The 1960 Presidential Election Was Won by John Kennedy. History's Most Popular President is Not Without His Share of Scandals and Secrets; JFK Was a Bad Boy.

The 1960 Presidential Election was won by John Kennedy but not without controversy. On January 2, 1960, Jack Kennedy formally announced his presidential candidacy, and he declared that the White House must be "the center of moral leadership."

Two months later, Jack began his affair with a former actress named Judith Exner. While seeing Jack, Exner was also seeing Sam Giancana, who was the head of the Chicago Mafia and a former partner in Joe's bootlegging business.

Giancana, who was credited with at least two hundred killings, was considered one of the most powerful men in organized crime. He controlled betting, prostitution, loan sharking, and owned interests in three Las Vagas hotels.

Jack and Bobby had identified the West Virginia primary as key to winning the nomination. The state's nomination was ninety-five percent Protestant, and a win there would convince convention delegates that Jack's Catholicism would not be an issue in the presidential election.

Jack's opponent in the Democratic primary was Hubert Humphrey, the senator from Minnesota, who was beloved by West Virginia coal miners for his longtime union support and folksy, old-fashioned campaign style.

Humphrey's small-town ways were however no match for the Kennedy family's deep pockets and high technology. There is no doubt that Jack's huge TV budget also helped.

The Kennedy men were not content to rely on statesmanship alone. At Jack's request, Exner arranged a meeting for him with Sam Giancana, who agreed to use his influence with West Virginia officials to ensure victory there.

MAFIA GOES TO WEST VIRGINIA

Giancana sent his lieutenant, Paul "Skinny" D'Amato, into West Virginia to get out the vote. D'Amato met with sheriffs who controlled the state's political machine. He forgave debts many of them had run up at his 500 Club in Atlantic City and handed cash payments to others.

FBI wiretaps reveal that Frank Sinatra also distributed large mob donations to pay off election officials of the 1960 presidential election. Years later, in a People magazine story, Exner described how she had introduced Sam Giancana to Jack, who asked for the mob's help in financing the campaign.

While it is not documented, it is clear Giancana gave money to the campaign. After the election, an FBI wiretap picked up Giancana talking with Johnny Roselli, a mob associate. He said his donation had been "accepted," yet complained that Bobby Kennedy, the attorney general, was cracking down on organized crime.

He said he expected that "one of these days, the guy will do me a favor ... " Giancana apparently had believed that in helping Kennedy's campaign, he was gaining a friend in the White House and protection from future prosecution by the government.

Meanwhile, Joe was funneling money to politicians to swing the West Virginia primary.

Tip O'Neill recalled that Eddie Ford, a Boston real-estate man, "went out there with a pocket full of money." O'Neill said Ford would "see the sheriff, and he'd say to the sheriff, Sheriff, I'm from Chicago."

1960 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND THE MAFIA

"I'm on my way south. I love this young Kennedy boy. He can help this nation, by God. He'll do things for West Virginians. I'll tell you what. Here's $5000. You carry your village for him or your county for him, and I'll give you a little reward when I'm on my way back."

O'Neill said, "They passed money around like it was never seen." One of the most important contributions Joe Kennedy made to his son's campaign was to create the Ken-Air Corporation; he purchased, for $385,000, a Corvair twin-engine turboprop airplane, and then he leased it to the candidate for the ridiculous sum of $1.75 per mile.

Joe got a large tax deduction, while the plane gave Jack a tremendous advantage over Hubert Humphrey in the Democratic primary.

1960 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND KENNEDY COVERS GROUND

While Humphrey either wasted time waiting around airports for commercial flights or lumbered about in his campaign bus, Jack Kennedy sped here and there in his private plane, covering more territory in less time and at less expense.

In providing the cash for Jack's campaign, Joe Kennedy used the Catholic Church, and in particular, Cardinal Cushing. One of the couriers told author Peter Maas how it worked:

For example, if Boston area churches had collected $950,000 on a particular Sunday from collections, Joe would write a check for $1 million to the diocese, deduct it as a charitable contribution, and receive the $950,000 in cash.

1960 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND CATHOLIC CHURCH CONTRIBUTIONS

Thus, in this example, the church got a contribution of $50,000, and Joe could deduct the entire amount on his income tax, and he could use the money to pay off politicians without fear that it would be traced.

"The cash is untraceable," Maas said. "Part of the money goes to the diocese. He gets a contribution from Joe Kennedy for more than what the cash is. It's brilliant. Nobody can trace the money."

In 1966, Cushing admitted that he had played a role in making payoffs to ministers. He told Hubert Humphrey, "I'll tell you who elected Jack Kennedy. It was his father, Joe, and me, right here in this room." Cushing explained that he and Joe decided which Protestant ministers should receive "contributions" of $100 to $500.

As Cushing described the tactic, "It's good for the church, it's good for the preacher, and it's good for the candidate."

1960 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: FIRST HUMPHREY THEN KENNEDY

Maas also recalled that as a writer for the Saturday Evening Post, he interviewed a political operative in one dirt-poor town in West Virginia who told him his county was for Humphrey.

A few weeks later, I interviewed him again, and he said the county was for Jack. I asked what had changed, and he said with a smile, "My workers each got $20, and I got $150. We're for Kennedy."

When Jack Kennedy narrowly defeated Hubert Humphrey in the West Virginia primary, Humphrey withdrew from the presidential race. It was the most important victory of Jack's campaign.

On July 11, the Democratic National Convention nominated John F Kennedy for president. Some party leaders were leery of Jack, however. Truman opposed him, telling reporters, "I'm not against the Pope, I'm against the Pop." Eleanor Roosevelt regarded Jack as one of "the new managerial elite that has neither principles nor character."

1960 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND KENNEDY WINS

On November 8, 1960, John F Kennedy was elected president, defeating Republican Richard Nixon. Jack received 34,226,731 votes to 34,108,157 for Nixon. The popular vote margin, 118,574, was the equivalent of a win by one vote in every precinct in America.

CHICAGO MACHINE STEALS 1960 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

"Actually, and this goes without saying, the presidency was really stolen in Chicago, without a question, by the Democratic machine," recalled mobster Mickey Cohen. "I know that certain people in the Chicago organization knew that they had to get John Kennedy in."