EVENTS IN 1972
As 1972, a clearer picture of the Chinese civil war was taking shape.
The bulk of the People’s Liberation Army had coalesced behind Lin Bao’s faction, while many peasants and many Red Revolutionary Guardsmen had rallied to Wang Dongxing as the legitimate successor to Mao, perceiving him to as the ultimate loyalist.
The PLA had quickly seized many urban centers were there presence was strongest was strongest, such as Wuhan, but found fighting incredibly fierce in Beijing where both sides maintained a large presence. Beijing was seen as a majorly important nerve cluster, and the side that held it would undoubtedly possess a psychological edge. Of note, the Battle for Tiananmen Square began on the outset of the conflict and continued for weeks afterwards.
By the start of 1972, Beijing was in the hands of Lin Bao’s forces, who used the victory to claim they represented the true government of the People’s Republic of China.
Critically, however, the Red Guard militia and other Dongxing partisans controlled much of the rural landscape and maintained an edge in being able to claim that they were practitioners of Mao’s people’s war doctrine that called for rural peasantry to rise up and overwhelm the urban bourgeoisie.
The cities of Chongqing and Xi’an were effectively cut off from the rest of the PLA by surrounding Red Guard militia, who were staging what were effectively sieges on the cities.
As the battle raged on the mainland, Chiang Kai-shek continued to gain strength as a result of international arms shipments from the United States and even convert intelligence and training as part of a clandestine CIA operation to prepare the ROC military for invading the mainland. The lessons of America’s recent conflicts were being drilled into the Republic of China Army.
Chiang Kai-Shek pushed for American troops on the ground in China when the time came, but President Goldwater declined – he would offer material aid, tactical assistance, and intelligence – but not manpower. In truth however, ROC intelligence was far superior to America’s when it came to having high level sources inside the PRC to leak them critical information. The recent civil war between competing communist factions had created many bitter generals and political figures on both sides, and Chiang had a wealth of new sources to rely on. Meanwhile, he had spent the last several months doubling down on rooting out any potential communist spies in his ranks, wary that double agents had cost him severely during the battle for the mainland all those decades ago.
The Soviet Union had increased the number of troops along their Mongolian and Turkestan borders and in the puppet state of Manchuria. This effectively limited the troop presence they could maintain in Europe, a major boon to NATO. However, rather than attacks against outposts, most Soviet troops encountered PLA or Red Guard troops looking to seek asylum in their borders. In the early weeks of the conflict, most were shot, but an edict from Brezhnev called on Soviet troops to welcome any Chinese defectors put an end to this.
In the wake of civil conflict between the competing PRC factions, the Tibetan people staged a series of protests which quickly turned into an outright rebellion. Tibetan guerrillas fought ferociously against a demoralized PLA, who were effectively cut off from reinforcements and could not be resupplied due to the chaos brought on by the ongoing civil war.
India was in the process of mobilizing a massive armed force along their own shared border with China and Tibet. Lin Bao accused India of preparing an invasion of China, to aid “Tibetan separatists” which India denied, claiming they were only beefing up security along their border to “protect the Indian people from any potential hostility”.
The newly renamed United Republic of Vietnam used the renewed Chinese Civil War as a propaganda opportunity, telling citizens that only the NVA could protect the Vietnamese people from “Chinese invaders and chaos agents”. Accusations that the remaining communist guerrillas were subservient to the Chinese Communist Party also proved effective at eroding support for whatever remained of Ho Chi Mihn’s loyalists.
The situation in around the People’s Republic of China would continue to loom large over the world and would have major consequences for the impending American election. But domestic issues were of greater concern to the American public.
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On January 14th, Barry Goldwater made a historic appointment to the Supreme Court. The journey to his second appointment had begun last September, when John Marshall Harlan II retired from the court due to health issues.
Goldwater had initially attempted to appoint Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Charles Clark to the bench, but this suggestion was shot down almost immediately by Democrats in the Senate, and even liberal Republicans. Clark had previously represented the University of Mississippi's Board of Trustees in the case against James Meredith, where Meredith was rejected on the basis of his race. However, the Supreme Court had overturned this decision which resulted in a riot that killed 11 people, including a black Medal of Honor recipient who had fought in the Cuban War.
