October 25, 1960 -- An Alternative History

[Junkie]

I have recently come upon this forum.  While I do not understand the "kitten" "butterfly" or "hack" comments, I really enjoyed reading most of the timelines.  I have always found such scenarios fascinating.  With that said, here is one I have thought of for some time.  One other thing, I don't have the ability to make maps, so I apologize now.

[Junkie]

The 1960 Presidential Election

In The Making of the President 1960, Theodore White would later write of October 25, 1960, "considering the closeness of the election, the actions of the candidates on this day must be ranked among the most crucial of the last few weeks, if not the entire campaign."  The day found Vice President Richard Nixon gloomily campaigning in Ohio.  Just two months before, it appeared to everyone that he would succeed Eisenhower without much effort.  The Republican Convention had been a display of unity while the Democratic donnybrook had left the Stevenson loyalists bitter.  Time Magazine commented favorably about Nixon's acceptance speech, calling it a "supreme example of presidential timber" when compared to Senator Kennedy's disjointed and often flat offering.  However, September brought two cataclysmic eruptions to the campaign.  Despite clear instructions to steer clear of the religious issue, Nixon had to watch in frustration as Protestant clergy led by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale in New York attacked the Catholic Kennedy.  The Catholic vote became an almost unassailable bastion of Kennedy voters as a result.  Perhaps worse was the first televised debate on September 26.  Recovering from his illness, Nixon seemed to the lose the argument to all who watched.  While, the Vice President battled back with victories in the second and third debates, the fourth was widely considered a tie.  Even though Senator Kennedy was caught using notes during the third debate, a New York Times poll on October 22, revealed that the Vice President had lost the "experience vs. youth argument," long considered his best line of attack.

On October 19, 1960, both candidates addressed the American Legion in Miami, Florida.  While the Vice President clearly illustrated his grasp of the intricacies of national defense, the press devoted almost all of their attention to Kennedy.  The news cycle concentrated on Senator Kennedy's ability to counter the attacks and, in the opinion of the press, show, yet again, that he was at least the equal of the Vice President on the grand stage of defense and international relations.

At approximately the same time both candidates dueled over national defense, 53 African Americans were arrested at a sit-in at Rich's Department Store, Atlanta, Georgia.  By Wednesday, October 25, all of the protesters had been released on bail, except one.  That lone prisoner was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who held the highest esteem in the African American population and the lowest among Southern Whites.  For him alone, a technicality for a driving license offense was used to sentence Rev. King to four months hard labor in Reidsville State Prison.  Tensions were high as many were worried that the symbol of Civil Rights might be lynched.

Almost immediately upon hearing of the sentence, Judge Lawrence Walsh, the Deputy Attorney General in the Eisenhower Justice Department, drafted a statement calling for the release of the imprisoned minister.  A copy was sent to the Vice President in Ohio.  The Vice President felt trapped in the decision.  Ever since being elected to Congress, he had supported Civil Rights.  As Vice President, he had led the push in the Senate for the sweeping 1957 Civil Rights Bill only to see Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson emasculate it.  Nixon had fought for a strong Civil Rights Plank at his convention and had every intention to follow through.  That is, until his first sweep through the South as part of his 50 State Pledge.  Large crowds met him Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia.  As he sat looking at the drafted statement, Time magazine was predicting Virginia for Nixon due to Byrd's refusal to endorse Kennedy.  South Carolina also looked winnable due to large defections of segregationist whites and the covert support of Senator Thurmond.  Even Johnson's Texas appeared that it could go for the Republican Vice President.

However, President Eisenhower had won Louisiana based on the large majority run up in African American New Orleans and squeaked out a win in Kentucky (less than 5,000 votes) also based on the minority vote.  The Republican support among the African American population had dwindled since voting almost 80%-20% in favor of Hoover over FDR in 1932.  Historians pointed to Hoover's purge of the "black and tan" southern Republican delegations, as well as the widely popular New Deal programs.  Just four years later those percentages were reversed.  Republicans had battled back, many believed, only because of a consistent and aggressive Civil Rights agenda.

Nixon did not to even ask the opinion of his running mate, UN Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.  Lodge having witnessed the South's steadfast support of Catholic Al Smith and the liberal Adlai Stevenson believed that the area was lost to Republicans.  Only African American support had allowed Hoover and then Eisenhower to win a few states south of the Mason-Dixon in his opinion.  In fact, Lodge's promise, made without Nixon's approval, that a Nixon-Lodge administration would include at least one African American Cabinet member had caused polling drops throughout the South.

