Why on earth did Nixon pick Henry Cabot Lodge Jr as his VP in 1960?

[One Term Floridian]

Lmao did he seriously hope to contest Massachusetts with the guy who literally lost the state to JFK in a Republican wave year? Arguably RN’s biggest blunder during the campaign, possibly tied with his 50-state pledge that kept him in Alaska instead of the big battlegrounds right before Election Night and it still only barely voted for him lol

Honestly, after the mess that was RN’s campaign that year it’s a miracle he made it as close as it was.

[One Term Floridian]

You should read from the Nixon Foundation website about his selection of Lodge:

https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2008/09/a-very-forgettable-vice-presidential-nominee/

It may have been one of the worst VP nominee selections for a serious presidential campaign.  After all, Kennedy defeated Lodge for Senate in 1952 (while the Republicans were sweeping the country and retook the Senate and House).

For 1960, Lodge's campaigning was ineffective and minimal, and Nixon essentially ran a solo campaign.

In his autobiography, Nixon wrote that he had asked Nelson Rockefeller to be his running mate (no love lost there, but it would have been a marriage of convenience like Kennedy-Johnson).  Rockefeller rejected it, but it could have moved New York (and other states) to the Republican column.

In retrospect, it's remarkable that Nixon came as close as he did.

Lol that NIXON Foundation article: “The biggest VP crash-and-burn candidate in recent memory was a man by the name of Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.” That’s really gotta sting for Lodge.