Now, a decade on, this stain on Clark’s legacy had essentially barred him from the Supreme Court. Once it became clear that Clark would not be a viable pick, the Goldwater White House used it as ammunition that Democrats were “biased against the southern way of life” and “opposed to states rights”.
President Goldwater, faced with this dilemma, decided to shoot from the hip and go in a wildly different direction.
An Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Sylvia Bacon had worked for the Department of Justice from 1956 to 1969, before being appointed to that aforementioned position by Barry Goldwater. In her time in the DOJ, she helped draft the District of Columbia’s no-knock crime bill, which endeared her to Goldwater.
This made her a controversial pick, but she was in many ways the most liberal candidate that Goldwater could be expected to put forth. In the end, it was a narrow vote, but Sylvia Bacon was confirmed to the Supreme Court.
She added a more conservative voice to an overwhelmingly liberal court, much to the delight of Republicans and Conservative Democrats. But if Goldwater was to get the chance to further influence the ideological tenor of the court, he would need to win in 1972.
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The early months of 1972 saw the primary kick into high gear for the Democrats, while Barry Goldwater sailed through without a challenger on the horizon – which reflected both his iron grip on the Republican party infrastructure, and the consensus that the Republican Party was headed for the slaughter in November.
The Democratic field, while crowded, had one overriding front runner – Governor Bobby Kennedy. The Massachusetts Governor had decided to adopt a strategy of appearing “above the fray”
The Governor had a large war chest and a well planned out, well organized campaign led by veteran operates of Jack Kennedy’s White House.
Bobby Kennedy stormed out of the gate with a commanding victory in New Hampshire, winning 65% of the vote in a crowded field. This sent a strong signal to the other candidates that Bobby Kennedy’s massive front runner status was for real, and two candidates – McGovern and Jackson – dropped out. As long-time Kennedy allies, it was little surprise that both endorsed Kennedy shortly thereafter. To secure his endorsement, Kennedy had promised McGovern that he would work to change the Democratic primary process, to allow for a more “open and democratic process”, a key idea of McGovern’s campaign.
The ever-stubborn Eugene McCarthy soldiered on, claiming his “campaign of ideas” was vital to the future of the Democratic Party and America at large. Shirley Chisolm similarly refused to drop out, citing the historic nature of her candidacy as being reason enough to stay in the race. Humphrey, meanwhile, had avoided New Hampshire entirely and spent all his time focused on the upcoming Wisconsin primary.
Connally meanwhile, was working primarily behind the scenes with Lyndon Johnson to secure Southern delegates. LBJ himself worked feverishly to deny “Sonny boy” (his nickname for Kennedy) the Democratic nomination. However, he did set up some campaign infrastructure in Ohio, West Virginia, Florida, and South Dakota. However, Johnson’s influence in the Democratic Party had waned somewhat since the end of his Congressional career, and southern Kennedy allies like Ralph Yarborough and George Smathers were waging a battle of influence.
On April 2nd, the Wisconsin primary took place. Kennedy won with 41%, Humphrey secured 20%, while McCarthy received 17%.
Pennsylvania would be the major showdown between Humphrey and Kennedy, who both had a sizeable trade union following in the blue-collar state. Such was the following of both men that America’s major union bosses refused to back any candidate until a clear leader had emerged from the back between them.
The two men campaigned feverishly, both on their positive merits rather than through attacks on eachother. In the end, Kennedy triumphed with 49% to Humphrey’s 33%. Shirley Chisolm got 6%, while McCarthy god a dismal 2%, while fringe contender got the remainder of the vote. Conally got 5% despite not campaigning actively in the state, and he privately cursed himself for not actively campaigning there and making more of a showing in the state.
After Pennsylvania, Humphrey and Chisolm dropped out. Neither endorsed any candidate on the way out, much to the Kennedy’s camp’s private frustration.
Kennedy blew through DC and Indiana with landslide wins, but found a little more trouble on Ohio where he still won with 61% of the vote, which the remainder of it going to either Connally, and McCarthy in a distant third.
Increasingly, it seemed that Kennedy’s only potential threat to the nomination was through Conally’s southern coalition.