Nixon's campaign manager and long time fried, Robert Finch was divided.  A diehard progressive in the mold of Earl Warren, he devoutly believed in Civil Rights.  However, he also believed that country needed Nixon and did not want to make any strategic blunders.  Thus, on October 25, a phone call was placed to Prentiss Walker, the leader of the scaled "lilly white" Republican delegation from Mississippi.  Before the convention, Walker had led a successful purge of the moderate black and white Republicans in the Mississippi party delegation.  A firm believer in segregation, Walker believed that Southern Whites could have been plucked from the Democrats.  Nixon and Finch asked Walker's opinion.  Making reference to Lodge's campaign pledge, Walker told his party's presidential nominee, "Do what you want.  Lodge opened his mouth and already sank your chances down here."  Hanging up the phone, Finch and Nixon looked at the polls in the battleground states.  Comparisons were made to the 1956 election.  The urban centers were critical and at this point seemed to be slipping away.  Later, Robert Finch would say, "sometimes the right thing to do is good politics."  Historians would debate for decades whether it was moral or political concerns that carried the day.  Whatever the reason, a decision was made.

That night, Vice President Nixon went before the press and called for the immediate release of Rev. King.  The next day, the Eisenhower Justice Department made Massachusetts US Attorney Elliot Richardson a special prosecutor for a writ demanding the release the civil rights leader.  This was in sharp contrast to the Kennedy response.  Due to deals with Southern Governors, Senator Kennedy had promised not to intervene.  All Notre Dame Law Professor Harris Wofford could finagle was a phone call to King's wife.  Shortly thereafter, Rev. King was released safe to the arms of his pregnant wife.  

For the next week, the press compared the two responses.  Nixon took bold action while Kennedy attempted to appease everybody.  King's father, Rev. Martin Luther King Sr., who had originally endorsed Nixon on religious grounds, spoke up the next day, "Kennedy offered condolences, while Nixon showed that he will do what is right.  Well, Mr. Nixon I've got a suitcase of votes and I'm going to drop them right in your lap."  Rev. Abernathy later told Democratic strategists that African Americans "will never take off their Nixon pins now."  Shortly thereafter, the press questioned Kennedy about his vote against the 1957 Civil Rights Bill and the 1960 Anti-Lynching Bill further alienating minority and liberal voters.

In the following weeks, Nixon broke his 50 state pledge and decided to campaign in the voter rich states in the industrial belt, containing large amounts of African American votes.  While the campaign issues moved on to the economic downturn and Kennedy's Farm Plan (which the Chicago Tribune would later quote a Kennedy aide admitting was a mystery even to them), Nixon's action would reverberate for the rest of the campaign.     

[Junkie]

On November 8, 1960 Nixon would win the closest ever race for the presidency.  In Louisiana, the high Catholic vote was barely able to hold the state for Kennedy despite large African American turnout for Nixon in New Orleans.  The economic message turned Montana and Florida to Kennedy in the last days of the campaign.  Alaska also went to Kennedy.  Some would say that this was bitterness on the broken pledge.  However, polls showed this state going Democratic for quite some time before the election.

Theodore White's analysis revealed how important the urban vote was for the Republicans.  Nixon won Michigan by 67,000 votes with 150,000 African Americans pulling the Nixon lever.  Illinois went for Nixon by a mere 11,000 votes largely due to 225,000 African American votes.  Similar trends were evident in New Jersey and Missouri.  Even in South Carolina, which Kennedy won by a little over 10,000 votes, was so close due to 40,000 African American votes that almost made up for the defecting white votes.

PV:  Nixon/Lodge (Republican) 49.7%

       Kennedy/Johnson (Democratic) 49.3%

EV:   Nixon/Lodge (R) 279

   Kennedy/Johnson (D) 243

   Byrd/Thurmond (I) 14 (8 from Mississippi, 6 from Alabama)

   Byrd/Goldwater (I) 1 (a "faithless elector" from Oklahoma)

State Carried:

   Nixon/Lodge (R) 28 states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Missouri Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

   Kennedy/Johnson (D) 20 states -- Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and 5 electoral votes from Alabama

   Byrd/Thurmond (I) although not on the ballot, received the votes of "unpledged delegates" from 2 states -- Alabama (6) and Mississippi.

Senate Elections:

   Democrats: 64 (-1)   
   
   Republicans: 36 (+1)

   Races of Note:

      North Dakota Special Election : In June 1960, North Dakota Congressman (2nd District) Quentin Burdick (D) defeated popular sitting Governor Clarence Brunsdale (R) 49.72 % to 49.19% in a special election to replace the deceased Senator Langer (R).  This election led many Kennedy strategists to believe that the West was winnable.  While that push did not result in a victory in North Dakota for the Democratic Presidential nominee, it is widely believed that the Kennedy win in Montana is a result of this increased campaigning in the region.

      Delaware Senate Election:  Even while then Vice President Nixon was loosing the state, J. Caleb Boggs (R) unseated incumbent Senator J. Allen Frear (D) 50.7% to 49.3%.  This was believed to largely on Boggs more consistent economic message that differed from that of the national campaign.

      Michigan Senate Election:  Based in large part to African American turnout for Nixon, Rep. Alvin Bentley III (R), victim of the 1954 U.S. Capitol shooting, defeated Patrick McNamara 50.7% to 48.3%.

      Wyoming Senate Election:  Edwin K. Thomson (R) won the race easily, only to die before his senate term commenced.  The Democratic Governor appointed John Hickey (D).  This appointment kept the Republican gains to just one seat.

   Leadership
      
      Majority Leader: Senator Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Tex.)

