CNN anchor Chris Wallace will tackle the 1960 presidential election in a new book, the Associated Press reports.
Dutton will publish Wallace’s Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 311 Days That Changed America’s Politics Forever, co-written with Mitch Weiss, this fall. The book will cover the showdown between the Republican candidate, Vice President Richard Nixon, and his Democratic opponent, John F. Kennedy, a U.S. senator at the time.
“The 1960 presidential election changed everything,” Wallace said. “It was the first to be conducted largely on television. The first to feature debates between the two major party candidates. The first where both candidates were born in the 20th century.”
The race between Nixon and Kennedy led to some of the most memorable moments of 20th-century American politics. The first debate between the two was said to have damaged Nixon’s campaign; he declined to wear makeup, and, having recently been hospitalized, appeared sweaty and sallow.
Kennedy, by contrast, did well in the debate and went on to win the election narrowly, gaining roughly 110,000 more votes than Nixon. Wallace notes that Kennedy’s victory was met with claims that the election had been stolen.
Wallace’s previous books include Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World and Countdown bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt To Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice, both co-written with Weiss.
Countdown 1960 is slated for publication on Oct. 8.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
