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The Myth of Nixon's Graceful
Exit
By Gerald Posner
One of the most oft-repeated
myths in the aftermath of the current presidential election disputes is
the claim that Vice President Al Gore should behave more like Richard Nixon,
who is cited frequently for having graciously decided not to pursue legal
remedies in response to possible voter fraud that might have cost him the
1960 election with John Kennedy. But the notion that Nixon graciously exited
is just false.
The 1960 race was unquestionably
close. Some states -- like California -- initially fell into Kennedy's
electoral count, but were reversed almost two weeks later after absentee
ballots were counted. But the core questions about the election centered
on rumors of fraud, primarily in Illinois, where Democratic Mayor Richard
Daley's powerful political machine controlled voter-heavy Chicago, and
Texas, where vice presidential candidate Lyndon Johnson was a senator.
Rumors of impropriety existed
before the election. After the election, when Illinois went for Kennedy
by fewer than 9,000 votes, and Texas by just over 40,000, Republicans cried
foul. Nixon was worried about how to challenge the vote and still not be
branded in history as a "sore loser." Although he would later claim that
President Eisenhower encouraged him to contest the election outcome, that
was not true, as the outgoing president withdrew his support for any challenge
within a day of the vote.
Yet, contrary to modern memory,
Nixon and his Republican allies still mounted a massive vote challenge.
It is true that Nixon did quickly concede the election to Kennedy. And
while he was careful not to put a public imprimatur on the concerted Republican
effort to challenge the election results, he privately not only authorized
it, but actively encouraged it.
A conservative journalist
and close Nixon friend, Earl Mazo, of the New York Herald Tribune, launched
a press frenzy over possible voter fraud. (He was later Nixon's official
biographer.) And not only did Republican senators like Thruston Morton
ask for recounts in 11 states just three days after the election, but Nixon
aides Bob Finch and Len Hall personally did field checks of votes in almost
a dozen states. The Republicans obtained recounts, involved U.S. Attorneys
and the FBI, and even impaneled grand juries in their quest to get a different
election result.
A slew of lawsuits were filed
by Republicans, and unsuccessful appeals to state election commissions
routinely followed. However, all their efforts failed to uncover any significant
wrongdoing. In Illinois, for instance, the final recount showed that Nixon's
votes had been undercounted by 943 -- yet, in 40 percent of the rechecked
precincts, it turned out that Nixon's vote had been overcounted. (Contrast
this with Gore, whose vote total steadily climbed during the Florida recount.)
Unhappy with those results,
Republicans went to federal court, where their case was dismissed. They
then appealed to the State Board of Elections, which also rejected their
claims. It was not until Dec. 19 -- over a month after the election --
that the national Republican Party backed off its Illinois claims. Similar
results, and extended fights, took place in Texas and New Jersey among
other states. In Hawaii, Republican efforts had the unintended result of
reversing the state's electoral votes from Nixon to Kennedy. Although Republicans
continued to insist that Illinois and Texas had somehow figured out a way
to cheat and still pass a recount, they never produced hard evidence of
widespread impropriety. Yet, that was certainly not for lack of trying.
For over a month, the Republican
efforts were aggressive and widespread. That Nixon was clever enough to
allow his aides and political friends to do the work on his behalf -- while
officially seeming to remove himself from the fray -- should not let Americans
have amnesia about what really happened in the wake of the 1960 vote. If
the current rallying cry of Republicans is that Al Gore should behave like
Richard Nixon did in 1960, that is precisely what he is doing -- strongly
making every effort to ensure that the final vote was fair and correct.
About the writer:
Gerald Posner is the author
of "Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK" and six
other exceptional books. |
