1960: The Making of a President

Set-up

ƒ Place the 50 State Seals face-up in their State

ƒ Place Nixon/Kennedy support cubes in states according to elephant/donkey icons
ƒ Place Candidates in home states: Kennedy in MA; Nixon in CA
ƒ Place 3 Issue Tiles on starting positions on the Issue Track
ƒ Place 10 red and 10 blue cubes in the Political Capital Bag
ƒ Shuffle Campaign and Endorsement Decks
ƒ Place Endorsement markers and Debate board at hand

Each Player gets:

ƒ Appropriate Candidate Card

ƒ Remainder of their cube supply
ƒ 2 Momentum Markers

Turns 1-5 & 7-8

A. Initiative Phase – choose start player for turn
B. Activity Phases (x5) – alternate playing 5 cards for Events or Campaign Points
C. Momentum Phase – modify Momentum Markers & Issue Support/Issue Shift
D. Campaign Strategy Phase – Play one card on Campaign Strategy stack
Turn 6. Debates – resolve three key issues by playing from Campaign Strategy stack
Turn 9. Election Day – final chance to gain Support from Campaign Strategy & Events

Winning the Election!

After 9 turns, Players take State Seals and total the Electoral Votes for each State
in which they have won Support. Most Votes wins!
Sequence of Play (Turns 1-5 and Turns 7 and 8)

A. Initiative Phase

1. Deal New Cards: Turns 1-5, Deal 6 cards; turn 7-8, Deal 7 cards.
2. Perform Initiative Check: Winner chooses start player for this turn.

Initiative Check: Draw cubes from the Political Capital Bag one at a time. First Candidate with
two cubes drawn wins initiative. All drawn cubes are returned to the player’s supply.

B. Activity Phases (x5): Perform one of the following:

1. Play a card as an Event: Read text aloud and carry out event. Cards are then discarded
unless Persistent. Place Persistent Events in appropriate box for later resolution.
i. Debate Events – resolved during Debates – Turn 6.
ii. Election Day Events – resolved on Election Day – Turn 9.
iii. Prevention Events – render certain other Events unplayable.

Events which call for loss/subtraction of Support NEVER add Support for other Player.

2. Play a card for Campaign Points: Player may spend the number of Campaign Points
(CP) on ONE of the following:

a. Campaigning in the States:

ƒ Player increases State Support in one or more States within the Region currently
occupied by his Candidate token for 1 CP per Support cube added. If opponent has
Support in this State, then remove 1 opponent’s cube per CP.
ƒ This action had no further cost unless the following conditions are met, whence a
Support Check must be carries out per CP spent.

o Opposing Player is Carrying (> 4 Support) the State

o Opposing Candidate Token is in the State

Support Check: Draw a cube from the Political Capital Bag. If it is your color then may place as
Support normally. If opponent’s color, then return to opponent’s supply. No Support is therefore
added for spending this CP.

EXEMPTION: Player with Media Support in a Region does not have to conduct Support
Checks there.

ƒ Player may move Candidate token to another Region for 1 CP per Regional
boundary crossed.
 b. Advertising in Regions: Player makes Support Checks equal to CP value of card.
Add own cubes/remove opponent’s as necessary to Media Support boxes in any
Regions.

Media Support in a Region: Negates Support Check requirement in that Region; Player with
most Media Support can switch Issue position during Momentum Phase.

c. Positioning on Issues: Player can add/remove opponent’s cubes to any/all issues

at the cost of 1 CP per first cube per issue, 2 CP per second cube per issue, etc.

Issue Support: Many Events benefit Player leading in certain Issues; Earns Player rewards
(Momentum Markers/Endorsement Cards) during Momentum Phase.

After a card is played for CP, the opposing Player may TRIGGER the Event to occur (as if he
had just played the Event) by spending 1 Momentum Marker.

Alternatively, a Player playing a card for CP may PREEMPT the other Player from potentially
later TRIGGERING an Event by paying 2 Momentum Markers immediately upon playing the
Card for CP, before resolving the CP.

