Nixon’s 1960 campaign suffered setback in Greensboro

Presidential candidate Richard Nixon was feeling his oats when he made a campaign stop in Greensboro, N.C., on Aug. 17, 1960 – more than 60 years ago. 

The Rev. Billy Graham and Richard Nixon

Nixon was completing his second term of service as the nation’s vice president, during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon had easily secured the nomination as the Republican candidate for president in 1960. 

One of Nixon’s most trusted campaign advisors accompanied him on his visit to Greensboro. He was Lyman Brownfield, Nixon’s law school roommate in Durham where they attended Duke University Law School from 1934-37. 

One of Nixon’s campaign promises was to physically visit and speak to people in all 50 states. His appearance at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex attracted a huge crowd. He said:

 

“The main personal reason why I wanted to come back to North Carolina as the first of the states in this part of the country is because I owe my education to North Carolina and to Duke University. If the university had not been so generous with its scholarships, I could not have come here.” 

“I have many memories of Duke,” Nixon said. “I remember that I worked harder and learned more in those three years than in any three years of my life. And I always remember that whatever I have done in the past, or may do in the future, Duke University is responsible one way or the other.” 

Leaving the coliseum after the rally, Nixon banged his knee on the limousine door. 

Nixon’s injury was more than a bump and a bruise. The pain in Nixon’s knee persisted and after a test for infection, his doctor called him and said: “You better get to the hospital or you will be campaigning on one leg.” 

Nixon was treated for a staph infection and was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., for two weeks. 

“From his hospital bed, Nixon watched as his opponent, Democrat John F. Kennedy, charmed the voters,” reported Tom Curry of NBC News. “The pain in Nixon’s knee was bad, but he wrote later ‘the mental suffering was infinitely worse.’” 

As soon as he was released from the hospital, “Nixon threw himself into frenetic campaigning” that took its toll, according to Curry. 

Nixon was weak, running a bit of a fever and about 10 pounds underweight when he arrived in the CBS studio in Chicago for the first ever nationally televised presidential debate on Sept. 26, 1960. On top of that, Nixon re-injured his bum knee as he entered the TV station.

 The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia said this single debate event “changed the modern political landscape, as the power of television took elections into American’s living rooms. The Nixon-Kennedy debate was watched live by 70 million Americans, and it made politics an electronic spectator sport.”

Kennedy, in a blue suit, was described as having “the deep tan of a ski instructor and the piercing eyes of a mountaineer.” Nixon, in his light gray suit, declined to wear stage makeup and “looked pale and tired with a five o’clock shadow beard.” 

Those listening to the debate on radio thought that Nixon and Kennedy had performed equally well; those watching on television deemed Kennedy the clear winner.

 Debate moderator Howard K. Smith wrote in his memoirs that Kennedy said that “was the night he won the election.”