A Catholic in the White House?: Religion, Politics, and John F. Kennedy's Presidential Campaign

According to numerous scholars and pundits, JFK's victory in 1960 symbolized America's evolution from a politically Protestant nation to a pluralistic one. The anti-Catholic prejudice that many blamed for presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith's crushing defeat in 1928 at last seemed to have been overcome. However, if the presidential election of 1960 was indeed a turning point for American Catholics, how do we explain the failure of any Catholic--in over forty years--to repeat Kennedy's accomplishment? In this exhaustively researched study that fuses political, cultural, social, and intellectual history, Thomas Carty challenges the assumption that JFK's successful campaign for the presidency ended decades, if not centuries, of religious and political tensions between American Catholics and Protestants.

Author: T. Carty
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: 09/17/2004
Pages: 216
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.81lbs
Size: 8.58h x 5.58w x 0.70d
ISBN13: 9781403962522
ISBN10: 1403962529
BISAC Categories:
- Political Science | Political Process | Campaigns & Elections
- History | United States | 20th Century
- Science | General

About the Author
THOMAS CARTY is Assistant Professor of History at Springfield College, Massachusetts, USA.