1960 Presidential Election in Texas
While it is generally acknowledged that John F. Kennedy loathed Lyndon Johnson, the election of 1960 was too close to risk losing the State of Texas, and Johnson on the ticket with him would help ensure a Kennedy win. In this judgment, Kennedy was relying not so much on Johnson’s popularity but on his knowledge of how to manipulate the electoral machinery in Texas. As the election unfolded and the results were analyzed it became clear that Johnson had delivered.
Kennedy carried the state by a margin of 46,000 votes, achieving a majority in the state, which defenders have long cited as evidence that there was little, if any, voting irregularity. They have contended that the margin of victory was too large to have been from illegal votes. Kennedy defeated Nixon in Texas by 51% to 49%. It should be remembered that if Nixon had carried the electoral votes from both Texas and Illinois he would have won the presidency.
In several Texas counties, later analysis revealed that there had indeed been questionable vote totals. Fannin County in 1960 contained 4,895 registered voters. Fannin County’s returns for the 1960 election counted a total of 6,138 votes for President. About 75% of the ballots cast were for Kennedy/Johnson. In one district of Angelina County where only 86 registered voters were on the voter rolls, 187 votes for Kennedy were counted against 24 for Nixon.
Johnson’s long-established political base in Southern Texas centered around Duval County was notorious throughout the 20th century for delivering large numbers of illegal votes, many from Mexicans brought in from across the border, and the region, as expected, went solidly for the Democratic ticket. Republican demands for a statewide recount were thwarted by the Democratic-run State Board of Elections’ rapid certification of Kennedy as the winner, supported in their view by the size of his victory margin.
Richard Nixon announced three days following the election in 1960 that he would not contest the results with recounts, a decision no doubt influenced by reports of irregularities in numerous Republican-carried districts in many states. The 1960 election may be remembered as the one stolen by Kennedy and Johnson, but it is clear from the efforts of dozens of scholars and historians that both sides used illegal means to build their vote totals, with the real loser being the American voting public.