Sen. Jacqueline Cochran (R-CA)

In 1956 famed GOP aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran won the GOP nomination for CA-29 but lost 51-49 to her Democratic opponent. Let's reverse the margin and she wins, wins a Senate seat by 1962. As a friend of Nixon she would not seriously challenge him for control of the California GOP, but how influential could she become?
 
She'd definitely get national recognition. After all, she was the leading female test pilot. If she had won and challenged Nixon, she could become the face of the California Republican party...and thus blunt the impact of Reagan...
 

Bearcat

Banned
Governor of California rather than Reagan?

If the butterflies remove or speed up Nixon's presidency (1960?), she might even have a run at the oval office in '72.
 
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