What Should Nixon Have Done in Order to Win in 1960?

[Lincoln Republican]

Yes, but everything has to go just right in several states.

Do you think IL and TX were rigged for JFK?

It can never be proven conclusively that Illinois and Texas were rigged, however, there is plenty of evidence that with the Daley machine in Cook County and the Johnson influence in Texas, that this could have pushed Kennedy over the top in both states, through fraudulent means.

But like I say, this cannot be proven beyond doubt here in 2010.

[Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey]

Yes, but everything has to go just right in several states.

Do you think IL and TX were rigged for JFK?

I don't know if we can prove that they were rigged to the point where Nixon would have won without the rigging, but it's a fact that in Fannin County, TX, more people voted then that were registered (Fannin went to JFK) and that in Angelina County the vote tally was 147 for Kennedy but 24 for Nixon when only 86 people lived there. Also Earl Mazo, a reporter for the New York Herald Tribune, found out that a bunch of Kennedy voters in Illinois were actually dead and another bunch somehow all lived in a demolished and decrepit house in Illinois. Do we know whether those votes would have carried Nixon? I don't think we can ever find out. But it's safe to assume that there was some rigging in both IL and TX.

One thing I'm wondering is if there was any vote fraud on Nixon's side? 

[Bo]

I think Nixon shouldn't have made his pledge to campaign in fifty states, since that led to him having to campaign in states he had no chance of winning or states that wouldn't matter.

Agreed.

Also, Nixon should've done a radio-only debate. Those who listened to it on the radio thought Nixon won, but those who watched it on TV thought JFK won.

Agreed. If Nixon had to do a TV debate, he should have shaved and worn some makeup. Also, he should have not injured his leg on the campaign trail (or at the very least, he should have taken a break from campaigning right after he came out of the hospital), since this led to him looking uncomfortable and sickly during the debate.

Also, I think that Nixon should have spent more time in swing states like Illinois, Missouri, Texas, and New Jersey, since those were close states within his reach. Had he not made the 50 states pledge he probably would have won them, or at the very least, he would have stood a greater shot. Had he carried all of those states, he would have won (but he would have won with just Illinois and Texas or Illinois, New Jersey, and Missouri). 

I agree that Nixon should have agreed to a radio-only debate and that he should have campaigned more in large swing states. However, Nixon injuring his leg was kinda out of his control, and I read that he didn't wear makeup because he saw how the media criticized Hubert Humphrey (I think) for wearing makeup during one of his debates with JFK (for the Democratic nomination). Also, i think Nixon should have been much more aggressive with Kennedy in the debates, since I think many people (and the media) criticized him for always agreeing with Kennedy while Kennedy criticized Eisenhower.

Actually, if he hadn't been in friggin' North Carolina, it probably wouldn't have happened.

It was an accident. Those kinds of things could happen to anybody. I'm sure Nixon was pretty careful.