The Making of the President, 1960

Theodore H. White wrote The Making of the President, 1960, a book that provides an astute and suspenseful account of the 1960 U.S. presidential election. This work, along with its successors, is considered a standard history of presidential campaigns, known for its intelligent juxtaposition of events and its portrayal of politicians as complex personalities. White won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for this book.1

The 1960 election itself saw Democrat John F. Kennedy narrowly defeat Republican Richard M. Nixon, making Kennedy the first Roman Catholic and the youngest person elected president. The campaign was notable for its intensity and the unprecedented series of four televised debates between Kennedy and Nixon.2