1960 Rand McNally Map of the United States and the Electoral College Votes by State

A scarce map of the United States explaining the electoral college for the 1960 Presidential Election - Kennedy (D) vs. Nixon (R). The number of electoral votes up for grabs in each state is noted. Additional information appears in the upper left portion of each one state, including each state's name, the date it entered the Union, and its 1960 population. The whole is bordered on three sides by portraits of the presidents, from George Washington to the then-sitting president, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

1960 Presidential Election

The 1960 Presidential Election pitted Democrat John F. Kennedy against Republican Richard Nixon. This was the first election in which fifty states participated and the last in which the District of Columbia did not, marking the first participation of Alaska and Hawaii. Kennedy won a 303 to 219 Electoral College victory, which was the closest since 1916. It is also one of the first elections where the losing side, in this case the Republican ticket, declared, against all evidence, that the election was swayed by fraud.

United States Territorial Expansion

This map also chronicles U.S. territorial expansion with land purchases, cessions, and annexations noted. Modern state boundaries do not always align with the frontiers of these acquisitions.

Verso Content

Further educational content concerning American government and elections fills the verso. On the upper left, a map of the United States illustrates how the electoral college voted in 1956. Just below that is a table one could fill out to track the voting returns of the 1960 elections. In the center, a graphic explains the separation of powers and the checks and balances provided for in the U.S. Constitution. This graphic also delineates how the executive, legislative, and judicial branches are divided in addition to the Cabinet. A short text about presidential succession and the history of the Democratic and Republican parties occupies the center, and below that is a table dedicated to the details of the offices of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government. A short text explaining the electoral college is included on the right next to a chronological list of U.S. presidents.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by Rand McNally c. 1960. An example is part of the Kathleen Morrow Watley Collection at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Four examples are cataloged in OCLC and are part of the collections at the Osher Map Library at the University of Southern Maine, the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.