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The many what-if's of Richard Nixon

U.S. political history might be quite different if not for three of Nixon's biggest political setbacks.

January 06, 2013|By Bill Whalen
  • On July 28, 1952, Sen. Richard Nixon prepares a speech in Los Angeles after being nominated for vice president.
On July 28, 1952, Sen. Richard Nixon prepares a speech in Los Angeles after… (Los Angeles Times )


The centennial of America's 37th president won't be met with much fanfare beyond this weekend's wreath-laying at that home and a Nixon Foundation dinner Wednesday in Washington. Although the Nixon Library has other centennial-related events planned for 2013, there's little of the hoopla that accompanied the 100th birthday of California's other president, Ronald Reagan, two years ago.


Still, Nixon's milestone is worth noting, beginning with his contributions to the political lexicon. How many times have we referenced a cornered candidate in need of a "Checkers speech," an unorthodox maneuver as a "Nixon goes to China" moment or the unfortunate tendency to affix "gate" to slightest whiff of scandal (more than 120 times, per Wikipedia's count)?


If Nixon had beaten John F. Kennedy in 1960: Change the outcomes in Illinois and Texas (Nixon lost the two states by 0.18% and 2%, respectively), and there would have been no "New Frontier," no tragedy in Dallas — perhaps no enduring Camelot mystique. Kennedy might have opted for a rematch in 1964, or waited until 1968 (he'd have been only 51 then). Perhaps he would have chosen not to run again, and the Kennedy clan would be just another congressional dynasty.




Had Nixon attended Harvard instead of nearby Whittier College (with his father ailing, he had to tend to the family business), would he have still ended up back in California after his undergraduate and law studies? If, instead of taking the California bar exam, Nixon opted for a career with the FBI (he applied to be an agent in 1937), would he have ended up in Washington as one of J. Edgar Hoover's minions? If Nixon had sought a military deferment at the outbreak of World War II — attainable, given his Quaker faith — would he have been able to run for Congress in 1946 and ride the fast track to national office (sworn in as vice president just 11 days after he turned 40)?

And what if Nixon had been able to convince a young Pete Wilson not to seek an Assembly seat in 1966 and instead join the Nixon team gearing up for 1968? Would Dianne Feinstein or Kathleen Brown have cracked California's gubernatorial glass ceiling?


Bill Whalen follows California and national politics at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, and was chief speechwriter for Gov. Pete Wilson.

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