Early 1960s

 For Thursday:

• Matthews,  ch. 19
• Nelson, ch. 2

1960

• Goldwater 1960: "Let's grow up, conservatives" 
• What if: an interactive map
• Popular vote was pretty close in most states
• Nixon concedes:
• In our campaigns, no matter how hard fought they may be, no matter how close the election may turn out to be, those who lose accept the verdict, and support those who win. And I would like to add that, having served now in Government for 14 years, a period which began in the House just 14 years ago, almost to the day, which continued with 2 years in the Senate and 8 years as Vice President, as I complete that 14-year period it is indeed a very great honor to me to extend to my colleagues in the House and Senate on both sides of the aisle who have been elected; to extend to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, who have been elected President and Vice President of the United States, my heartfelt best wishes, as all of you work in a cause that is bigger than any man’s ambition, greater than any party. It is the cause of freedom, of justice, and peace for all mankind.

Cuba and Cold War

• The legacy of the Bay of Pigs:  Matthews follows up.
• Cuba and the Watergate burglars
• Fallout Shelters and The Missiles of October

Kennedy Politics

• Using the IRS
• WH taping system
• Changing economy:  steel

California

• California and the Brown Family
• Aide Stephen Hess on conspiracy theory, 1962 ed.:

Nixon’s opponent in the gubernatorial primary was Joseph Shell—a former USC football star, oil millionaire, and now the conservative minority leader in the California State Assembly. He had no chance of winning, but the third of the vote he would receive was a serious warning to someone of Nixon’s stature. The leading issue was She

 

ll’s support by the ideologically extreme John Birch Society, whose founder, Robert Welch, had accused Eisenhower of being a “conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy.” Nixon repudiated Welch and the John Birch Society, as expected—but he also repudiated all candidates who would not repudiate the society, including two friends in Congress, John Rousselot and Edgar Hiestand, who represented heavily Republican districts—a move that further cut into his vote. (In his race for governor in 1966, Ronald Reagan would also oppose the John Birch Society, but—with more skill—he would tell other candidates they were on their own.) On one occasion Nixon was shaving just before we went out to dinner. He was in his office’s private bathroom, talking to me through the open door. “I could not look myself in the mirror if I support them,” he told me. I could see his image through the mirror and wondered for a moment if this was a set piece. No, he had no need to impress me. Nixon was reassuring Nixon. Even now I think it was the attack on Eisenhower that so bothered Nixon, though other politicians took it less seriously.

Vietnam

• JFK and the Diem coup
• Impact on RN:  Vietnam War and the Pentagon Papers

11/22/63

• Conspiracy theory
• Impact on elections
• Presidential election
• Senate race in Texas