So, Kennedy sought to pre-empt then. Following close wins in West Virginia and Nebraska, Kennedy announced he intended to appoint a southern running mate if he secured the democratic nomination.
This immediately won him increased support in the South, where his sizeable political network had already been spreading the Kennedy message. Flanked by support from governors representing the New South, like Florida’s Rueben Askew, Alabama’s Albert Brewer and Georgia’s Jimmy Carter, Kennedy had privately won the hearts and minds of Southern political bosses and voters alike. Johnson and Conally’s strategy had failed, and Kennedy’s commanding Florida primary vote had been the final nail in the coffin.
Landslide wins in Oregon, California, New Jersey, and South Dakota had followed. By the final primary, Illinois, only McCarthy remained to challenge Kennedy, but he had made a national embarrassment of himself by running a once promising campaign solidly into the ground, and somehow sinking below that with a dogged refusal to drop out.
But none of it mattered. Kennedy swept Illinois with ease, and was the uncrowned prince of the Democratic Party, seeking to claim his brother’s mantle as America’s Democratic President. As for a running mate, in the end, Kennedy chose Brewer given his relative experience. He had assumed his office in 1968, while the likes of Carter and Askew had only assumed office in 1971.
They would run to unite a nation torn apart by the divisive Goldwater and his extreme Republican Party. A New England Catholic, and a new breed of Southern Governor who rejected the segregationist, bigoted past and looked towards a brighter future for his state of Alabama.
In the end, Kennedy and Brewer were nominated with ease. They would be the ticket facing down President Goldwater and Vice President Kirk.
In his acceptance speech, Brewer derided what he called “The Goldwater administration’s efforts to drag the South, and the whole of America, back into the grim past. We believe in a different America, and a New South, built on new possibilities, new opportunities, and a new respect for our fellow citizens.”
Governor Bobby Kennedy gave his acceptance speech, calling for “A return to American greatness, an end to war and deprivation, and a new prosperity at home.”
As Goldwater watched the Democratic National Convention, from a television in the White House, he saw Bobby Kennedy stand on the podium, giving a fiery speech demanding American renewal in the face of a grinding recession, more care for the disadvantaged, and a foreign policy that “could secure the future of America and the world through a negotiated global treaty on nuclear weapons”.
Barry Goldwater opined to an aid:
“I’m gonna kick Jack’s little brother right in the ass.”
The race for the White House in 1972 was now on. It would decide the fate of America for the rest of the 1970s, and likely far beyond.
But as far as he was concerned, Goldwater was a war-time President. He would not give up his role as Commander-in-Chief to anyone. Not while the Soviet communist menace lurked to threaten hid country.
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Only days after the Democratic National Convention, President Goldwater announced a major airstrike on Panama – by far the biggest ever unleashed by the US Air Force on Panamanian land. The strike had levelled a village containing Omar Torrijos, and the nerve centre of his leftist political rebellion. But along with them, hundreds of civilian casualties, mostly the family members of rebels, were also killed.
Before the American people, President Goldwater admitted to the strike, claiming it was necessary to “thwart the communist menace south of the border, who had taken American lives and fully intended to do again”. He did not mention the non-combatants killed, but Press Secretary Tony Smith later cited regret at civilian lives lost, but noted that the Air Force had no way of knowing how many causalities were there – a claim that continued to be debated to this day.
While the strike was popular with Republicans, many Democrats and even independent voters were horrified at the brutality of the strike. The United Nations broadly condemned the bombing, with even America’s closest allies remaining mum on the subject. The Soviet Union’s delegation to the UN was harshly critical of America’s “illegal, immoral murder of Omar Torrijos and hundreds of women and children”, a dismissive Un Ambassador William Miller cited the Soviet Union’s atomic bombing of China as evidence they were hypocritical, and in fact far worse than the United States of America.
However, America’s anti-war movement descended on San Diego, California, the site of that year’s Republican National Convention, to rage against the Goldwater administration’s “criminal, immoral, attack against the people of Panama” in the words of anti-war activist Michael Klonsky.
On the first day of the RNC, a massive, peaceful protest occurred around the perimeter of the San Diego Sports Arena, which was lined with police checkpoints, armed guards, and large metal fences. Gore Vidal compared the whole spectacle to Nazi Germany, to much controversy, however the first day occurred with little incident.
