President Nixon in the Fifties?

Thande

Donor
Just an idle thought...there have been several timelines on the subject of Richard Nixon winning the 1960 US presidential election (the most recent of which is 037771's excellent All Along the Watchtower). However, has the question ever been considered of what might have happened if Eisenhower had died at some point during his presidency and left Nixon, his VP, as President? I understand Eisenhower's health wasn't great so this isn't exactly unlikely even without positing accidents.

Nixon was considered pretty young for a president (by the standards of the time) even if he had been elected in 1960, so what on earth would it have been like if he had become president as early as 1953, at the age of forty? What would be the effects of having such a fervent Anti-Communist in power at this early and crucial stage of the Cold War, as well as someone relatively inexperienced?
 
I imagine something like this by 1975.

techno-utopia.jpg
 
But seriously? It's quite hard to say. Regardless of his future exploits he was an extremely intelligent man, and Im sure he could have handled himself fairly well. Think of him as an earlier JFK, when it comes to inexperience. So depending on your view of JFK, take that for what its worth.
 
Nixon advocated aiding the French in 1954 during the Indochinese war, but Ike vetoed it. ITTL he would probably send them equipment, advisers and maybe air support. He will unconditionally back Britain and France at Suez, which causes a fair amount of Middle Eastern and UK domestic butterflies. Civil rights might go a bit quicker since Nixon was far more interested than Ike, as we know. Had he not bungled the MLK phone call in 1960, he'd have won the election and roughly 40% of the black vote. IOTL he won 32%, which is the high-water mark for the GOP of the postwar era.

Second term: he faces off against a Stevenson-JFK or LBJ-JFK ticket, which loses. He'll have to deal with the minor recessions in the late '50s of course, to obviate the OTL midterm massacre of 1958. He'll be term-limited in 1960, and barring any major butterflies JFK will still be the Democratic candidate and win by a larger margin than OTL.
 
Consider the domestic consumer economy from 1953 to 1955. Decades of shortages induced by a depression and a world war are finally ending. Advancements in television and audio recording bring about an idyllic period that is over-glorified to this day. Regardless of international issues, I think the incumbent Nixon would be the winner in '56.

A minor recession is inevitable in 1958, hurting his party's chances in 1960. Sputnik in 1957 will bring about a renewed interest in defense and security, another inducement for a Democratic victory in 1960, especially if JFK touts his military record. But then again, if Nixon has poor support ratings, a youthful JFK might have some problems.
 
A Southerner cannot win the Democratic nomination at that time, as we well know. Humphrey? Symington? Puh-leeze. JFK's by far the best candidate on either side of the aisle in Nixon's absence.
 

JoeMulk

Banned
Maybe if Ike didn't run and Taft won in 52 narrowly over Stevenson with Nixon as his runningmate, possibly even losing the popular vote, but dies on schedule per OTL. Nixon proves to be a scandelous president and loses in a landslide in 56.
1952
genusmap.php

Taft/Nixon 270
Stevenson/Sparkmen 261

1956
genusmap.php

Stevenson/Kefauver 295
Nixon/Capehart 236
 
The Republicans would not have done that well in the South in the 1950s. Ditto for the Democrats in the Northeast.
 

JoeMulk

Banned
The Republicans would not have done that well in the South in the 1950s. Ditto for the Democrats in the Northeast.

this is a mistake, for some reason other maps from my future timeline keep appearing when I copy the code for the 50s maps.
 
I think a Nixon presidency would have accelerated the progress of the civil rights movement, but his foreign policy wouldn't have been as successful as Ike's foreign policy due to his inexperience, his reputation as a firebrand anti-communist and the fact that he wasn't the former Supreme Allied Commander during WWII.

But, it being Nixon, I doubt he would have had a totally successful presidency that wouldn't be marred by scandal (although probably not exposed during his presidency since there would be no disenchantment with the Establishment over Vietnam & the hippie movement yet), if not just because of Nixon's personality and temperament. I mean, there's only so much circumstances can change before his paranoid, ruthless, approval-seeking yet spiteful personality would sabotage his presidency as it did in OTL.
 
That side of Nixon's personality (as some know from Kennedy threads, I believe in multifaceted personalities, not "new" ones) did not emerge until his 1960 loss, which embittered him and caused him to resolve to win at just about any cost. ITTL that won't happen.
 
Nixon? Youthful appeal? Please. He looked 10 years older than he actually was. I'll assume the JFK-as-dumb comment was a poor attempt at humour.
 
Maybe if Ike didn't run and Taft won in 52 narrowly over Stevenson with Nixon as his runningmate, possibly even losing the popular vote, but dies on schedule per OTL. Nixon proves to be a scandelous president and loses in a landslide in 56.
1952

Taft/Nixon 270
Stevenson/Sparkmen 261

1956

Stevenson/Kefauver 295
Nixon/Capehart 236

The electoral vote count/map in the fifties looked like this. DC did not yet vote:

350px-ElectoralCollege1952.svg.png


Go here for an interactive map and choose the year: http://www.270towin.com/
 
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