      Minority Leader: Senator Everett Dirksen (R-Ill.)

House Elections

   Democrats: 263 ( -20)

   Republicans: 174 ( +21)

   Independents: 0 (-1)

   Leadership:

      Majority Leader: Sam Rayburn (D-Tex.)

      Minority Leader: Charles Halleck (R-Ind.)

Other Elections of Note

   Illinois:  In one of the most illustrative examples of ticket splitting, Illinois voters went narrowly for Nixon but also voted for Otto Kerner (D) in the Governor's Race.  Voters also reelected Cook County District Attorney Benjamin Adamowski (R).  The fate of the Republicans in the Governor's race was later chalked up to the series of scandals occurring in the William Stratton (R) administration.

[tmthforu94]

Very, very interesting. You have a gift for writing.
If you go to the link below, you can make the maps there. When you are done, go down to the bottom and click "Show Map Link". A box will appear, with a bunch of funny looking numbers and letters in it. Copy that, and paste it here, in your post. It will show up.

Link: http://www.uselectionatlas.org/TOOLS/evcalc.php

[Psychic Octopus]

Excellent start. If you want to make maps, just check out this generator, https://uselectionatlas.org/TOOLS/evcalc.php.

It has links to every election going back to 1840, and you can play with the results.

Check out my timeline, too!

[Dancing with Myself]

Pretty Good, make sure to use teh EVC

[tmthforu94]

Here is what the map would look like under your scenario. Although, according to this, Nixon had 282 votes, to Kennedy's 236.

[Bo]

The butterfly effect is when some event in the past does not occur since you change something else in the past. For instance, if Nixon is elected in 1960, JFK is not assasinated in 1963.

Good TL, by the way.

[ej2mm15]

Great start! It'll be interesting to see what would've happened if nixon won the election in 1960.
Check out my TL too.

[Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey]

This is a great TL! Can't wait to see how the sixties unfold under Nixon. Keep it coming!

[Junkie]

A couple of things.  Thanks for the tips on the maps.  It clearly beats my calculations by hand...obviously.  Also, I knew the butterfly thing but I guess I have just purged anything having to with Ashton Kutcher from my mind.  Here is the next update.

[Junkie]

The Presidency of Richard M. Nixon (Part I)

Before midnight on November 8, 1960, the New York Times went to press with KENNEDY ELECTED PRESIDENT.  In his memoirs, the Managing Editor Turner Cartledge wrote, "all night I hoped in vain that a certain midwestern mayor would steal enough votes to pull Kennedy through."  While Truman seemed to delight in the miscall during the 1948 election, newly elected President Nixon did not.  There were no pictures of him holding up the front page and smiling.  He rarely commented on it.  His closest aides knew, however, that he kept a copy in the oval office, almost as a haunting reminder as to how close it was.  Many believed it was the specter of Kennedy that dictated many of Nixon's decisions.  As one aide said, "one of our major goals was to try to isolate Kennedy and prevent him from ever getting a platform on which to run again."

The Nixon Administration was as follows:

Vice President:       Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
Secretary of State:     William P. Rodgers
Secretary of Treasury:    C. Douglas Dillon
Secretary of Defense:     Thomas S. Gates
Attorney General:     Elliot Richardson
Postmaster General:    Hugh Meade Alcorn
Secretary of Interior:     Fred Seaton
Secretary of Agriculture: Clarence Brunsdale
Secretary of Commerce: Charles Percy
Secretary of Labor:    J. Ernest Wilkins Sr.
Secretary of HEW:    James P. Mitchell

UN Ambassador:    Christian Herter
Chief of Staff:      Robert Finch


On January 20, 1961, Richard Nixon took the oath of office becoming the 35th President of the United States.  The New York Times called the new Cabinet "an interesting blend of old Eisenhower talent and fresh faces that is distinctly Nixon."  No surprise was Nixon keeping Fred Seaton at Interior and moving James P. Mitchell, the lone Democrat in the Administration, to HEW.  These two had joined with Nixon in a failed attempt to persuade Ike to take more aggressive anti-recession measures, even at the cost of unbalancing the budget.  Thomas Gates was viewed as one of the best Defense Secretaries.  His stay at the Pentagon was viewed favorably by both political parties.  Of the replacements, the replacement of Robert Anderson at Treasury and Ezra Taft Benson at Agriculture with C. Douglas Dillon and Clarence Brunsdale were easily understood.  It was a badly kept secret that Eisenhower believed Anderson more qualified than Nixon and thus the moving of Anderson to be Ambassador to the Soviet Union was seen as removing any possible power struggles.  Likewise, Taft Benson was fired due to long running feuds Nixon and the Agriculture Secretary had over farm policy.  C. Douglas Dillon, former investment banker, undersecretary of state and Ambassador to France, and Brunsdale, former Governor of North Dakota, were well qualified picks that met with little resistance.

