Eisenhower dies in 1955. Nixon runs in 1956.

[Lincoln Republican]

Tragically, President Dwight Eisenhower dies of a heart attack in November, 1955.  Vice President Richard Nixon assumes the Presidency.

In 1956, the Republicans nominate the new President, Richard Nixon of California for President without opposition.  In a surprise move, Nixon brings back a former Vice Presidential nominee, Senator John W Bricker of Ohio, who had been the Vice Presidential nominee in 1944, as the Vice Presidential nominee again for 1956.  Bricker had been Governor of Ohio 1939-1945 and had been a U.S. Senator since 1947.  Bricker was both respected and experienced.

In a stunning upset, ambitious Texas Senator Lyndon B Johnson defeats former Illinois Governor and 1952 nominee Adlai Stevenson to win the Democratic Presidential nomination.  Johnson had been a member of the House of Representatives 1937-1949 and was a U.S. Senator since 1949.  Johnson was not only ambitious, he was experienced in government, and was considered to be a very capable legislator.  Johnson surprises the convention by picking for Vice President the young, attractive, well spoken, and fast rising star in the Democratic Party, Senator John F Kennedy of Massachusetts.  Kennedy had been a member of the House of Representatives 1947 to 1953 and had been a U.S. Senator since 1953.

1956 Election

Republican
President Richard M Nixon (CA)
Senator John W Bricker (OH)

Democrat
Senator Lyndon B Johnson (TX)
Senator John F Kennedy (MA)     

How does this election go?
Maps?

[Lincoln Republican]

I am very aware of the relationship between Johnson and Kennedy.

That's not the point.  In this scenario, Johnson does pick Kennedy, as Kennedy would likely be capable of delivering northern and more liberal voters.

This a scenario, not an actual situation. 

The tickets are specified and the question is how the election turns out, not whether or not Johnson would have picked Kennedy.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

The map will probably look like this more or less.

[PBrunsel]

Nixon, though not being as trusted as Ike was back in 1956, was looked upon favorably by most Americans because of the way he handled himself and the Presidency when Eisenhower was incapacitated due to his heart attack.

If Nixon had been as a good a real president as he was an "acting" president, he would have easily won reelection. The economy was strong and Middle America was better off than under Truman, so there is no reason that Nixon would not have secured reelection.

Nixon/Bricker (R): 367 EV
Johnson/Kennedy (D): 164 EV

However, now the real fun begins. Senator Kennedy's religion would be blamed by protestant Democrats as the reason that the ticket failed. When Johnson and Kennedy run for the Democratic nod in 1960, they are denied it. Johnson is tainted as a "loser" and Kennedy is smeared as a man whose Catholicism cost the Democrats victory in 1956. The Democratic Ticket in 1960 is Senator Hubert Humphrey (MN) and Senator George Smathers (FL).  

[Lincoln Republican]

Thank you for your responses.

Another reason I have a Democratic ticket of Johnson/Kennedy in 1956 is because I thought it was an interesting twist on the 1960 ticket, Kennedy/Johnson.

PBrunsel, how do you see the 1960 election, Nixon/Bricker vs Humphrey/Smathers turning out, assuming Nixon performs admirably as President during his first 5 years in office?

[johnpressman]

Hey, Tammny Hall Republican.  Your scenario is NOT as far fetched as some claim.  Joe Kennedy offered to finance an LBJ run for the presidency in 1956 if Lyndon would take JFK as his Vice Presidential nominee.  Johnson rejected the offer, not wanting to declare himself a candidate until he learned whether or not Eisenhower would seek reelection.  Johnson's response ticked off RFK who though it "unforgiveably discourteous to turn down his father's generous offer".

This is from pages 203-204 of Robert Dallek's bio of jFK, "An Unfinished Life".  I do not believe that Nixon would have chosen someone for VP as old as John Bricker.  Nixon, at 43, picking another "father figure" like IKE would have been perceieved as needing another old man to guide him in the Presidency.  Bricker was considered a "moss-back", a throwback to the Isolationist pre-war Republican Party.  More likely he would have chosen one of Ike's supporters like Gov. Christian Herter of Mass.

As for the 1956 election?  If Ike passed away, Nixon wins easily, garnering the sympathy vote as he pledges to carry on IKE's work.  If IKE declined to run, Nixon wins a much closer election.  Would New York vote for a Southerner?  I don't think so.

