Nixon became president in 1953

[brucejoel99]

Nixon, even lacking his trademark paranoia, wouldn't have been ready to be President at this point. From what I understand, Eisenhower didn't think very much of him during their time together as President & Vice President, & I think that if Ike had succumbed to such a freak accident, then the electorate would agree. I think many would also be quite upset that the man they idolized for his service in WW2 was replaced by such a man as "Tricky Dick."

There's also the fact that Nixon was rather close to McCarthy, & while he was no idiot, I think he might indulge the man more than Eisenhower did, which could be very ugly for him.

As far as foreign policy goes, I don't have much to base this on, but I do get the feeling that Nixon would be far more aggressive (though not as competent) in responding to the Hungarian Revolution & Suez Crisis, which would be a disaster, in all likelihood.

I'm not sure what would happen in 1956, to be honest, but I do get the feeling that the Democrat (be it Adlai or somebody else entirely) would win.