Nixon won in 1960: How does history change?

I don't know how much this has been visited, but I was thinking about it last night. What does everyone think? How does history change? I wanted to know everyone's opinion.

What would happen if Nixon would have won in 1960. Man things would have been incredibly different. There wouldn't have been a JFK Presidency, no LBJ Presidency, No Ford Presidency, No Watergate, No Carter Presidency. There probably wouldn't have been a Cuban Missile Crisis because Kruschev wouldn't have bullied Nixon. There wouldn't have been a Vietnam war probably, or it wouldn't have lasted as long. I think Reagan would still have been elected President later on, but one little thing would have changed the past 55 years. It's incredible to think about. Sorry for The Rambling, I get excited about Nixon lol!
 
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More effort in Cuba, less effort in veitnam.

Veitnam probally falls sooner, smart money is that the russians back down over Cuba and they don't go communist.
 
Very likely he will "salvage" the unsuccessful invasion of Cuba in 1961 by sending in US troops (no, air support will not be enough). I don't think this will lead Khrushchev to start World War III. But it will lead to a very messy US occupation of Cuba. To recycle an old soc.history.what-if post of mine:

***

It's very unlikely that Khrushchev would go to war as a result but it is likely that
he would feel a need to do *something.* I once proposed a scenario in
which his response is to do what in OTL he did a few months later anyway--
build the Berlin Wall--and I noted that then people would be speculating in
this newsgroup "What if the US had never invaded Cuba? Would the Berlin
Wall have been built?"

One may doubt, incidentally, that a "totally successful" invasion (in the
sense of one which would actually overthrow Castro) would be a good idea
from the viewpoint of *Realpolitik*, even if there is no serious reaction
from Khrushchev. It would entangle the US in an extremely messy Cuban
political situation: (1) The anti-Castro factions would be struggling
against each other for power, and the US would have a hard time being
neutral; (2) the new regime would be seen as a puppet regime even by many
Cubans who were not Castroites; and (3) there would likely be guerilla
warfare and terrorism by Castroites. Moreover, such an invasion would be
extremely unpopular in Latin America, and anti-Yanqui feeling could grow
tremendously, so that the US in destroying one Castro might create several
new ones.

No doubt Clayton Fritchey, then an aide to Adlai Stevenson, had some of
these things in mind when he told JFK, "Mr. President, it could have been
worse." "How?," JFK asked. Fritchey replied, "It might have succeeded."
(Jim Rasenberger, *The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America's
Doomed Invasion of Cuba's Bay of Pigs,* p. 395.
http://books.google.com/books?id=0Ex08ZkkXEkC&pg=PA395 )

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/soc.history.what-if/DQFyp4RcAUQ/ErKyse2Ms3MJ
 
More effort in Cuba, less effort in veitnam.

Veitnam probally falls sooner, smart money is that the russians back down over Cuba and they don't go communist.
I'd argue that Cuba would still go communist, unless Nixon somehow goes back in time.
 
We get a different Civil Rights Act, a restoration of U.S. suzerainty over Cuba, and a different approach to Southeast Asia that probably prevents direct U.S. involvement on the ground. He likely loses reelection.
 

bguy

Donor
We get a different Civil Rights Act, a restoration of U.S. suzerainty over Cuba, and a different approach to Southeast Asia that probably prevents direct U.S. involvement on the ground. He likely loses reelection.

Why would Nixon lose reelection? Assuming the economy grows at a similar rate ITTL as it did OTL (and I can't see any real reason why the economy would do worse under Nixon than it did under Kennedy and Johnson OTL), Nixon is going to go into 1964 with strong economic tailwinds at his back, and overthrowing Castro and enacting a civil rights bill will be popular with most of the American electorate.
 
Why would Nixon lose reelection? Assuming the economy grows at a similar rate ITTL as it did OTL (and I can't see any real reason why the economy would do worse under Nixon than it did under Kennedy and Johnson OTL), Nixon is going to go into 1964 with strong economic tailwinds at his back, and overthrowing Castro and enacting a civil rights bill will be popular with most of the American electorate.
He can be demagogued on civil rights, and could be painted (wrongly) as soft on Communism, a was leveled against the Republicans in 1960 in OTL.
 

bguy

Donor
He can be demagogued on civil rights, and could be painted (wrongly) as soft on Communism, a was leveled against the Republicans in 1960 in OTL.

Being criticized by George Wallace types isn't going to hurt Nixon. He doesn't need the Deep South states to win a presidential election, and if anything being attacked by the Dixiecrats will only help Nixon in the electoral college rich northern states. It's also hard to see how Nixon could be attacked as soft on Communism if he is the "liberator" of Cuba. Removing the communist threat 90 miles from America's shores will cement his (already substantial) anti-communist reputation.
 
