Gen Z Voting in the Election
Politics and the Youth Vote in 2024 and 1960 Presidential Campaigns
Over the past several months, two candidates battled for who will be the 47th president of the United States. I took the photo at the John F. Kennedy Airport, named for the 35th president between 1960–1963.
Who will vote for our next president has been speculated and dissected repeatedly. The energy and enthusiasm of youth voters have been a big part of the 2024 election cycle. That same energy was seen during the 1960 campaign between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
As they say, votes matter, the person voted in to be the president matters.
John F. Kennedy had a big influence on my life. He started the US Peace Corps in March 1961. I would join the Peace Corps right after college at the age of 24. My two years were spent teaching biology to high school students in Nsawam, Ghana, West Africa. I stayed in science education teaching at the college level and writing STEM grants to support summer programs for low-income high school students.
In 1960, the US population was 179,323,175 and the median age was 27.8 years.
On November 8, 1960, John Kennedy went to bed without knowing if he won or lost the election.