The moving aside of Christian Herter to UN Ambassador to make room for one of Nixon's best friends, William Rogers, did raise some eyebrows.  However, most commentators agreed that a President deserves a Secretary of State they trust implicitly.  Rogers, who had worked with and for Nixon since the late 1940's, clearly fit the bill.  Also, nobody could make the argument that Rogers, Eisenhower's Attorney General, was not qualified for the position.  Most observers expected Senator Thruston Morton (R-KY) to be appointed Postmaster General.  Nixon however needed Morton in the Senate.  However he did need a powerful patronage boss to counter the conservative moves within the party now that might come with the appointment of Rep. William Miller (R-NY) as RNC Chair.  Thus Nixon found Morton's predecessor as RNC Chair, Meade Alcorn, and convinced him to keep control of the party by becoming Postmaster General.

None of the above nominations caused any stir, all passing with large majorities.  The same could not be said of the last three.  Charles Percy, former CEO of Bell-Howell and Chairman of the 1960 Republican Platform Committee, seemed a natural pick for Commerce.  However, several conservative Senators, led by Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) were still angry over the "Compact on 5th Avenue" and saw a way to get revenge.  Percy held up to the strain and was narrowly confirmed.  J. Ernest Wilkins, Sr., a former Under Secretary of Labor in the Eisenhower Administration and current member of the U.S. Civil Rights Administration, ran into even stiffer opposition, this time from Southern Democrats who did want an African American Cabinet Secretary.  While at the time many wondered if Nixon only made the appointment to fullfill Lodge's campaign pledge, most eventually saw the political moves behind the scene.  Wilkins had been dismissed by Eisenhower due to a difference of opinion.  During the campaign, the Kennedy-Johnson campaign made much of the dismissal, stating that it illustrated how the Republicans were only for Civil Rights when people were looking.  Those statements put Senator Kennedy (D-Mass) and Majority Leader Johnson (D-Tex) in a difficult position.  Kennedy spoke in favor of the appointment, calling it "enlightened" and "past due."  Senator Humphrey (D-Minn.) even went further challenging any Senator to name a reason the nominee was unqualified that did not have to do with race.  At the Democratic Caucus, Johnson spelled out the political realities.   Northern Democrats needed the African American vote, thus Democrats could be seen to stop it.  He told them, "rail against, cuss them out, scream at high heaven, vote against it.  I don't care.  But this goes to a vote."  It did and Wilkins was confirmed as the first African American Cabinet Secretary.

Elliot Richardson, former Under Secretary of HEW and US Attorney who secured the release of Dr. King, brought problems from conservative Republicans and Southern Democrats.  His confirmation took longer but timely support from Goldwater and former President Harry Truman eventually carried the day.  In the end, a historian would label the cabinet "the perfect blend of experience and vision.  It was truly the best and brightest."  Looking Nixon's cabinet, Rep. Charles Halleck (R-Ind) said, "you'd never guess that he was the conservative one on the ticket."

On April 17, 1961 1,300 Cuban exiles with CIA support landed at the Bay of Pigs in an attempt to overthrow the Castro regime.  By about 10:00 EST, it became very apparent that the invasion would fail without American support.  At an emergency NSC meeting, the principals were divided.  Most spent their time criticizing the CIA for creating such a blunder.  Then Attorney General Elliot Richardson spoke up.  He calmly told the President about his time during the second wave of the Normandy Invasion, stating, "without air and naval gun support, we would have been cut to ribbons.  It was as close to hell on earth as anyone can imagine."  President Nixon paused for a minutes that seemed to last for an hour.  "I sent them there.  I won't leave them to die.  Send everything that will fly."  With that, Secretary Thomas Gates took over and began to run the operation with absolute efficiency.  A U.S. Naval Task Force on "exercise" in the area provided gun support while Navy and Air Force aircraft streaked into break up the advancing tank convoys.  US Army Special Forces under the command of Lt. Col. Arthur "Bull" Simmons parachuted in and made contact with anti-Castro forces fighting in the mountains.  These rebel groups attacked convoys and created havoc behind the enemy lines.  On April 19, Fidel Castro was killed in a U.S. airstrike as he attempted to rally his troops around the disintegrating front line.

On April 21, anti-Castro forces entered Havana.  However, the fighting was fierce and it became readily apparent that more men were needed.  The 101st Airborne under the command of Major General William Westmoreland deployed and within a week, that unit plus follow on Marine Brigades had the country under control.  The Soviet Union was warned by Ambassador Anderson to stay out of it with a brisk, "remember Budapest."  While they protested at the United Nations, they did not become involved.  Democrats and Republicans praised the President's bold action, although most waited until after it was clear it was a success.  In the end, the American people favored the "liberation" of Cuba. Nixon approval rating went up to 71%.  Nixon however, quietly demanded that the CIA be fixed and that the new Cuban government be unimpeachable.  Both decisions would lead a number of CIA and Cuban fighters to become angry at the President.

[Junkie]

CONT.