[PBrunsel]

In response to Winfield,

I see the 1960 Nixon vs. Humphrey race to be a close one. Nixon probably would not order a break-in at the Democratic headquarters in June of 1960, since he was not yet paranoid about Democrats and election stealing. However, Nixon would face other, more pressing, challenges.

Nixon, like Eisenhower, would have fumbled the 1958 Midterm Elections and fail to address the recession. Nixon’s Keynesian ideas would simply have made the recession worse, and by 1960 an early form of “stagflation” would have taken place. Also on the domestic front, Nixon easily could have messed up on Civil Rights. It is doubtful that he would have made too much of a fuss about them, but he also could have been like Eisenhower and talk enough about them to alienate the South. The former is the most likely scenario.

Finally, the “Kitchen Debate” could easily have happened between President Nixon and Premier Khrushchev, and that could have made the Cold War even colder. No longer was it just witty banter between the second banana and the Soviet leader, but now it was the Leader of the Free World arguing with the Soviet Commander.

In the end, I feel the jovial Humphrey would capitalize on Nixon’s weaknesses, and win the election.

Humphrey/Smathers (D): 302 EV
Nixon/Bricker (R): 216 EV
Byrd/Thurmond (Unpledged): 19 EV

[Lincoln Republican]

Hey, Tammny Hall Republican.  Your scenario is NOT as far fetched as some claim.  Joe Kennedy offered to finance an LBJ run for the presidency in 1956 if Lyndon would take JFK as his Vice Presidential nominee.  Johnson rejected the offer, not wanting to declare himself a candidate until he learned whether or not Eisenhower would seek reelection.  Johnson's response ticked off RFK who though it "unforgiveably discourteous to turn down his father's generous offer".

This is from pages 203-204 of Robert Dallek's bio of jFK, "An Unfinished Life".  I do not believe that Nixon would have chosen someone for VP as old as John Bricker.  Nixon, at 43, picking another "father figure" like IKE would have been perceieved as needing another old man to guide him in the Presidency.  Bricker was considered a "moss-back", a throwback to the Isolationist pre-war Republican Party.  More likely he would have chosen one of Ike's supporters like Gov. Christian Herter of Mass.

As for the 1956 election?  If Ike passed away, Nixon wins easily, garnering the sympathy vote as he pledges to carry on IKE's work.  If IKE declined to run, Nixon wins a much closer election.  Would New York vote for a Southerner?  I don't think so.

Thank you for your comments about Johnson and the Kennedys in 1956.

I agree about Nixon's running mate.  I picked Bricker because I wanted to throw in a surprise pick at the convention, where Nixon announced his choice, and caught everyone off guard.

However, as you have pointed out, and I agree, Nixon would not have picked Bricker, though Bricker would have been solid.

A more likely pick for Nixon in 1956 would have been 52 year old Senator John J Williams of Delaware, who had been serving in the Senate since 1947.  Young and aggressive, as reported in Wikipedia, Williams had established a reputation as an opponent of government waste and bureaucracy, and as a supporter of tax cuts.  From 1947 through 1948, Williams worked to root out corruption in the Internal Revenue Service, exposing the illegal activities of two hundred employees of the Treasury Department.

This record would have endeared Williams to millions of tax payers, and voters, across America.

Williams was hard working, and had respect from both sides of the aisle.  He would have made an excellent pick for Nixon in this scenario.

Nixon and Williams would have made a young and aggressive, yet experienced, ticket in 1956.  Nixon, with his reputation on the House Un-American Activities Committee, his strong anti-Communist reputation as Vice President, and Williams, with his reputation as a defender of the tax payers.

Nixon, now with the power and prestige of the Presidency, and his young running mate Williams, proven to be a successful, capable, and respected legislator, would have gone on to defeat Johnson and Kennedy in a convincing victory.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Nixon/Bricker: 266
Johnson/Kennedy: 265

[johnpressman]

How about a curve in this scenario?  Eisenhower dosen't die, but the heart attack he suffered renders him incapable of running for a second term.  Does Ike:

1. Resign, allowing Nixon to assume the Presidency, thus making him a stronger candidate on  his own right  in 1956?
or:
2. Ike feels  that Nixon is unsuitabile for the Presidency, (think about the "Dump Nixon" boomlet in 1956) he asks Nixon to resign and appoints his own successor?
or:
3. Ike finishes his term, but supports a different candidate for the nomination?

