The effect the media played on the presidential election of
             With the invention of television, American politics would be forever changed. Politics and television have evolved to be so intertwined that they are now almost synonymous. With politics undoubtedly comes the media. Since the invention of television in the nineteen fifties the media has had a substantial impact on the outcome of a highly publicized campaign. This transition from campaigning in front of unions, work places, and public forums to being able to reach more than 45 million homes in America with a single ad led to a drastic reform in the way a president would seek election. The presidential election of the 1960 would be the pioneering example of media's future existence and impact in the realm of politics. In a sense the way a candidate was perceived on television would make or break the way the public would view them. The television would be a vehicle that would allow candidates to address a large portion of their electorate without having to visit each individual district a very expensive, time consuming task for a presidential candidate.
             Television also allowed candidates to better focus on being physically present in those districts where there was a close race. Furthermore, it allowed television campaigning to cover those states that were a sure thing, according to primary results and state party affiliation. All of the factors listed above are important to keep in mind when examining the Kennedy and Nixon campaign.
             Much has been written on the correlation between Kennedy's election and his success in televised debates. In the book With Kennedy by Pierre Sallinger, who worked closely with Kennedy during his 1960 election campaign, he most clearly states: In my view his election would have been impossible without the televised debate. (Sallinger, 47) This sentence is a clear view of how much Kennedy's appearance on the television screen gre...