1960 Underwood/Dirksen (R) vs. Johnson/Humphrey (D)

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Vice President Nixon, for some reason or another, is unavailable to run for the Republican nomination in 1960. Governor Cecil H. Underwood of West Virginia is able to use his charisma and gubernatorial record to win the nomination. In order to add some experience to the ticket, Senator Everett Dirksen is made the Vice Presidential nominee. The Democrats too are bereft of their real life winner, John F. Kennedy. At the convention, Johnson is able to win the nomination and in order to give him some cred among Northern liberals, Humphrey is chosen for VP. Who wins the election? How does the map look? Do the debates happen, and if so, how does each candidate do in them? etc.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Cecil Underwood would most likely win, although LBJ would probably do better in the Deep South and West and might even carry California. On a side note, I always thought that in a scenario where Richard Nixon is elected in 1960 and assassinated in 1963, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. would have picked Cecil Underwood as his Vice-President when he'd run for a full term in 1964 due to his youth and the possibility of putting some of the Upper South and border states such as North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and of course West Virginia into play for the Republicans.

In all honesty, this is my attempt at an image reversal of the real 1960 election. On one side is the young and energetic candidate with the party Senate leader as his running-mate and on the other side is the experienced party head who doesn't appreciate the elites that much.