With the remarkable political success of DJT winning his third Presidential election and preparing to serve his second non-consecutive term, only the second person in America to accomplish that, everyone has forgotten another remarkable presidential comeback: The Richard ” Never Say Die” Nixon (RMN) story.
RMN and JFK entered the US Senate in 1948 and, according to some, became friendly. In an ironic twist of history, Ike chose RMN as his VP, rather than accepting President Truman’s offer to be Ike’s VP. Ike seriously considered dumping Nixon in 1956, but after Nixon’s famous ” “Checkers” speech kept RMN on the ticket.
In 1960, Nixon lost one of the closest POTUS elections in American history when Chicago mayor Richard Daley delivered Illinois for JFK. Many thought there were political shenanigans, but RMN, for the good of the country, conceded and returned to California, where he again lost the California governor’s race to Pat Brown. RMN famously announce,d ” You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.”
RMN, proving his resilience if not his prophetic abilities, amazingly won the Presidency in 1968, defeating the Happy Warrior, Hubert Humphrey, who was a victim of Lyndon Johnson’s disastrous Vietnam War policies. RMN won re-election in 1972 by a 49-state popular and electoral college landslide, the only inauguration I have ever attended. Although, being young and foolish, I cast my first vote for POTUS for George McGovern. I bought the Washington Post ( Woodward and Bernstein) reporting hook, line, and sinker at the time.
Then the Deep State struck and, in a historical irony, invented Watergate based on a disgruntled disclosure from an individual livid because RMN did not appoint him Director of the FBI. History rhymes again.
While I have been an ardent supporter of Donald Trump from the minute Ted Cruz dropped out of the 2016 presidential race, ask my radio confreres: RMN gives DJT a run for his money as the Greatest Comeback Kid in American political history. Let’s hope and pray for the future of our children and grandchildren that DJT’s Comeback is far more successful than RMN’s.
Thanks to Charles Bradley for the Op-Ed. As a reminder, authors’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers. Submit Op-Eds to steve@granitegrok.com
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