-state leaders. Stevenson himself received a tremendous ovation when he appeared on the floor. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt urged his selection.
MRS. ROOSEVELT: If we really want to win in November, I think we will nominate a Stevenson-Kennedy ticket.
[Cheering]
NARRATOR: Senator Eugene McCarthy nominated Stevenson. It was with this speech that McCarthy first attracted national attention.
MCCARTHY: . . . the favorite son of fifty states [cheering]. This favorite son I submit to you, Adlai Stevenson of Illinois.
NARRATOR: But the Kennedy organization had the commitments, and the Kennedys were on the floor to see them honored. Governor Orville Freeman of Minnesota nominated Kennedy.
FREEMAN: . . . to a fruitful America, to a peaceful world for mankind everywhere, is the great senator from the state of Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy.
[Cheering]
NARRATOR: The big-city leaders cast their big blocks of votes for Kennedy. Daley of Illinois.
DALEY: . . . sixty-one and a half votes for John Kennedy.
[Cheering]
NARRATOR: Wagner of New York.
WAGNER: Mr. Chairman, Mayor Wagner, chairman of the delegation. Senator Johnson, three and one-half votes; Senator Kennedy, one hundred and four and a half votes.
[Cheering]
NARRATOR: Finally a small state gives JFK the nomination.
VOICE FROM WYOMING DELEGATION: Mr. Chairman, Wyoming's vote will make the majority for Senator Kennedy.
[Cheering]
NARRATOR: Tradition came into play. The candidate appeared before the convention and moved to unify the party. In a dramatic gesture, the opposition leader was offered the vice-presidency.
KENNEDY: After discussions with elements of the Democratic--with all elements of the Democratic party leadership, I've reached the conclusion that it would be the best judgment of the convention to nominate Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas for the office of Vice President.
NARRATOR: Kennedy and Johnson gave the Democratic party a balanced ticket. Kennedy accepts his nomination [music in], promises a continuity of Democratic party leadership, and proclaims a new frontier.
KENNEDY: . . . a new political and economic framework. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal promised security and succor to those in need. But the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises. It is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer to the American people but what I intend to ask of them.
NARRATOR: The victorious candidate, John F. Kennedy, all at once became the focal point for the national Democratic party. In this picture, shown with him on the podium are the powerful leaders he had to overcome on his road to victory--Lyndon Johnson, Adlai Stevenson, Stuart Symington, Hubert Humphrey. All except Symington had been, or were destined to be, Democratic candidates for the presidency.
Two of the five, Kennedy and Johnson, would serve as Presidents. One, Humphrey, would serve as Vice President and come within an inch of being elected President. Yet in the 1960 contest all of these men were outstripped by John F. Kennedy. He had outstripped them in the quality of his campaign organization, in the primaries, in back rooms, in caucuses, in public confrontation, and finally on the floor of the convention itself.
[Music out]
Last Modification: