This isn't technically an alternate history scenario, because I'm not yet specifically asking anyone to suggest a specific candidate or individual (though if you have something in mind, please share). Rather, I'm asking about general political attitudes in the United States during the middle of the 20th century.
In 1928, Al Smith, the first Catholic presidential candidate for a major party ticket, lost the general election in a landslide. In 1960, John F. Kennedy, the second such individual, narrowly won the general election. Both garnered some manner of opposition to their candidacies due to anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States. However, while there are any number of factors one could name for Smith's failure and Kennedy's success that had nothing to do with their religion, it seems reasonable to attribute part of the difference to both a weakening of anti-Catholic sentiment in the ensuing years, and a proportional growth in the number of Catholic voters.
So, what level of opposition could a Catholic presidential candidate have expected had they run in any of the elections from 1940 through 1952 - opposition, that is, merely based on nothing more than their religious affiliation. Was this period still too early for all but the most savvy of Catholic candidates to run and win? Or did the 1930s see an erosion of anti-Catholic sentiment sufficient to make such a candidate viable?
In 1928, Al Smith, the first Catholic presidential candidate for a major party ticket, lost the general election in a landslide. In 1960, John F. Kennedy, the second such individual, narrowly won the general election. Both garnered some manner of opposition to their candidacies due to anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States. However, while there are any number of factors one could name for Smith's failure and Kennedy's success that had nothing to do with their religion, it seems reasonable to attribute part of the difference to both a weakening of anti-Catholic sentiment in the ensuing years, and a proportional growth in the number of Catholic voters.
So, what level of opposition could a Catholic presidential candidate have expected had they run in any of the elections from 1940 through 1952 - opposition, that is, merely based on nothing more than their religious affiliation. Was this period still too early for all but the most savvy of Catholic candidates to run and win? Or did the 1930s see an erosion of anti-Catholic sentiment sufficient to make such a candidate viable?