The story of Nixon after 1960 is the story of one of the many lives Nixon lead. He lost the election, his attempt to become governor of California failed, and he was forced to recognize he was politically dead. What followed was Nixon as a private, rather happy citizen. He became an in-name partner at a law firm in New York. His family enjoyed the city, and he was allowed to make a great deal of money doing very little, travel around the country, give speeches, and rub elbows. And he was perfectly positioned as an elder statesman in the Republican party who could write books, give his intellectual opinion, and attack the president without anything on the line himself. As Jeffrey Frank, author of "Ike and Dick", will argue, Nixon was happy in this life and had no intention of getting back into the fray.
What changed things was the assassination of Kennedy. 1964 had been a closed door. Now things were open. The wheels in Nixon's brain started to turn again, he started to get the itch, and things began to move. He started setting up the framework and started to get things into place so that he could run for the presidency. Thus ending one life for Richard Nixon, and beginning another. Frank argues that if Kennedy were not assassinated, Nixon would be less likely to have tried to get back into politics. Even with Kennedy assassinated, there remains the chance that Nixon could have stayed out of the arena.
What if Richard Nixon had not ran in 1968?
What changed things was the assassination of Kennedy. 1964 had been a closed door. Now things were open. The wheels in Nixon's brain started to turn again, he started to get the itch, and things began to move. He started setting up the framework and started to get things into place so that he could run for the presidency. Thus ending one life for Richard Nixon, and beginning another. Frank argues that if Kennedy were not assassinated, Nixon would be less likely to have tried to get back into politics. Even with Kennedy assassinated, there remains the chance that Nixon could have stayed out of the arena.
What if Richard Nixon had not ran in 1968?