WI Nixon visits Martin Luther King in Jail

[Beowulf2005]

Martin Luther King, Sr. was a Republican, but got seriously ticked off when Nixon didn't visit MLK Jr. in jail in 1960. It cost Nixon a lot of support from African-Americans and arguably cost the GOP the African-American vote for decades.
What if Nixon had decided to visit the civil rights leader during MLK's stay in that Birmingham jail?

 

[carlton_bach]

I doubt that this gesture alone will help the standing of the GOP with the black population, but it will certainly help Nixon personally. OTOH it may not go down well with many Southern whites, so the net effect is open. How many of those votes will Nixon need to get to beat Kennedy? And if he is after black votes, how much open support for Civil Rights can he afford?

 

[Raymann]

The South was already well on its way to becoming solidly Republican, and with the exception of Louisiana and Texas, it really couldn't go back. We might have stronger Dixiecrat showings in 68 and maybe 72 but all the Republicans have to do is stay morally conservative and the South will come. Blacks started going Democrat after WWII but it was gradual.

There would be no 'black vote' here. If Republicans aren't seen as racists then, as being the most socially concervative of all, they would mostly be Republican in the South although the North will probably be split.

There won't be a Clinton/Gore as they won't be elected in the first place (or not as Democrats). But there might not be a Bush II either as Texas would have remained Democrat for a while longer.

(let me explain: Southen Democrats have always been America's unofficial third party, they're just as conservative as Republicans, and only slightly more liberal economically. They didn't become Republicans until lately because of coordination problems as they didn't want to lose their importance in washington. Thats particually strong in Texas/Louisiana, Texas had democrat governors until the mid-90's and Louisiana hasn't had a Republican governor since reconstruction. I'm republican and very partisan but it didn't bother me that much when Blanco-D was elected governor of LA, her platfor and Bobby Jindal's were almost identical.)

 

[zoomar]

I doubt that this gesture alone will help the standing of the GOP with the black population, but it will certainly help Nixon personally. OTOH it may not go down well with many Southern whites, so the net effect is open. How many of those votes will Nixon need to get to beat Kennedy? And if he is after black votes, how much open support for Civil Rights can he afford?

Actually, unless I am misremembering, up until the 1960 election, The Republican Party was still seen by many, many southern blacks as "their" party. I don't remember that Nixon ran on a "southern stategy" in 1960. If he had made the visit and been elected, US history may have differeed radically. Nixon was not, by nature, drawn to the south and was actually moderate. A Nixon presidency in 1960-68 might well have put the Republican Party and the USA on a completely different trajectory, and quite possibly a better one.

 

[Wendell]

The South was already well on its way to becoming solidly Republican, and with the exception of Louisiana and Texas, it really couldn't go back. We might have stronger Dixiecrat showings in 68 and maybe 72 but all the Republicans have to do is stay morally conservative and the South will come. Blacks started going Democrat after WWII but it was gradual.

There would be no 'black vote' here. If Republicans aren't seen as racists then, as being the most socially concervative of all, they would mostly be Republican in the South although the North will probably be split.

There won't be a Clinton/Gore as they won't be elected in the first place (or not as Democrats). But there might not be a Bush II either as Texas would have remained Democrat for a while longer.

(let me explain: Southen Democrats have always been America's unofficial third party, they're just as conservative as Republicans, and only slightly more liberal economically. They didn't become Republicans until lately because of coordination problems as they didn't want to lose their importance in washington. Thats particually strong in Texas/Louisiana, Texas had democrat governors until the mid-90's and Louisiana hasn't had a Republican governor since reconstruction. I'm republican and very partisan but it didn't bother me that much when Blanco-D was elected governor of LA, her platfor and Bobby Jindal's were almost identical.)

I thought your last governor was a Republican.

 

[csa945]

Actually, unless I am misremembering, up until the 1960 election, The Republican Party was still seen by many, many southern blacks as "their" party.

I believe, though I may very well be incorrect, that African-Americans started voting Democratic during the FDR presidency. I remember a section in my 8th grade US history book entitled "Blacks Vote Democratic" or something to that effect. However, what really solidified their vote was the Civil Rights Act under Johnson.