On the second day however, the powder keg exploded. A large demonstration was violently broken by police. Tear gas was thrown into the crowd, people were beaten with clubs, shots were fired and there was utter pandemonium throughout San Diego. There was so much tear gas that Vice President Kirk could smell it from his penthouse apartment down the street.
What’s worse, was that the media had captured it all. It was the chaos of 4 years all over again.
Goldwater’s tough on crime took a major hit, as suburban voters saw the “crazed hippies of the anti-war movement” return, while others saw a brutal police crackdown against peaceful protesters by President Goldwater’s jackbooted goon squad.
On the second day, failed Democratic candidate and Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy railed protestors, claiming it was time to “fight back against Goldwater’s tyranny”. Many took this as a sign of approval for violent tactics, so when the National Guard descended upon San Diego and were met with rocks and bottles tossed at them, McCarthy was condemned even by his own party.
Again, the National Guard under instruction from Governor Ronald Reagan struck hard against the protestors, forcing McCarthy to flee and hundreds of anti-war protestors either to jail or the infirmary.
By the 3rd day, the protest movement had been crushed by force. Goldwater and Kirk were renominated shortly thereafter, however the damage done to their reputation was considerably. The reputation of Governor Reagan, already shaken by recent riots, had taken a hint as many wondered if he was incapable of addressing the issue of crime in California.
Whatever damage was done to Goldwater, he was defiant in the face of criticism. In his acceptance speech, he said:
“America has found its strength again, not in any naive claims to utopian progress, but in a return to those traditionally values that founded and have sustained our nation throughout its great history. In just 4 years’ time, we will have our bicentennial celebration – and the voters in 1972 will define how we spend the 200th year of our republic. Will we stand proudly, unmistakably carrying on our founding ideals? Or will we abandon the American Revolution, and replace it with a limp wristed liberalism that drags us into the clutches of totalitarian collectivism? Those of us here tonight know which side we stand on – the side of individual liberty, personal responsibility, and peace through strength. Let us go tonight, and in everyday hereafter, spread the message of our renewed American Revolution.”
The Democratic candidate, Massachusetts Governor Bobby Kennedy, was in Seattle, Washington, during the night of Goldwater’s acceptance speech, and derided what he called “cynical efforts to turn Goldwaterism into a new orthodoxy, that replaces, not compliments, the ideals of our Founding Fathers.”
Another public figure who was on the west coast during the RNC was the current Heavyweight Champion of the World, Muhammad Ali.
From a podium in a San Diego ghetto, derided Goldwater and his “agenda of killin’ brown and black people all over the world.”
Ali, who had just signed on for a third fight with Smokin’ Joe Frazier which would take place in Jamaica, was on a national tour to drum up publicity for the bout. But he took time out of fight promotion to make his views on politics clear.
Thousands came to see the Heavyweight Champion in the flesh, and one national news reporter called him “perhaps the most famous man in America. Certainly, one of the most controversial.”
One Wisconsin resident took that comment to heart, and it would change the course of history, for sports and the world.
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On September 5th, 1972, Chiang Kai Chek met with US Secretary of State Lucius D. Clay in Taipei to discuss the prospects of an ROC invasion of mainland China.
With the monsoon season in Taiwan set to end in the October/November period, Chiang saw an opportunity to launch his long-planned invasion of mainland China. His forces were swelling with modern arms and equipment thanks to the Goldwater administration’s massive transfer of arms and competing forces on the mainland were too busy fighting each other to pay him much attention. He had marshalled his forces, stored rations, fuel, medical supplies, and ammunitions. The boats were primed and ready. And critically, his inner circle was purged of any potential spies. The moment was soon approaching.
But the Presidential election on the 7th of November complicated matters. There was a bitter debate inside the White House as to whether the administration should offer support to an invasion prior to the election. If it failed from the outset, it would prove a massive embarrassment. However, such argued a US backed, ROC invasion of communist China was just the event needed to shape up the race and upend Bobby Kennedy’s massive lead over Goldwater.
