"My Biggest Regret? I've had many, but the main one was not going to Birmingham in 1960." - Senator John F Kennedy if Massachusetts (1953-1968), Democratic Nominee in 1960 and Democratic Candidate for the Nomination in 1968 [1]
In the year 1960, Vice President Richard Milhouse Nixon was running against Senator John F Kennedy of Massachusetts for the prize of becoming President. The Campaign had been bloody and Divisive with many thinking Nixon would win. His selected Running Mate, Senator Clifford P. Case of New Jersey
[2] gave a message of peace, hope, and continued Prosperity to his fellow Republicans. Nixon at the Republican National Convention also declared that if he was Elected President, he would visit every state to show his thanks and mend ties with the Democratic voters
[3]. For the months that followed, Nixon and Kennedy dueled over states like Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Hawaii. Finally, on Election Night, after Nixon and Kennedy had battled one another to a tie Nationally, the results came in. After hours of counting, only two states were left: Missouri and New Jersey. Nixon stood at 263 Electoral Votes to Kennedy's 246 and if one state wenr to Nixon, it would be over. Earlier in the night, it would thought that Illinois would join that list but it had went to Nixon by a solid 2.3% Margin, many historians attributing this fact to Nixon going into Birmingham, Alabama and demanding the release of Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King Jr as well as his Promise to enforce civil rights was passed, allowing him to have the edge in the African American Community.
[4]
At 5:23 PM on the day after Election Night, Nixon was declared the winner of both New Jersey and Missouri, sending him past the needed threshold of 269 to be President. Senator Kennedy would call Nixon to congratulate him on his victory. As Kennedy conceded the race to Nixon, Kennedy's Running Mate and Senate Majority Leader, Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson of Texas, was found looking quite sorrowful. When asked by an aide why, He simply said: "
It's the Nixonist Decade now." before walking away.
[1] - Spoilers for the Future installments
[2] - IOTL, Nixon chose ex-Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. of Massachusetts, who had lost re-election to Kennedy, as his Running Mate. Here, with a Running Mate from a Battleground State, he wins NJ but only barely.
[3] - Instead of that visit every state plan he had in OTL
[4] - Could've happened IOTL if RTTWH is to be believed.