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At the Democratic convention, Kennedy nominated former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson for the presidency. Kennedy attempted to win the nomination but on the third ballot the convention chose Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. Kennedy then moved that the vote be made unanimous.
Kennedy's failure to gain the vice-presidential nomination probably did more good than harm to his political career. During the 1956 presidential campaign Kennedy spoke on behalf of Stevenson and Kefauver in 26 states. Kennedy now began speaking out on foreign affairs. In addition, Kennedy's ideas contributed to the Landrum-Griffin Law. .
Kennedy wanted the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination, and almost as soon as the 1956 election was over, be began working for it. Kennedy announced his candidacy early in 1960. Kennedy won the nomination on the first ballot and then persuaded Lyndon B. Johnson to become his running mate.
Two weeks later the Republicans nominated Vice President Richard Nixon for president and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., who was ambassador to the United Nations and whom Kennedy had defeated for the Senate in 1952, for vice president. In the campaign that followed, Kennedy made stops in 46 states and 273 cities and towns, while Nixon visited every state and 170 urban areas. Kennedy's manner, especially in the first debate, seemed to eliminate the charge that he was too young and too inexperienced to serve as president, and many believed these debates gave Kennedy the victory. Another important element of the campaign was the support Kennedy received from blacks in important northern states, especially Illinois and Pennsylvania. .
The election drew a record 69 million voters to the polls, but Kennedy won by only 113,000 votes. Kennedy was inaugurated on January 20, 1961. .
Kennedy called for "a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved." Kennedy challenged Americans to assume the burden of "defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.