3. Play their Candidate Card: Worth 5 CP. Turn card over. Can only be “flipped” back
from their “Exhausted” side for future use by certain Events.

Additionally, Player always receives Rest Cubes from his supply as indicated on the just played
card, placing them in his Rest Cube area.

C. Momentum Phase

1. Momentum Decay: both Players discard half their Momentum Markers (round down).
2. Momentum Awards & Endorsements: awarded based upon Issue Support in the
following order:
a. Third-place Issue: 1 Momentum Marker
b. Second-place issue: 1 Momentum Marker or Endorsement Card
c. First-place issue: 1 Momentum Marker and Endorsement Card
3. Issue Support Decay: remove 1 support cube (if any) from each issue.
4. Issue Shift: Player with most Media Support may swap two adjacent Issues on the Issue
Track.

D. Campaign Strategy Phase

1. Campaign Strategy: Both Players play one card (Turns 1-5) or two Cards (Turns 7-
8) face-down on their Campaign Strategy Card Stack. (Discard any remaining hand
cards). N.B. “Gathering Momentum” cards may not be played as Campaign Strategy
Cards.
2. Rest: Both Players deposit their accumulated Rest Cubes in the Political Capital Bag.
The Debates – Turn 6

Set-up

o Determine Initiative:
ƒ Normal Initiative Check. Winner has Initiative for duration of the Debates.
o Campaign Strategy
ƒ Both Players retrieve their 5 Campaign Strategy Cards for their stack.
o Set the Stage
ƒ Place the Debate board between Players and move the three Issue Tiles onto their
corresponding positions on the Debate Board (keep Support cubes on tiles).

Debate!
o Both Players select one card and reveal simultaneously.
1. Place card next to corresponding issue and on the side of the debate
according to the candidate icon on the card.
2. If card shows both candidate icons, player may decide which side to place.
3. If both cards have both candidate icons, Player with Initiative decides
who places first.
o Play proceeds until two cards have been played on the same side of an issue.
1. This issue is won by the Player with the highest CP on their side of the
Debate.
2. If tied, Player with Intitiative wins.
3. If two issues reach two cards simultaneously, they are resolved in
ascending order, lowest priority to highest.
o Remove won Issue and place on lowest position on the Issue Track.
o Discard all cards played on this issue, no further cards may be played on this issue
(discard future cards on this issue if required).
o Award State Support cubes as follows:
1. First issue won: 2 State Support cubes
2. Second issue won: 3 State Support cubes
3. Third issue won: 4 State Support cubes
o Proceed until all issues are won or no cards remain (if the latter, then resolve
remaining issues as above to Player with highest CP).
o After the Debates: Discard any remaining and all played Strategy cards.

Remember to apply all effects of any previously played Debate Event Cards during the Debates.
Election Day – Turn 9

1. Deposit Bonus Cubes

o Remove all media and issue support cubes from the board and place into Political
Capital Bag.
o Players exchange any remaining Momentum Markers for 2 cubes each (into bag).

2. Determine Initiative

o Normal Initiative Check: Winner has Initiative for duration of the Election.

3. Campaign Strategy

o Both Players retrieve their 4 Campaign Strategy Cards for their stack.
o Each player gets 3 Support Checks in the 4 States indicated by each card (lower
right). Player with Initiative resolves all cards first.

4. Election Day Events

o Resolve any Election Day Event cards in order determined by Player with
Initiative.

5. Endorsements and Undecided Voters

o Undecided States (no support cubes) at the end of the Election will “tip” toward
Player who has an Endorsement Marker in that State’s Region or, failing that,
towards the Candidate indicated by that State’s “edge” (the color of the shaded
State box).
o Add one support cube in each Undecided States accordingly.

6. Final Tally

o Players retrieve State Seals for each State they have won and tally Electoral Votes

Total available electoral votes = 537

Candidates need 269 Votes to win!