[Lincoln Republican]

How about a curve in this scenario?  Eisenhower dosen't die, but the heart attack he suffered renders him incapable of running for a second term.  Does Ike:

1. Resign, allowing Nixon to assume the Presidency, thus making him a stronger candidate on  his own right  in 1956?
or:
2. Ike feels  that Nixon is unsuitabile for the Presidency, (think about the "Dump Nixon" boomlet in 1956) he asks Nixon to resign and appoints his own successor?
or:
3. Ike finishes his term, but supports a different candidate for the nomination?

Interesting alternate scenario from johnpressman. 

Under john's choices, Ike does definitely not resign.  He would complete his term, even though he knows he would not be running for reelection in 1956.  For one thing, Ike would be looking at history.  He would not, under any circumstances, want to go down in history as a quitter.  After all, he was the commanding officer of the allied forces in WWII.  He is still capable, in this scenario from john, of completing his first term, and he would complete it.

Ike would not ask Nixon to resign the Vice Presidency.  This would be seen as unconstitutional.  Eisenhower and Nixon were elected, as a ticket, in 1952.  A President does not simply dump a Vice President part way through the term to which they were elected.  If the President does not want to run with his Vice President at the next election, he picks a different running mate for the next election.  He does not ask his Vice President to resign.  In 1955, which is the time frame for this scenario, there is no provision for the President to nominate a replacement Vice President.  If Nixon did resign, which he would not do anyway, the nation would then be without a Vice President until after the next election, when the President and Vice President are sworn into office.  Asking Nixon to resign part way through the term, in 1955, would have caused problems Ike and the administration would not want to have.  Nixon was nothing if he was not a fighter, and it would go against everything he ever stood for for him to simply resign the Vice Presidency, to which he had been elected.  Under no circumstances does Ike ask Nixon to resign.

The only option left from john's scenario is that Ike finishes his term, and endorses someone other than Nixon for the nomination for 1956.

My own guess is, however, that Ike finishes his term as President, Nixon finishes his term as Vice President, and that Nixon, as ambitious as he is, still seeks the nomintion for the 1956 election, and he would have much of the party behind him.  Ike remains neutral, and would not attempt to "appoint" his successor for President.  An endorsement by the President of someone, other than Nixon, to become his successor, would cause many more divisions in the party than it would solve.  Besides, with Ike endorsing someone for the nomination for 1956, and if that person does not win the nomination, that would amount to a repudiation of the President, and would be a devastating blow to Eisenhower's prestige and to his legacy.

If Ike and the administration would have tried to stand in Nixon's way to seek the nomination in 1956, this would have been seen by rank and file party members as an obvious attempt to influence their decision as to who should be the nominee in 1956. 

Nixon would rally the "honest, everyday, hard working, men and women of America" behind him, and would go on to win the nomination.

With Ike unable to seek reelection in 1956, assuming he keeps his nose clean, Nixon holds all the cards.  Yes, others may come forward to challenge him for the nomination in 1956, but Nixon would command by far the greatest support in the party.  Most party members would have believed that Nixon would have deserved the Presidential nomination for 1956. 
 

[gorkay]

I think Nixon would have won such an election, though it would have been a close one. His greater difficulty might have been securing the Republican nomination. Although he would naturally have been the front-runner, he probably would have had plenty of competition. But he would have benefitted from the sympathy vote generated by Ike's death (as LBJ did in '64) and could have run on a platform of continuing Ike's policies, as his logical successor.

LBJ would have had a tough time getting the Democratic nomination under such circumstances, he wouldn't have pleased hardly any of the Dems' regional constituencies (the northerners would have thought him too southern and not liberal enough, and the southerners would have been leery of his pro-civil-rights record), and in Kennedy he would have had a running mate who, though capable and promising, wasn't yet very well-known nationally. Any Democrat would have had a very hard time beating Stevenson for the '56 nomination. Speaking of which, see my thread about a Nixon/Stevenson contest in '56.

[Crimebill]

I think that LBJ, believing himself to be a strong underdog, wouldn't even run against President in 1956: he tended to shy away from scenarios where we would likely lose (note his delay in seriously competing in the 1960 primaries)

[Kingpoleon]

307: Lyndon B. Johnson/John F. Kennedy
224: Richard Nixon/John Bricker

Nixon's alienation of the likes of Dewey, Rockefeller, and Goodwin Knight result in him losing Illinois, Ohio, and New York, and thus the election, to a fellow conservative - Lyndon Johnson, who runs to Nixon's left on economics and even more hawkish. Mamie Eisenhower's refusal to endorse prevents any sympathy boost for Nixon.