Election and Reelection

Richard Nixon had to go through a lot of hardships to get elected as a president of the United States. In 1960, he started his campaign for president, with his running mate, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. His democrat opponent was John F. Kennedy and the race seemed real close. They went on first-ever televised U.S presidential election debate. However, Nixon was sick during the debate, and many people thought that he appeared weak in contrast of young JFK. In the end, Nixon lost just by 0.2% to JFK. He gained a reputation as a loser, after he lost a seat as a governor of California in 1962.

After he lost, he spent 6 years practicing law as a lawyer in California. Nixon decided to run for president again in 1968 presidential election in spite of his reputation. He selected Spiro Agnew, a governor from Maryland as his running mate. He had to compete against Hubert Humphrey (Democrat) and George Wallace (Third-Party). Richard Nixon appealed to the group of people he referred to as the silent majority, socially conservative Americans who dislike the hippie counterculture and anti-war demonstrations that were uprising during the 1960s. Nixon promised people that he has a “secret plan” to end the Vietnam, which was tiring many citizens. In the end Nixon beat Humphrey by a margin of less than 1% of votes.

Election of 1972 was an easy one for Nixon. His opponent McGovern selected Thomas Eagleton as his running mate, but found out that he had treatments for his mental illness. Many people began to turn away from McGovern and turn to Nixon. On the other hand, Nixon was gaining favors of people by bringing peace in Vietnam, and with China and Russia. In the end, Nixon won by the largest landslide. He won 49 states out of 50, except Massachusetts.