There's an interesting technological revolution that took off around the time Kennedy became the president:
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_First_Televised_Presidential_Debate.htm
Though Kennedy's election wasn't the first televised presidential debate, TV was still in its infancy. I watched some shit on YouTube that said when Abraham Lincoln did speeches/rallies/debates they would be like 4 fucking hours long and go into things with depth and complexity when Kennedy came around they dumbed down things to fit into like 4 minutes.
So I guess I would just add "television/1960s TikTok" to you saying he got elected "based on his name, wealth and looks". I haven't seen the presidential debate from Kennedy's era that got him elected but I can guess he probably worked extremely well in front of a camera and his charisma shined through the TV set.