Richard Nixon was in an election.
Richard Nixon . He had previously served as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower , and prior to that as a U.S. Representative and also Senator from California . In 1968 , he ran for the presidency again and was elected by defeating incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey . The United States presidential election of 1960 was the 44th quadrennial presidential election , held on Tuesday , November 8 , 1960 . The Republican Party nominated incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon , while the Democratic Party nominated John F. Kennedy , U.S. Senator from Massachusetts . Vice President of the United States . The vice president is indirectly elected , together with the president , to a four-year term of office by the people of the United States through the Electoral College .