On May 5, Alan Shepard would become the first American in space.  Two weeks later, Nixon would call for an extended space program that would put an American on the moon in order to ensure "that heavens are forever free."  Although his approval ratings would stabilize at generally normal levels, President Nixon clearly felt emboldened.  He would increase spending and unbalance the budget for the first time in a non-recession, no war period.  Nixon would create the Department of Housing and Infrastructure Development (HID) and name California Republican Assemblyman Cap Weinberger as its first Secretary.  In November, 1961, Secretary of Labor James Mitchell was elected Governor of New Jersey based largely on the popularity of the President.  He was replaced as Secretary by former California Governor Goodwin Knight.

As 1962 came about, President Nixon called for equal right for all proposing the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1962, which equalized immigration policies for people from non-European countries, and the Civil Right Act of 1962.  Both bills met almost immediate resistance from conservative Republicans and Southern Democrats.  Historians later debate if the timing of the bills was designed to force Democrats, preparing for reelection, into an almost impossible choice.  Senator Kennedy, who was running for Governor of Massachusetts, immediately felt the pressure.  In fact, the Immigration bill almost seemed to copy ideas he had pressed for.  After almost four months of constant debate, both bills passed.  At the same Attorney General Elliot Richardson became one of the more dynamic members of the cabinet, leading large scale prosecutions of Mafia leaders.  Additionally he personally took charge of the Justice Department operations in support of the Freedom Riders and James Meredith.

In March 1962, Justice Whittaker stepped down from the Supreme Court.  He was soon followed by Justice Frankfurter, who had had a stroke.    To replace Whittaker, President Nixon nominated 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William Hastie, a former District Judge and Governor of the Virgin Islands, to be the first African American Supreme Court Justice.  Chief Justice Earl Warren opposed the nomination saying that other than on civil rights, Hastie was to conservative and would vote against everything Warren was trying to do.  That of course made up Nixon's mind, who had held a grudge against Warren since 1952.  Senator Goldwater was originally wary, but after meeting the nominee, not only withdrew his support but led the fight with moderates of both parties to overcome the Southern stall tactics.  To replace Frankfurter, Nixon felt compelled to retain the "Jewish seat" and nominated New York Attorney General Louis Lefkowitz.  Both were confirmed.

By June, 1962, the Supreme Court was as follows:

E. Warren (Chief), H. Black, W. Douglas, T.C. Clark, J. Harlan III, W. Brennan, W. Hastie, L. Lefkowitz

As the country headed into the midterm elections, the President remained popular.  However, inflation and unemployment had begun to rise.  Thus, Democrats decided to run on an economic message of tax cuts.  This would carry Senator Kennedy to victory by a large margin over incumbent Governor Volpe (R) in Massachusetts.  The successful Civil Rights laws kept the overwhelming African American majority in the Republican camp.  Interestingly, the new Republicans in the Senate both appeared to be conservative: Peter Domineck (R-NM), Milward Simpson (R-WY).  Homer Capehart (R-Ind) won largely because his warnings about Cuba were acted upon.

Senate Elections:

   Democrats: 66 (+2)

   Republicans: 34 (-2)

House Elections:

   Democrats: 258 (-5)

   Republicans: 177 (+3)

[Junkie]

Wondering what people think and if they have any suggestions.

[James Rivington]

Ah, quite interesting work. If I were to make a minor suggestion, I'd try to add a picture or two near the middle, it draws more attention to it, and receives more positive acclaim.

[Junkie]

The Presidency of Richard M. Nixon (Part II)

In January 1963, President Nixon took stock of the national landscape.  The 1962 Congressional elections were a mixed result.  The Democrats had increased their majority in the Senate.  More troubling was that the Republican Minority appeared to be getting more conservative.  In the House, the President's party had made minimal gains.  However, Republicans wins in urban areas had led to a slightly more moderate, if not "progressive," caucus.  The passing of the 23rd Amendment granting 3 electoral college votes for Washington D.C. was seen as a boon to Nixon's reelection, due to the President's high approval ratings among African Americans.

However, the President and Robert Finch were worried.  The Nixon Administration had increased domestic spending, leading the country slowly out of the recession of the last days of the Eisenhower era.  There had been moderate growth, but entering 1963 it appeared the country might be entering another recession.  The possibility of a fourth Republican recession had given the Democrats the window to make gains in spite of a fairly popular President Nixon.  Nixon knew bold action was needed.  He decided to co-opt the Democratic "tax cut" platform led by recently elected Governor John Kennedy (D-MA).  President Nixon hoped that fairly deep tax cuts across the board would stimulate the economy and deny the Democrats an issue in 1964. Thirty years later, such political moves would be called "triangulation."  

Having run on a platform of tax cuts, the Democrats were expected to vote in large numbers for the President's plan.  Yet on the Republican side, many old "Taft" conservatives and new "Goldwater" conservatives were against any tax cuts unless they were accompanied by decreases in spending.  President Nixon believed that the "Old Guard" that controlled the Republican side in the House of Representatives would stall a number of initiatives he had in mind.  Before the new Congress convened, President Nixon, Robert Finch, and other chief aides had a secret meeting with a group of younger, moderate Republicans led by Gerald Ford (R-Mich.) and Melvin Laird (R-Wis) called the "Young Turks."  An agreement was reached.  The President would quietly support a coup by the Young Turks for the Republican House leadership positions and the new leadership would push the tax cuts.  Gerald Ford was chosen to run against Charles Halleck (R-Ind) for Minority Leader and Laird to replace Ford House Republican Conference Chair, the number 3 spot.  Even though Lesli Arends (R-IL) was very conservative, the group decided not to challenge him due to his consistent support for Civil Rights.  The fight was fierce and very close, but in the end, the "Young Turks" were in charge.

