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Let's Start with Hard Times
Son of a pious Quaker family in Yorba Linda, California, Richard Milhouse Nixon (named after the great English King) desired following the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola in terms of "setting the world on fire". A graduate from Duke, Nixon was well armed with all the knowledge he needed to set out his goal: one which was predestined for him. All he had to do was grab his birthright.
He found his birthright in the congressional race for California's 12th district. 1946 was already looking like a good year for Republicans, as the countless strikes and an economic slump rattled the Truman administration (two phoenixes have already been mentioned at this point). And he would have the honor of defeating Democratic congressman Jerry Voorhis, a thorn on the Republican GOP's side (he was aided by the lovely men of the gerrymandering industry).
In order to win, the recent veteran knew he had to identify an enemy. "Just like all of America was united against the Swastika and the Rising Sun, now America is united against the hammer and the sickle" muttered Milhouse to himself, chuckling momentarily after. "I'll get you, you son of a gun."
Two factors were working in candidate Nixon's favor. One was that while congressman Voorhis was busy dealing with Washingtonian matters, Nixon was always in the district campaign. The other was that Voorhis had the misfortune to be endorsed by the CIO-PAC, a political committee seen by many as too close to Marxism for their liking (Engels was not their cup of tea either). In an era in time when HUAC was running wild and the Soviet menace grew larger every sunset, red-baiting was a powerful tool for electoral victory. And Nixon played the red-baiting card, which, along with the debates, saw his poll numbers steadily rising and even eking out a majority.
However, pride cometh before the fall. Nixon, with his wings flapping way to high to the sun of red-baiting, made his gravest mistake the whole campaign: "My opponent is a full fledged communist". Nixon knew that his bold campaigning was what obtained him his narrow lead, and he intended to follow suit on his so far successful strategy. The tragedy however is that he just never embraced moderation. He thought going stronger than the day before was the way to win, yet he went too far up high and came crashing down like his Greek counterpart. Now, Voorhis could claim offense, interrogating the still upbeat Nixon that "how could you label me a Communist! Why, do you even know what a communist is? In this era of great struggle between freedom and oppression, I say we cannot have a representative who lacks the knowledge and insight to tackle this menacing threat!".
Not only did Nixon make moderate voters uncomfortable with his too harsh mudslinging, but also Voorhis successfully positioned himself as a champion against communism. Voorhis secured himself a (still, rather tight) victory and was reelected to Congress.
Richard returned to his home a defeated man. "How could I lose to a closet commie!" screamed Nixon internally. His wife of six years, Pat Nixon, was rather worried about her husband's condition, noting to her friends that "he didn't take his loss too well the night he came back home".
Doing the sensible thing after a major loss, Nixon thought to himself, "aw what the hell. I'm heading to Vegas!"