Secretary Clay, was in an even smaller minority who argued against an invasion entirely, arguing it was the responsibility of the US to protect Formosa, not facilitate a potential invasion of the mainland that could court disaster or atomic war with a fracturing People’s Republic of China. However, Clay was overruled, and had to support the view of his Commander-in-Chief.
Goldwater, for both political and ideological reasons, supported the prospect of an invasion of mainland China. He even went further and suggested a US Naval Strike on critical PLA infrastructure to “soften the communists up” in the words of Defense Secretary Westmoreland.
Such talk was too much for Secretary Clay, who told the President that he intended to retire at the end of Goldwater’s first term, whether he was re-elected or not.
Timing was an essential aspect of any attempt to send a significant force across the Strait. If Chiang waited for too long, monsoon season would begin again, and the chance would be lost. He had
Meanwhile, Indian forces had successfully held off Pakistan’s military, and were able to divert enough men to smashed whatever paltry PLA force remained in the Aksai Chin, claiming it for themselves.
The continuing disintegration of the PRC would reverberate across Asia, but closer to home, many Americans were worried about pocketbook issues. The cost of living was rising, unemployment was increasing, and there was chaos on the streets.
“No matter where you look, it feels like the world is on fire.” One anonymous American Congressman admitted.
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Muhammad Ali’s national tour ahead of his major trilogy fight against Smokin’ Joe Frazier continued to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he lamented the death of Malcolm X, who had died unexpectedly of pancreatic cancer days prior while still in exile in Paris, France.
In eulogizing his friend, Ali stated that “the world lost a true champion of black people everywhere.” The Nation of Islam, meanwhile, celebrated the death of a man they regarded as a heretic and a traitor to their cause.
The simmering tension between the Ali and the Nation of Islam continued bubbling away, and Ali privately worried he would be the victim of assassination from the radical group.
But publicly, he remained a consummate showing, dazzling the crowd in Milwaukee with sizzling combinations thrown against a heavy bag and customary trash talk:
“This heavy bag has better footwork than Joe Frazier! It ain’t even got feet!”
Following his scheduled workout session, and champ mixed openly with people, black and white, shaking hands and signing autographs.
Suddenly, without warning, a Caucasian man snuck up behind Ali and unloaded a .38 revolver into his abdomen. Ali’s entourage swarmed the man and beat him viciously, while Ali writhed on the ground in pain. With the workout and public meeting being filmed, much of the event was caught on camera.
Ali and the man – later identified as Arthur Bremer – were each taken to hospital to treat their respective wounds. Bremer had endured a cracked skull, and a detached retina, and he would never see out of his left eye again following complications from surgery.
Meanwhile, Ali was hit 4 times. Once in the spine, twice in the abdomen, and one bullet had lodged itself into his lung.
Bremer would later cite fame as the reason for his attempt on Ali’s life. Ali meanwhile, was told he would never walk – let alone box – ever again. The Heavyweight Champion of the World was utterly distraught and refused to speak to anyone.
Smokin’ Joe Frazier, citing utter contempt for Ali, refused to visit the fallen champion in hospital, saying that “my only regret is that I couldn’t cripple that son of a bitch myself”. The deep animosity felt by Joe had not faded in the years since their first fight.
It was only a meeting from Howard Cosell that lifted Ali’s spirits, following the attempt on his life.
“You know, Muhammad,” Cosell had told him, “You’ve still got that gift of gab. Maybe you could join me in news casting. The world needs your voice as much as it needs your talent.”
It was this encouragement, and the word of the Quran, that gave Ali a new purpose in those dark days and months following the attempt on his life. He would never box again, but he would continue to have his voice heard in the sport of boxing and beyond.
Joe Frazier would challenge the then relatively unheralded George Foreman in December of 1972 for the vacant Heavyweight championship and would get battered and knocked out in only the second round after being floored 6 times by the hard-hitting challenger.
But the world would always be left to wonder about the fate of Muhammad Ali, a man on course to becoming the Greatest Of All Time, cut down in his prime. Would he have achieved this mighty fate?
The question bedevils boxing fans, and the general public, to this day.
