Nixon doesn't run in 1960, who wins the nomination?

VP Nixon doesn't seek the presidency in 1960. Doesn't matter why. Maybe he gets in a car accident, maybe he gets sucked into a wormhole. Either way he's out of the race. Who then wins the GOP nomination?
 
Goldwater is a possibility too, I don't know how well he would do though. Is it too soon for Romney?
No way Goldwater's going to get the nomination after the '64 wipeout. That would be a totally unprecedented gamble (and one liable to fail, too).
 
This is about the nomination for 1960, even if he did get it I think JFK would wipe him out though.
Whoops, misread.

Yeah, JFK's going to carry this one. It definitely won't be the landslide of 1964 (that had as much to do the post-assassination rally to the Democrats as Goldwater's political eccentricities), but Barry's politics are far outside the early-'60s mainstream. I don't think a Goldwater presidency is as batshit implausible as some on here, but neither '60 nor '64 are the year to swing it.
 
How about Cecil H. Underwood, who at 38, was in his final year of being the 25th Governor of West Virginia from 1957-61.

At the age of 22, Underwood had entered politics by running as a Republican for the West Virginia House of Delegates, winning six terms from 1944-56. He served as House Minority Leader for four years, between 1949-55.

Young Methodist Governor vs Young Catholic Senator
 
How about Cecil H. Underwood, who at 38, was in his final year of being the 25th Governor of West Virginia from 1957-61.

Sounds like a good pick, but would his age be an issue? JFK was 43 and "experience" was an issue for him.
 
The President would likely push Treasury Secretary Robert Anderson into running, which would complicate Kennedy's path to victory specifically as it relates to that place called "Texas".

Anderson would conceivably pick someone like Rockefeller to be his running mate which would also cause problems for Kennedy in this place called "New York".

Or Anderson could pick someone like Everett Dirksen and complicate the race in Illinois or even pull out someone like Prescott Bush and contest the WASPy New England turf like Nixon tried too.

He could also pick a Catholic running mate and win even more Catholic votes to the Republican side than Nixon was able to.

Surely Anderson wouldn't make the 50-State pledge, which gives him more flexibility on the campaign trail, plus he would have the more enthusiastic support of Eisenhower, which would only help him.
 
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