In what ways was the contest between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon the first modern presidential election, and in what ways did the contest...

Scholars argue that the 1960 presidential race between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon was the very first modern presidential election due to the sudden importance of television. By 1960, the number of Americans who owned television sets in their homes had increased to 90% (Monica Davey, "1960: The First Mass Media Election," The New York Times Upfront). As are result of the growing importance of television, the presidential debates between Kennedy and Nixon were the first ever to be televised, and the results of the debate proved just how much television had changed society. Television made image the primary voter concern rather than stance on the issues. Fascinatingly, those who heard the debate on the radio felt that Nixon had won the debate due to his ability to answer questions with poise. However, those who viewed the debate on television, the vast majority of Americans, felt that Kennedy had won due to the candidates' differences in appearance, their differences in image.

Nixon's college drama coach, Albert W. Upton, was once quoted as saying to The New York Times that, during the debate, Nixon literally "looked sick, but also a little unsure" (as cited in Davey). Nixon literally looked sick because he was getting over the flu, refused to wear makeup, and was wearing a light gray suit that accented his pallor and blended in with the background of the studio. He also had a dark five o'clock shadow that made him look even more pale. In contrast, Kennedy was tanned, handsome, and wore a dark blue suit that made him stand out. Although in the debates that followed Nixon had learned his lesson and began wearing makeup and darker suits, his image as the less appealing, less confident candidate had already been solidified, showing us just how important image became to the presidential race due to popularity of television.

Television continued to evolve the election process as both Nixon and Kennedy made appearances on the early version of The Tonight Show, called The Jack Paar Show. Earlier, in 1952, while Dwight D. Eisenhower had become the first to use campaign ads in a presidential election, both Nixon and Kennedy made extensive use of them, even developing the first ads to attack their opponents, just as you see in modern elections. As Historian Theodore White once explained, television so heavily influenced politics that it became "the political process; [television is] the playing field of politics. Today, the action is in the studios, not in the backrooms" (as cited in Vivé Griffith, "The Influence of Media in Presidential Politics," The University of Texas at Austin).

Today, television, along with other forms of mass media, has become so important to elections that presidential candidates are expected to develop their image just like celebrities develop their image. Michael Silverstein, the Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor in Anthropology, Linguistics and Psychology at the University of Chicago, calls the development of a presidential candidate's image "a form of branding" (as cited in William Harms, "For Presidential Candidates, Image May Trump Debate Issues," UChicago News). Silverstein further explains a presidential candidate's image is a complex projection of "personal style and language and the visual images they use to communicate their approachability with the electorate" (as cited in Harms). Scholar Dr. Roderick Hart explains that since television most commonly displays the "close up of the human face," television has made it important for a presidential candidate to portray himself/herself as human, to "be a lot warmer," to "be someone you can imagine having as a neighbor" (as cited in Griffith).

The Internet has continued to change presidential campaigns because the Internet offers a means for candidates to speak directly to the voters through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, which helps candidates further develop their personable image (Pew Research Center, "How the Presidential Candidates Use the Web and Social Media"). Hence, as we can see, the presidential election of 1960 significantly changed modern elections by making them be primarily about image.