Richard Nixon, once down for the count, ‘reinvents himself’

Greensboro, N.C., still remembers the day when Vice President Richard Nixon came to town – Aug. 17, 1960 – to hold a political rally. Nixon was the Republican candidate running for president in the 1960 election.

 The event was hosted at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, which was still “sparkling with newness.” 

The state-of-the-art facility had just opened in late 1959. The grand opening act was a series of six “Holiday on Ice” performances. 

Ranked among the coliseum’s all-time milestone events was Nixon’s political campaign stop.

Nixon’s appearance took on additional historical significance, because Nixon bumped his knee on the limousine door after exiting the coliseum. Once back in Washington, D.C., he had to be hospitalized for a staph infection. 

The coliseum staff person wrote: The injury caused Nixon “to perform poorly in his first debate with John F. Kennedy (the following month). Nixon would later claim the Greensboro campaign stop cost him the election.”

 

Many political observers agreed with that personal assessment, but the 1960 presidential contest is still considered to be the closest race for the White House in American history. 

Nixon actually won four more states than Kennedy, but came up shy on Electoral College votes. Vote totals in the key states of Illinois and Texas tipped the outcome. Had Nixon spent more time campaigning in those two “battleground states,” rather than hopscotching around to try to visit all 50 states, things might have worked out differently. 

Regardless, Nixon was both stunned and heartbroken with the loss. Many pundits said Kennedy had dispatched Nixon to the “political boneyard.” They penned clever obituaries about Nixon’s demise from public service. His was a face never to again grace the national stage, some said. 

Defeated, dejected and demoralized Nixon returned to his home state of California. It wasn’t long, however, before state party leaders came knocking to convince Nixon to shake it off and seek the governorship in 1962. 

It was “an opportunity,” the party faithful said, that could serve as a stepping stone to set up a rematch with Kennedy in 1964. Nixon pondered the situation, soaked up the California sun and agreed with the logic. 

Democrat Pat Brown, the incumbent governor, foiled that plan, however, by besting Nixon at the ballot box in 1962. 

Experiencing great frustration, Nixon announced that he was “retiring from politics,” stating that the news media “won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” 

Everything changed on Nov. 22, 1963, of course, when President Kennedy was assassinated, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as commander in chief. 

For the 1964 election, the Republicans nominated Barry Goldwater for president. He was eagerly endorsed by Nixon, who was one of the party convention speakers. Voters elected Johnson in a landslide. 

Four years later in 1968, the Republicans had a slew of prospects to consider at its convention, including the 5 R’s – brothers Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller, Ronald Reagan, James Rhodes and George Romney. 

Instead, delegates nominated Richard Nixon, who had risen from the political graveyard and became known as the “comeback kid.”

It was a “political miracle.” Much of the credit goes to Nixon’s adviser Pat Buchanan, the conservative political columnist. He had been brought into Nixon’s inner circle with the charge of restoring Nixon’s viability, credibility and integrity as well as removing the “warts” that haunted his personality.

 

The Nixon-Buchanan relationship actually had its beginning in the mid-1950s, when Buchanan caddied for Nixon on the golf course…and improved his score-ability.