Editor says, what if Nixon had been shot in Dallas? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).

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Editor says, contrary to common belief, assuming all else remained the same, Kennedy would still have won in 1960 if Illinois had gone to Nixon. He had enough of a lead in the Electoral College to allow him to lose that state and still come out with a (bare) majority of electors. Nixon apologists' complaints on this subject ignore the math.

Nixon himself knew this, which was why his campaign had challenged the vote count in several other states as well, including Texas. If Kennedy had lost both Illinois and Texas, Nixon would have emerged the winner, though he would no doubt have earned himself considerable ill will in the process.

David Atwell commented on 2009-12-03 22:11:11 ~ WOW! So Nixon is elected in 1960 only to be assassinated Now that'll throw a spanner in the works. So does the US, under Nixon, handle the Cuban Missile Crisis? Does the US get dragged into Vietnam? More to the point, do the US open talks with China which eventually leads to the US recognising China?

Stan Brin commented on 2009-12-03 23:19:55 ~ "Oswald murdered in Dallas by Eric Lipps"???? - That's a surprise! Why did Eric Lipps kill Oswald? What did Eric Lipps have against him? Was he a friend of Jack Ruby? Did he know Marina? So many questions!!!!

Scott Palter commented on 2009-12-03 23:30:59 ~ US had three essentially dead heat elections - 1960, 1968, 1976. Of the three 1960 was so close that it comes out as a coin flip. Also like 2000 the swoprn in President actually lost the popular vote. This was not the way it was reported at the time but AP blew the quite complicated Alabama count.

Eric Oppen commented on 2009-12-04 09:26:34 ~ Would Nixon have been canonized the way JFK was? He was quite unpopular with the press, which adored JFK to a man. And if Oswald's successfully linked to Castro, bye-bye goes any chances that the US will _ever_ back down on Cuba. The Soviets will acquiesce because they don't wanna be nuked off the planet.

Eric Lipps commented on 2009-12-04 13:01:42 ~ Considering that as Eisenhower's VP, Nixon was tasked with overseeing the preparations for what became the Bay of Pigs operation, there might not have been a Cuban missile crisis--because Nixon, unlike Kennedy, would have been happy to commit major U.S. forces to back up the Cuban exiles. (Kennedy, who had been sold a bill of goods about how all the U.S. had to do was get the exiles to Cuba and the Cuban people, and even the Cuban military, would rise up aagainst Castro, was unwilling to do so when that turned out not to be so.) Instead, there'd probably be an ongoing guerrilla war, with Castro leading rebels againt a restored Batista and the "Yanqui imperialist invaders" who had put him back in power--leaving plenty of room for a Oswald to form a "Fair Play for Cuba Comittee"--although in this TL, it wouldn't be sharing ofice stace with aan anti-Castro group, as it did (weirdly) in our history.

Eric Lipps commented on 2009-12-04 13:07:41 ~ And by the way, "Oswald Murdered in Dallas by Eric Lipps", HA! That'd have been a neat trick, considering I was six years old at the time. What would I have used, a poisoned water pistol?

Bruce Johnson commented on 2010-08-11 13:13:03 ~ Folks have already raised the most important questions (re our interactions involving Cuba), so I'll just raise a silly one. WHAT exactly, in this version, was Nixon doing in TEXAS? The political motivation for JFK (looking forward to 1964 and his need to shore up support there) is clear enough. What would Nixon's be?

Eric Lipps commented on 2010-08-12 01:18:08 ~ "Oswald murdered in Dallas by Eric Lipps"???? - That's a surprise!" I'll say, saince I was ssix at the time and living in California! ; D As for Bruce Johnson's question about Nixon's presence in Dallas, nobody really seems to know; I've heard two or three conflicting explanations. That ambiguity, coupled with Nixon's sell-known hatred of JFK, has proven fodder for lots of conspiracy theories over the years.

Stan Brin commented on 2011-11-24 08:34:40 ~ "Fair Play For Cuba" was not a one-man operation. It had "chapters" -- actually communist party cells -- all over the country. I knew some of them. But then, as the Communist Party didn't exist and can never be mentioned, I'm probably wrong.

Mark Taylor commented on 2011-11-24 15:06:52 ~ Nixon would've taken out Castro in 1961-maybe even by Christmas 1960 under Ike.Hence no Cuban missile crisis.

Brian Wall commented on 2011-11-24 22:09:51 ~ This sounds as if it took place in the Fringe Red Universe.