The President's tax plan was immediately brought before Congress but ran into trouble, despite the efforts of Ford and Laird.  The bill would languish.  While Nixon continued to push for it, the economy appeared to improve, causing many to question the need for the tax cuts.

Nixon continued to push ahead in the realm of Civil Rights.  The administration encouraged local Republican legislators to speed up ratification of the 24th Amendment, banning the poll tax.  The Amendment was ratified in June 1963 when Kentucky, Maine, and South Dakota ratified the Amendment.  

Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his dynamic team continued to be one of the brightest spots in the Federal Government.  Joseph Califano, special Assistant to Richardson, was nearly killed rescuing protesters in Mississippi.  Along with his Civil Rights Adviser, James L. Farmer, the founder and former director of the Congress of Racial Equality, Richardson planned the response to Governor Wallace's refusal to allow African Americans into the University of Alabama.  Backed by US Marshalls, Richardson confronted Wallace at the University doors and secured entry for the two black students.

In the world of organized crime, Richardson's Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Jack Miller, led many investigations into Chicago "Outfit" Boss Sam Giancana, the crime families of New York and Philadelphia, and criminal activities of Union leadership.  Miller would eventually convict Jimmy Hoffa of bribery and perjury.  The Justice Department would gain new tools with the passage of the Wiretap and RICO federal statutes.  

On November 6, 1963, after stepping down from the Justice Department, Elliot Richardson would defeat appointed incumbent Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) in the special election to replace Governor John Kennedy.

Internationally, Nixon continued a strong yet flexible approach to communism.  He continued his quite purge of the CIA by appointing Thomas Gates Director of the Agency.  John McCone, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, replaced Gates as Defense Secretary.  U.S. troops continued to be stationed in Cuba as the fledgling government fought the few remaining communist rebels hiding in the mountains.  In March, 1963, Captain Pete Dawkins would win the Medal of Honor for saving his company during a rebel attack.  Using superior airpower and artillery support, Captain Dawkins, a former Heisman Trophy winner and Rhodes Scholar, would call strikes in on his own position.  Within minutes, the back of the rebels attack was broken.  This would be the last major offensive by the communists.  By 1965, the rebels were defeated.

Secretary of State William Rodgers concluded talks resolving the 1962 Sino-Indian War.  Ostensibly to end a conflict in a strategically important region, the Nixon administration used the peace talks as a way to establish covert relations with Communist China.  There had already been clashes on the Sino-Soviet border.  Additionally, both the U.S. and China were alarmed by the increasing Soviet involvement in Vietnam.  These talks remained preliminary and very secret, but gave Nixon the room to increase advisers in South Vietnam to 16,000 troops to help fight the Soviet and North Vietnamese backed communist groups in the South.

Ever since Cuba, the US and the Soviets had entered a very fragile understanding.  Regimes within each others' sphere of influence could be undermined, but intervention by within that sphere was to be unchallenged.  Thus the Nixon administration decided not to back the Baathist party's coup attempt in Iraq.  Many Baath party leaders were killed, including a young Army officer named Saddam Hussein.  Nixon and Secretary of State Rogers negotiated and signed a Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and entered into negotiations to begin grain sales to the Soviets.

By November 1963, the Nixon Administration seemed to be well on track.  Other than the stalled tax cut plan, almost every initiative proposed was succeeding or appearing to succeed.  However, one concern remained.  Nixon worried that he was loosing control of the two opposite wings of the Party.  This of course had been made worse by his intervention in the "Young Turks" rebellion in the House.  The current battleground appeared in Texas where George H.W. Bush, a Houston based moderate, and John Tower, the failed 1960 conservative senate candidate, were fighting for control of the State Republican party.  Both wanted to be the party's nominee against Ralph Yarborough (D-Tex) in the 1964 election.

On November 22, 1963, President Nixon traveled to Houston, Texas, supposedly to inspect NASA facilities.  The real reason was an attempt to stop the split in the party.  The President first went on a parade through downtown Houston with sitting Governor John Connally (D-Tex.).  President Nixon was shot and killed by affirmed communist and Castro supporter Lee Harvey Oswald.  Vice President Henry Cabot Lodge was sworn in as 36th President of the United States.

[Vosem]

Excellent. Keep it coming, Junkie -- this is interesting and realistic. You have a gift for writing.

On November 6, 1963, after stepping down from the Justice Department, Elliot Richardson would defeat appointed incumbent Senator Theodore Kennedy (D-Mass) in the special election to replace Governor John Kennedy.

Who did Nixon nominate to replace Richardson?