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On October 14th, Bobby Kennedy was scheduled to give a speech at The Commodore Hotel in New York City, calling for a new area of negation between the United States and Soviet Union, who had all but frozen each other out diplomatically since shortly after Goldwater’s inauguration. However, this speech would never be given, as a fire ripped through the building shortly before Kennedy was supposed to go on stage. The candidate was rushed away by Secret Service personnel and escaped with minor smoke inhalation, but the event sparked immediate concern from the public – was this another assassination attempt on a public figure, as had become so common throughout the years?
Reports that a suspicious man had been arrested by police at the scene only added to the concern, but Governor Kennedy remained jovial in the press afterwards, releasing a written statement thanking the American people for their support.
His opponent, President Barry Goldwater publicly wished the younger Kennedy well, condemning the “sicking attack on an American public official”.
The suspect who was detained by police, a small-time petty criminal, admitted to starting the fire in attempt to “scare” Boddy Kennedy under orders from disgraced union boss and convicted criminal Jimmy Hoffa, who was still serving time in prison. Authorities suspected it was an assassination attempt, and pressed Hoffa hard to admit to the conspiracy.
The head of the Teamsters admitted to nothing, but his story quickly unraveled as his co-conspirators turned on him, fearing they would be implicated in a plot to kill the man many considered American royalty.
In the end, Hoffa would be indicted on several more charges, including conspiracy to commit murder. He would never be released from prison and would instead die in 1989 from heart failure.
As a result of the smoke inhalation suffered by Kennedy, however, the single debate between himself and Barry Goldwater would be cancelled. There would be no head-to-head between the two candidates in this election cycle. The Goldwater Campaign suspected this cancellation was not due to health concerns of Governor Kennedy but was a deliberate effort to avoid a debate that the President could use to make up ground against his opponent.
Kennedy trailed Goldwater by a large margin, but the President still had one last card to play.
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On October 19th, Secretary of State Lucius D. Clay went to the United Republic of Vietnam for the ceremony that would change the name of Hanoi to Ngo Dinh Diem City. He was there alongside several heads of state, foreign dignitaries, and ambassadors from both Asia and across the world, who were aligned with the United States against the Communist bloc.
However, Clay had another purpose for his visit to Vietnam – to give Chiang Kai-shek the American government’s official green light to stage on invasion of the mainland. The ROC forces were primed and ready, and with the final word from their American backers, it was time to engage in the mission that Chiang had spent 22 years preparing for.
On October 21st, Operation National Glory began. The ROC Navy conducted a series of island-hopping invasions across the Taiwan Strait, quickly taking out the poorly supplied islands near the coastline which still belonged to the PLA.
Once these islands were secure, Chiang made a historic proclamation, stating that “There is a place for communists inside the Kuomintang, provided they abandon the false teachings of Mao and remain loyal to the ideals of a free and prosperous China. We offer food, medicine, and a better path.”
This quote, widely disturbed amongst ROC forces and among agents on the mainland, was a major propaganda coup as many communist soldiers on the mainland – both Mao’s loyalists and the PLA aligned military officers – tired of the conflict.
The narrative that the Generalissimo had returned from exile to bring peace and prosperity back to the mainland appealed to a significant portion of the population in the wake of the Cultural Revolution, Sino-Soviet War, and Second Chinese Civil War.
But it was nowhere near enough to guarantee an easy victory. The road ahead would be long, and difficult, but Chiang knew it was his destiny.
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On October 30th, 1972, the Canadian election took place, and it looked as though the current Liberal government, led by Pierre Trudeau, was set for a loss.
Many of the problems that plagued their American cousins south of the border were also weighing heavily on Canada – rising inflation, rising unemployment, increasing crime and a general sense of societal malaise.
The Liberal’s Campaign was much derided, with a focus on Canada’s natural scenery and a campaign slogan "The Land is Strong", the Liberals were quickly painted as out of touch with what Canadians needed by their rivals, the Progressive Conservatives led by Robert Stanfield.
Stanfield had an image of a bumbling, if honest, public image. Despite this, he was able to earnestly appeal to the Canadian electorate, promising that "A Progressive Conservative government will do better”. The Progressive Canadians had expensive policies, a tough on crime approach that promised to “be compassionate for these people who want to turn their lives around”.
This centrist approach helped differentiate them from the Goldwater conservative image that the Liberals tried to pin on them.
