Book Review: ‘Countdown 1960' shows parallels with this year’s presidential election season

“Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 312 Days that Changed America’s Politics Forever” is a look at a critical period in U.S. history that holds lessons for today.

CNN news anchor Chris Wallace starts the book in January 1960, when U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts declared his candidacy for the presidency during a divided time in United States politics. We are introduced to mobsters, Hollywood movie stars, labor bosses and Cuba’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

It was the year that U.S. presidential campaigns entered the modern era, with televised debates and slick advertising, The achingly close contest was not unlike the current lead-up to the 2024 election pitting Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris against Republican Donald Trump.

Like now, there were charges of voter fraud and a stolen election. The results were so tight that Americans stayed up well past midnight to hear the final count.

The book is the latest in Wallace’s “Countdown” series of popular histories, following his best-selling “Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days that Changed the World,” and “Countdown bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice.”

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