I don't have much to add, but I would suspect that Kennedy and Johnson could still be elected down the line. Kennedy might want a rematch after nearly getting elected, and Johnson as famously ambitious. Ford and Carter were unlikely.
 
There some major events Nixon has to face

1961 Invasion of Cuba

Nixon was involved in Planning phase of that operation, until Kennedy won election,
the Kennedy administration overthrow the original planning leading to Bay of Pigs fiasco
I don't know if the original plan would more successful or end also in fiasco
if the Invasion is a success it would prevail Cuba Missile Crisis

1961 Berlin Wall
The East German build Wall to prevent there citizen to flee to west
The Situation in autumn 1961 was explosive american and Soviet Troops were facing each other in Berlin
Hat the Situation escalate this had lead to World War III

1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
Had the Cuba invasion failed like OTL, the Soviet would installed medium range ballistic Missile.
would Nixon follow the advice of his generals and Bombed the Missile site and start full-scale invasion of Cuba ?
only problem the Soviets missile crew had the orders to launch a nuclear attack on USA, in case there attack by US forces
This had lead to World War III.

1963 Dallas
Would Lee H. Oswald try to assassinate Nixon on his Campaign trip ?

On Spaceflight
Nixon has to do something after the Success of Gagarin orbit in space 1961, while Shepard made only a hop into space.
It could let Manned Military USAF programs Dyna Soar continue to operational status as orbital weaponsystem.

On Civil right in USA
It will take longer time as OTL before Civil right act pass capitol Hill,
Because paradoxical, the assassination of President Kennedy, let to fast pass of Civil right act in 1964.
Although Vice president Lodge proposed a Afro-American as State Sectary.
 
Big difference in Cuba. Either a nasty takeover by US forces or WW3
I wouldn't be so sure, for all of the Kennedy myth he pushed things during the Cuban Missile Crisis in large part due to domestic political concerns such as not wanting to give the opposition the opportunity to paint him as weak. In much the same way as with his visit to China Nixon being Nixon potentially gives him more options than Kennedy.


I don't have much to add, but I would suspect that Kennedy and Johnson could still be elected down the line. Kennedy might want a rematch after nearly getting elected...
How viable is that though, I know that nowadays it's very much a one-shot deal but how far back does that sentiment go? Assuming that Nixon wins and is then re-elected on a wider margin thanks to good economic conditions that would be eight years Kennedy would have to wait for another shot, potentially allowing other challengers to come to the fore whilst not being saddled with the image of being a loser.
 
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The real question on Cuba is how Nixon handles it before OTL's Bay of Pigs. Nixon was more involved than Kennedy on the plan, and it is possible he'll require changes or even cancel the invasion if he believes it is likely to fail. Nixon might approve an entirely different operation if he learns that the Soviets know of the plan (which the CIA did learn, but failed to tell Kennedy). And whatever is done is going to completely change the build up to the Cuban Missile Crisis if there is one. If Nixon never puts Jupiter nukes in Turkey (which Kennedy did in April 1962), then it may never happen regardless of what happens in Cuba.

The real question on Vietnam is would Nixon approve of a coup against Diem like Kennedy did? That really destabilized the country and made the situation worse. I doubt Nixon would do so although then we have the ongoing crisis with the Buddhist protests. Don't know what negative effects that would have in comparison.

So Nixon will face the same initial challenges and will likely make different decisions. But it is very hard to figure out the exact consequences of them.

In any case, no matter the bad consequences Nixon's decisions may make, it likely won't affect the 1964 election.
 
Why would Nixon lose reelection? Assuming the economy grows at a similar rate ITTL as it did OTL (and I can't see any real reason why the economy would do worse under Nixon than it did under Kennedy and Johnson OTL), Nixon is going to go into 1964 with strong economic tailwinds at his back, and overthrowing Castro and enacting a civil rights bill will be popular with most of the American electorate.

Voter fatigue is one factor.

But yes, he will likely win reelection, but I am very doubtful that he'd be able to enact a Civil Rights Act pre-1964 election
 
Being criticized by George Wallace types isn't going to hurt Nixon. He doesn't need the Deep South states to win a presidential election, and if anything being attacked by the Dixiecrats will only help Nixon in the electoral college rich northern states. It's also hard to see how Nixon could be attacked as soft on Communism if he is the "liberator" of Cuba. Removing the communist threat 90 miles from America's shores will cement his (already substantial) anti-communist reputation.
People bought into the idea that the missile gap was real, why wouldn't they buy that Nixon was soft on Communism? Conversely, he might also be considered reckless for forcing the issue (effectively) on Cuba. As for the northern states, he's not the labor candidate, and he needed working class whites in the upper south at least in 1968 in OTL.
 
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