In the end, a strong Progressive Conservative campaign and a weak Liberal one saw the Progressive Conservatives pick up 64 seats, crossing the threshold of 133 votes necessary to form majority government in their own right and ousting Pierre Trudeau from power.
Trudeau was gracious in defeat, though promised to remain on as leader, citing his hope that he could return his party to government. However, it was a new day for Canada, with a new government and a new Prime Minister.
Republicans in the US feared that the devastating loss for the incumbent government on their border would be repeated.
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On November 7th, the American people went to the polls to elect the President of the United States, as they had done 46 times previously in their 196-year history.
Contrary to the hopes of the White House, Chiang’s invasion of mainland China had not produced the sort of seismic shift in the polls they had hoped for. It was a curiosity on the other side of the world, when there were issues at home that Goldwater seemed unable or unwilling to stop.
In the week leading up to the election, Goldwater had told everyone who would listen that there would be a major upset in the style of Truman/Dewey.
However, it was not to be. In the end, Kennedy’s massive appeal to everyone from Catholics in the North, minority voters, and poor white voters in the South proved too great to overcome. It was an electoral rout.
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Kennedy got 56.5% of the popular vote, while Goldwater languished with only scarping barely 42.1% of the vote. Third party candidates absorbed the rest of the votes.
Democrats also saw major gains in both chambers of Congress. It looked like Kennedy’s ambitious agenda of a negative income tax and universal health coverage for all Americans looked to be well within reach in his coming term.
The one bright spot in this election was the landslide election win for Pat Robertson in Virginia, where he defeated William Spong, Jr. by nearly 10 points. Robertson ran an unapologetically religious, conservative campaign that focused on issues such as abortion, school prayer, the right of religious schools to practice segregation, and the place of religion as “the cornerstone of American life”.
His coattails were widely regarded as the reason Barry Goldwater narrowly carried the state.
While there was an immediate debate amongst Republicans as to whether the new Religious Right was the future of Republicanism, the immediate future had seen an ascendant liberalism take hold.
In his concession speech, Barry Goldwater was magnanimous, saying “It was the honor of my life to serve as your President. I wish President-elect Kennedy well. I believe the future of the Republican Party is bright, and my own future is bright too…because I get to go back to Arizona.”
The new-President elect, Bobby Kennedy, spoke of “a return to greatness for this nation” and thanked President Goldwater for his years of service. But Camelot was back in DC, and it was up to Bobby Kennedy to make good on his promises.
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Barry Goldwater’s lame duck period had seen him become obsessed with securing Chiang Kai-Check’s victory in reclaiming mainland China, believing it to be central to his legacy.
Chiang’s forces touched down on mainland China only days after the election, and initially found major success blitzing Xiamen and the surrounding coastline with the help from several defecting military leaders. American military advisors gave critical insight into pacifying local resistance, and the ROC military was far more well armed than any enemy they faced.
However, by mid-December, their offensive had stalled in the face of the combined effort of communist partisans.
Goldwater responded with a cruise missile crime by the 7th fleet against PLA and Red Guard command-and-control centers in Hangzou and Guangzhou. These attacks caused confusion amongst the communist leadership on both sides and allowed Chiang’s forces the critical time necessary to go back on the offensive.
The incoming President-elect, meanwhile, held his tongue. While he supported the Republic of China absolutely, and believed it should be defended, this war presented a major headache for his administration. For all they knew, the communists still possessed nuclear weapons somewhere. This war was a destabilizing factor in a region that had already been ravaged by Soviet bombs.
And with his last move, Barry Goldwater had sacrificed America’s standing as a potential diplomatic broker to being just another aggressor, waging war against the people of China.
It was a headache, and not one he looked forward to addressing. Not while the economy remained in shambles and rising crime rates remained a concern at home.
In those critical days and weeks leading up to his inauguration, he spoke to his beloved brother, who offered much advice on his role as Commander-in-Chief.
Jack walked with a cane now, the result of back issues and his compounding health issues. His youthful good looks had been replaced with the weather worn face of a man who had experienced the harsh realities of life, as a sailor and as a leader.
Through it all, Jack Kennedy had never lost his optimism. And this was perhaps the single biggest lesson he wanted to impart to his younger brother who would soon inherit the role he once occupied.
