The religious issue in Texas in the 1960 presidential campaign

Purpose: It was the purpose of this thesis to bring forth many of the arguments of Texans for and against the separation of church and state, as well as for and against Kennedy, and to find out if there was a relationship between these arguments and the outcome of the election. Methods: The methods used to obtain materials for this thesis were (1) examination of the letters that were received from some of the more outstanding Protestant religious leaders that had spoken out for the maintenance of separation of church an states in the campaign; (2) examination of newspapers and periodicals. Findings: The evidence that has been presented in this thesis produced these finding: 1. Kennedy was better organized than his opponents to capture the Democratic nomination. 2. The religious issue helped Kennedy win the election in Texas. The Roman Catholics, for the most part, voted as a bloc and many of the Protestants did not want to be considered prejudiced; therefore, they voted for Kennedy. 3. More than just religion was an issue in Texas. 4. The Protestant religious leaders were not able to convince their congregations that Kennedy was not sincere in his belief in separation of church and state.