DBWI: Nixon Not Assassinated in 1965?

Perhaps a cliche in alternate history, but we don't really focus on it as much as we should. What if President Nixon avoided his fatal shooting on that Memphis street in 1965?
 
Well, President Smith's tenure didn't turn out so badly, and Diem remained in power until his death. Civil Rights didn't turn out so well, remember the filibuster on the VRA of 1967? When Donald Nixon was imprisoned during Kennedy's first term after the Hughes loan was revealed, it cast a pall on Nixon's reputation. That was before President RFK had to do damage control after the revelations of Jack's affair with Judy Exner. I still remember that.
 
Well, President Smith's tenure didn't turn out so badly, and Diem remained in power until his death. Civil Rights didn't turn out so well, remember the filibuster on the VRA of 1967? When Donald Nixon was imprisoned during Kennedy's first term after the Hughes loan was revealed, it cast a pall on Nixon's reputation. That was before President RFK had to do damage control after the revelations of Jack's affair with Judy Exner. I still remember that.

OOC: President Smith? Who's that? Margaret_Chase_Smith? Isn't that a bit of a stretch? It seems to me that we'd be much more likely to see Nelson Rockefeller or George Romney facing down Humphrey/RFK in 1968 than see the Republicans nominate a woman in 1968.
 
She was Vice President, and succeeded Nixon. The idea came from Steve's Nixon in '60 timeline. SHe declined to run, and Romney lost badly to RFK. IOTL, the 1966 polls showed RFK winning 55-39 against Romney.
 
genusmap.php


(D) Robert F. Kennedy/ Terry Sanford: 285 ECV, 51.2%
(R) George W. Romney/ Claude Kirk: 250 ECV, 48.8%

Incumbent President: Lyndon Johnson (D)
President-elect: Robert Kennedy (D)


Something like that. Irrelevant that Romney lectured Birmingham, AL Rotarians on the necessity of CR.

"They don't need a psychiatrist, they just take their hate out on me."
 
OOC: So the POD is in 1960, not in 1965? That helps a bit, but I still think that Nixon hurts himself terribly by nominating a woman as VP in 1960. Remember, 1960 isn't 1969, let alone 1984. The Gallup polls from that era (sorry, can't find the link) still showed about 40% of the country saying that being femaile would disqualify someone from getting their vote. As in, they wouldn't "hold their nose" and vote Nixon-Smith; they'd vote for someone else. In fact, I'd call this exactly the opening that Harry Byrd or Barry Goldwater would have pounced on.
Now, maybe a 3-way race ends up throwing things to the House of Representatives, but in OTL 1960 the GOP did very well (+21) and still was at a 263-174 deficit in the House. I'd have to imagine that Sam Rayburn would be able to whip up enough votes for Kennedy, and if not he and the Byrd-ites would probably settle on LBJ or someone else Democractic rather than defecting to Nixon.
 
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