Recommend a book on the 1960 Election to me

Cafe Society
1

I went to the Origins board gaming convention last weekend and while there I had a chance to play the soon to be released 1960: The Making of a President which featured the players attempting to wrangle electoral votes and deal with issues against the backdrop of the world events between September 1960 and election day. While I was familiar with the general issues and complications for both Kennedy and Nixon in the 1960 election there were several things that I was simply unaware of and so now I’m interested in reading a history of that election. I’m looking for something that covers the entire scope of the election rather than focusing on things like the impact of the media. So, can anyone point me to something?

BTW, it was a brilliant game and I am planning on buying it when it is released in August. It uses a card driven system similar to Jason Matthew’s previous game Twilight Struggle, but the scope of the game and the events feel must more straight forward.

2

This might be redudant, but you may want to look at the book “The Making of the President, 1960”, by Theodore White, which I’d imagine this game is based on.

3

White’s book The Making of the President 1960 is considered not only the best account of the election, but one of the greatest accounts of a political campaign ever written. By all means read it.

4

Heh. It’s not. There will probably be historical notes in the game when it’s released but sitting down and getting the rules broken down for you is not the best time to mention the source.

Thanks for pointing out the fact that this book exists for me guys. I’m off to Amazon.

5

Have a look at “The Dark Side Of Camelot” by Hersh. A few chapters chronicles the 1960 election, and Kennedy’s Machiavellian strategies.

Ah! - the good ol’ days when Democrats were devious, duplicitous and cunning; and Republicans were upright straight-shooters!