This Day in History: <br />John F. Kennedy Is <br />Elected President November 8, 1960 John F. Kennedy narrowly <br />beat Republican Vice President <br />Richard Nixon in one of the closest <br />U.S. presidential elections in history. Kennedy was the youngest man <br />ever to be elected president of the <br />U.S. and also the first Catholic. During the bitter campaign, <br />the candidates engaged <br />in the first ever televised debates. Many felt that Kennedy’s <br />poised performance during <br />the four debates made the <br />difference in the final vote. During the campaign, <br />Kennedy promised to <br />reinvigorate America’s <br />foreign policy. That promise was quickly tested by <br />Nikita Khrushchev, the Bay of Pigs <br />invasion and the construction <br />of the Berlin Wall.
