LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Lyndon B. Johnson: John F. Kennedy
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On July 13, 1960, Johnson was nominated for President at the Democratic National Convention, but he did not count on the superbly managed campaign of John F. Kennedy, loosing the first-ballot nomination to the young Senator from Massachusetts. Kennedy then surprised many people by offering Johnson the vice-presidential nomination. A surprised Johnson accepted and threw himself into he campaign, working in the South to overcome the Southern Democrats suspicion of a Roman Catholic candidate. The election was very close, with the Kennedy/Johnson ticket winning by a narrow margin over the Nixon/Lodge Republicans.
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On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Johnson took over as president. The next year he was nominated to run for the Democratic party for the presidency with Hubert Humphrey as his vice-president. He was opposed by Barry Goldwater. Johnson refused to debate Goldwater. Johnson easily won with 61% of the popular vote and 486 of the electoral votes.
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To many northern Democrats... Johnson remained a sectional candidate. The presidential nomination of 1960 went to Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Kennedy, a northern Roman Catholic, then selected Johnson as his running mate to balance the Democratic ticket. In November 1960 the Democrats defeated the Republican candidates, Richard M. Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge, by a narrow margin.
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Johnson's success in the Senate made him a possible Democratic presidential candidate. He was Texas' "favorite son" candidate at the party's national convention in 1956. In 1960, Johnson received 409 votes on the first and only ballot at the Democratic convention, which nominated John F. Kennedy.
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The 1960 election was Johnson's big chance. But he believed it hopeless because he came from the South and the convention would be dominated by northern Democrats. He entered no primaries and made virtually no campaign, thereby ceding the nomination to John F. Kennedy on the first ballot. But Kennedy, concerned that his Catholicism would bring defeat in the South, offered Johnson the second place, and he accepted. Johnson's powerful campaign in the South made victory possible by a thin margin. Thus, for almost three years he served in the meaningless job of vice president, loyal, to be sure, but bored and frustrated.
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John F. Kennedy