[Historico]

Wow, Looks like I have another fellow writer whosea uas big a user of the 20 year curse as I am lol. Wow this is a n awesome timeline, the detail and writing style is incredible, eventhough Secretary Wilkins Sr died in January of 1959, about a year and half before the POD(Eventhough a great pick). . I guess the American People wont have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore. It should be interesting to see Lodge as the Incumbent President, because allthough he did find his voice IOTL during thhe 1964 Race, he's no where near the intense campaigner and Political Headmaster that Johnson was. The Democratic Race will be very interesting...Maybe former Governor Soappy Williams of Michigan, Governor Pat Brown of California or Senator James Ramsey Clark could all potentially have the nomination if Jack decides against...Which Im not sure he wont with a second chance to wipe the floor with old Lodge.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Excellent. Keep it coming, Junkie -- this is interesting and realistic. You have a gift for writing.

On November 6, 1963, after stepping down from the Justice Department, Elliot Richardson would defeat appointed incumbent Senator Theodore Kennedy (D-Mass) in the special election to replace Governor John Kennedy.

Did you mean "Ted" Kennedy?

Kennedy was also uneglible (less than 20 year old) until his election in special.

Who did Nixon nominate to replace Richardson?

[Junkie]

Excellent. Keep it coming, Junkie -- this is interesting and realistic. You have a gift for writing.

On November 6, 1963, after stepping down from the Justice Department, Elliot Richardson would defeat appointed incumbent Senator Theodore Kennedy (D-Mass) in the special election to replace Governor John Kennedy.

Did you mean "Ted" Kennedy?

Kennedy was also uneglible (less than 20 year old) until his election in special.

Who did Nixon nominate to replace Richardson?

Several things to address:

(1) Richardson was replaced by J. Lee Rankin, Solicitor General from 1956 to 1961 and Deputy Attorney General from 1961 to 1963
(2) Yes I meant Ted.  I can be an idiot from time to time.
(3) Ted Kennedy turned 30 in 1962.  Jack became Governor in 1963, thus Ted was of legal age.
(4) You are right about Wilkins Sr.  I thought he fit very well.  Will work on fixing that.

Thanks for the comments.  I am still working out how to do this.  Every time I work on an another update I have even more respect for all the authors who have created the great timelines that made me want to do this in the first place.

[Junkie]

The Funeral of Richard M. Nixon

Three days after the assassination, the body of President Richard Nixon was buried at Yorba Linda, California in accordance with the wishes of his will.  Today, his death is often met with debate as to the findings of the Warren Commission. However, on November 25, 1963, the country was not preoccupied about supposed plots involving mafia leaders, ex CIA employees, and segregationist members of the Alabama Air Guard.  Instead, the world almost seemed to stand still, as the leaders of over 90 countries descended on the growing small town where the deceased President had been born.  It was one of the last public appearances by former President Herbert Hoover, who died the following year.

Eulogies were given by Secretary of State William Rodgers, former President Dwight Eisenhower, and the new President, Henry Cabot Lodge.  Rodgers could barely hold back his tears as he movingly described one of his dearest friends.  Eisenhower spoke warmly, perhaps for the first time, of his former Vice President.  Many observers noted that the former President displayed a respect based on how Nixon grew into the job of the Presidency in ways that Eisenhower never expected.  President Lodge praised the accomplishments of his deceased colleague and boss.  All three of these eulogists spoke of the assassinated leader as a great man.

However, it was the man who spoke after Eisenhower but before Lodge that seemed to create the mythical aura that would surround the Nixon Presidency for generations to come.  In what Theodore White called a "half sermon/half stump speech, Governor Kennedy did not come to bury Nixon, but to praise him."  The defeated Presidential candidate's request to speak at the funeral came fairly late, but was heartfelt and quickly accepted.  The Governor of Massachusetts differed from the others in that he spoke not of Nixon as a man, or even a President, but rather as symbol and an idea.  He did not praise any specific accomplishment or act.  Rather, Kennedy words of Nixon rang out, calling the man who defeated him, "a symbol of liberty and equality that no bullet can ever extinguish."  Kennedy spoke of freedom, peace, and the ideals of the Founding Fathers.  He praised the fight for free people everywhere that can never be silenced and called on "those who cherish freedom to pick up our President's banner and carry it onward."

Years later, Ted Sorensen would write how this speech, considered among the finest oratorical offerings ever given by Kennedy, came to be.  Sorensen and Kennedy stayed up through the night reading the speeches of Abraham Lincoln, and perhaps more importantly, William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Perhaps taking away from the beauty of the speech was the motive.  Sorenson would admit that Kennedy wanted the speech to "take back our ideas from that son of a bitch."

Most would not suspect those motives at the time.  However, one person saw them clearly.  After hearing Kennedy, Chief of Staff Robert Finch turned to President Lodge and stated, "he's running next year."  Lodge seemed surprised and asked how Finch was so sure.  Finch replied tightly, "because he just established himself as the rightful heir to the Nixon legacy."

[Historico]

And thus...Lodge V. Kennedy 2.0...Bigger and Badder than ever!!!

