No Nixon in 1960 - who gets the Republican nomination?

As opposed to JFK, Richard Nixon had a fairly solid lock on the GOP presidential nomination for the 1960 election well before primary season. His commanding lead had scared off high profile contenders like Nelson Rockefeller.

So... assuming that Nixon dies in a freak accident at some point between the 1956 presidential election and the beginning of his presidential campaign, who might run for the Republican presidential nomination, and who would likely get it? Would Nelson Rockefeller be the obvious favorite, or would some movement conservative (perhaps Barry Goldwater) have a chance to take the nod? How would the likely Republican candidate fare against JFK or any of the other plausible Democratic candidates that year (indeed, would the absence of Nixon meaningfully change the calculus among Democratic delegates in 1960)?
 
Probably Nelson Rockefeller. He was considered a major contender for the Republican nomination. However when Rockefeller discovered that most Republican's favored Nixon, he withdrew. Without Nixon in this timeline Rockefeller would be the natural choice. Goldwater, who received a few distant votes in the original convention, was considered too conservative.

Now with Nelson Rockefeller as the Republican nominee in the presidential election NY (worth 45 electoral vote) probably goes Red, meaning that the JFK would only get 258 votes instead of 303, while Rockefeller would get 264. Assuming 15 votes still go to Byrd, this would mean that neither candidate gets the 269 required to win (meaning the first time faithless electors threw the election into the House, which might result in possible Electoral College reform). Anyway, both the House and Senate are controlled by the Democrats, so I imagine they would select JFK, and LBJ as the next president and vice-president.
 
The old Taft wing of the party that felt that it had been screwed at the 1952 convention might revolt and push for Dirksen as an alternative. But I think Rocky would probably take it and would likely win the election. Nixon lost the South anyhow. Rocky would probably pick up New York and Connecticut and possibly some midwestern states, maybe even Pennsylvania.
 
The old Taft wing of the party that felt that it had been screwed at the 1952 convention might revolt and push for Dirksen as an alternative. But I think Rocky would probably take it and would likely win the election. Nixon lost the South anyhow. Rocky would probably pick up New York and Connecticut and possibly some midwestern states, maybe even Pennsylvania.

Quite likely. PA, NJ, MI, IL and MN were all pretty close. Rockefeller might also take CA.

And according to Theodore H White, JFK himself expressed the opinion that he would have lost to Rockefeller.
 
Robert B. Anderson would be the clear choice. He was Ike’s preferred candidate, with Eisenhower encouraging him to run IOTL and attemptng to replace Nixon as VP in 1956.
 
Robert B. Anderson would be the clear choice. He was Ike’s preferred candidate, with Eisenhower encouraging him to run IOTL and attemptng to replace Nixon as VP in 1956.

I read that Ike try to get Nixon to step down in 56 and replace him with Anderson. He offered Nixon, the Secretary of Defense.
What if in 52, Eisenhower picked Anderson as VP and gave Nixon the Secretary of Defense? Than Nixon does not have the name recognition that he gained as Ike VP, in 1960's and Anderson does.
Who would win in a JFK vs Anderson race?
 
Robert B. Anderson would be the clear choice. He was Ike’s preferred candidate, with Eisenhower encouraging him to run IOTL and attemptng to replace Nixon as VP in 1956.

This assumes Anderson would be interested, which I doubt. In 1956, he was unmoved by Ike's enticements to replace Nixon on the ticket, saying he had no taste for entering electoral politics. Again, in 1960 Ike "privately pressed Anderson to enter the primaries and challenge Nixon, but Anderson declined." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_B._Anderson Bow, you might say that 1956 simply shows that Anderson had no desire to become vice president, and that in 1960 he knew he couldn't beat Nixon in the primaries. But all in all, there is little evidence that Anderson was ever interested in electoral politics.
 
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