[Junkie]

The Presidency of Henry Cabot Lodge

On November 27, 1963, President Henry Cabot Lodge addressed a joint session of Congress.  The new President started his speech saying, "our hearts are heavy.  I would gladly give everything I have to not be standing before you today.  While that is not possible, I will give all of body and soul to continue the cause of our fallen leader and my dear friend."  President Lodge started that night calling for many of the reforms that President Nixon had started before he died.

In the realm of Civil Rights, Lodge pushed even more strenuously for equality.  He called for and pushed the Voting Rights Act of 1964.  This bill would eventually pass in August, but it was a close and often controversial debate.  While Congress discussed and worked on the bill, in March 1964, Rev. King and John Lewis organized a series of marches in Selma, Alabama.  The first march was met with immediate violence and would be called "Bloody Sunday."  It would be followed by two more marches.  The last was protected by 1,000 soldiers of the U.S. Army and hundreds of US Marshalls.  During this march, religious delegations from across the country came to march in support.  A Unitarian delegation from Boston was led by Senator Elliot Richardson (R-MA) who was in the middle of a very close reelection bid.  These marches would later become the political and emotional peak of the Civil Rights Movement.

In foreign affairs, Lodge was perhaps even more active than his predecessor.  During the August riots in Panama, Lodge authorized the military to defend the Canal.  At the conclusion of the riots, Special Assistant to the Attorney General Joseph Califano would represent the U.S. at the International Tribunal and prove that Panamanian rioters were the instigation of the violence.  Diplomatic relations would be reinstated when President Lodge agreed to talks about control of the Canal.  However, while the Administration was willing to cede to more local control in some areas, Lodge stated very clearly that the "Canal is ours."

President Lodge also made a tour of Africa in April of 1964.  While UN Ambassador, Lodge had developed close relationships with several leaders of the very new African countries.  Lodge pressed for decolonization and promised aid to support these fledgling governments.  He created the Action Corps as a department of the State Department and was modeled after the very successful private Accion agency already doing volunteer work in South America.  It was of course no surprise that young Californian Republican Joseph Blatchford, the organizer of Accion, was named the first head of the Action Corps.

The President also attempted to reform the United Nations.  He called for Japan to gain a permanent seat on the Security Council and for the ten elected seats to be rotated among the larger states.  Neither reform would go very far.  Lodge also began negotiations for Communist China to gain a permanent seat, but insisted that Taiwan keep its status within the organization.  This move would lead to the resignation of Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, Walter Judd, the former Congressman from Minnesota.

In Southeast Asia, North Vietnam continued its support of guerrilla groups inside South Vietnam.  When North Vietnamese troops began to attack inside the south in large numbers, the Lodge Administration decided to strike back.  American and South Vietnamese troops crossed the DMZ and destroyed the communist bases and antiaircraft positions.  This was followed by Operation "Rolling Thunder," where American and allied aircraft began an intensive bombing campaign of North Vietnam's airfields and military installations.  China, already wary of increased Soviet influence on their southern border, would publicly condemn the operation but also secretly tacitly agree to the attacks.  It was even rumored that intelligence was shared as part of a quid pro quo for US support in the United Nations.  After three weeks of intense fighting, allied forces pulled back across the DMZ, having destroyed the North's ability, for the time being, to meaningfully intervene in the South.  These tactics were watched carefully around the world and later adopted by Israel in its operations in the Middle East.

While the President was very successful in the realm of foreign affairs and civil rights, the economy continued to be an issue.  President Lodge was a student of the Eisenhower school of fiscal discipline.  He did not believe in deficits.  While he did believe in moderate tax cuts, he thought it potentially foolish in light of increased domestic and foreign spending.  Thus, while not fully walking away from the Nixon tax cut plan, he began an attempt to scale back the cuts and couple them with spending restrictions.  Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) said it was one domestic act that President Lodge and he were in agreement about.  That of course did not make it very popular.

American automobile manufacturers were also being hurt by increased shipments of Volkswagens.  Union and business leaders called for a tax on imports of these items from West Germany.  While President Lodge was attempting to work out French and West German tariffs on American chickens, many thought this would a way to level the playing field.  President Lodge, while originally from his Grandfather's school of high tariffs, had modified his approach to international and economic affairs.  Lodge, who would raise tariffs on some German items, decided that automobiles were to important to the German economy and that West Germany needed to be a strong economically viable bulwark against Communism.  Governor George Romney (R-Mich), who had won a very close election in 1962 and was the former CEO of American Motors, said that while it would force American automobile companies to become competitive, "it just cost us Michigan."

Lodge also angered many when he backed down during a potential fight with US Steel.  US Steel had reneged on a agreement with union leaders and decided to raise steel prices.  Many commentators noted that the company had not done this while President Nixon had been in office.  The confrontation caused President Lodge to be viewed as a candidate of big business and out of touch with the working man.

As the Presidential Election drew near, Americans were fairly divided on Lodge.  While the voting public approved of Lodge's actions in international relations and domestic policy, they disagreed with him on economic and tax policy.  President Lodge's approval ratings were hovering in the range of high 40s to low 50s. 

[Dancing with Myself]

Go Kennedy 64!

[Historico]