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177 9 November 8, 1960, and Its Aftermath “I’m not discouraged—just eviscerated, lacerated and obliterated. I would have worked harder but discovered there aren’t more than 24 hours to a day.” —White House aide Bryce Harlow on his reaction to the Republican defeat on November 8 On November 8, 1960, Americans went to the polls as they had not done in more than fifty years and would not do again. Voter turnout (that is, the percentage of eligible voters casting their ballots) was greater than for any of the great Roosevelt elections of 1932, 1936, and 1940, and the highest since 1908. It has not been equaled since, and now ranks as the highest voter participation in a century. Ironically, one individual who did not vote was none other than Theodore H. White, who was unable to return to New York City on November 8 and had neglected to obtain an absentee ballot. His vote would go uncast and uncounted.1 Until substantial returns began to come in sometime after 7:00 p.m. EST, election day was a tedious affair for the candidates, who could do nothing more than vote and wait. The waiting was nerve-racking. John F. Kennedy cast his vote in Boston, flew to Hyannis Port, and retired to the family compound , where he joined his family and some of his closest advisers like Ted Sorensen, John Bailey, and Lou Harris.2 Richard M. Nixon had a more adventurous day. Early in the morning he voted at his home precinct in Whittier and then decided to spend a day without the suffocating press coverage. He saw this as possibly his last chance at freedom for four years. In the vice president’s words, “If we win tonight, we will not be able to escape the press or the secret service for four years.” He stepped out of his limousine and into a convertible he had ordered. With military aide Don Hughes, Secret Service agent Jack Sherwood, and driver and Los Angeles detective John DiBetta, Nixon took off. He told DiBetta to escape the trailing press and Secret Service automobiles. After some evasive maneuvers, DiBetta succeeded. The four men then drove down the coast highway toward San Diego. There was an agreement that there would be no discussion of the campaign or the election, and the car radio remained off. The vice president discovered that Don Hughes had never been to Tijuana, 178 * Kennedy v. Nixon so it was off to Tijuana, where they ate at the Old Heidelberg Restaurant. The mayor of Tijuana and the police chief joined them, and a good time was had by all. While at the restaurant, Hughes called press secretary Herb Klein to inform him of the vice president’s activities. Klein was flabbergasted. About 2:00 p.m., the four men left Tijuana for the return trip to Los Angeles , but on the way stopped at San Juan Capistrano so that Hughes could see the famous mission. In Nixon’s words, he was going to take Hughes, who was “one of his favorite Catholics,” to “one of my favorite Catholic places.” The foursome spent more than an hour there before driving back to Los Angeles. Nixon fell asleep on the return drive, and the four men arrived at the Ambassador Hotel just before 5:00 p.m. PST. For nine hours, Nixon and friends had not spoken of the election. The episode recalled what Nixon had done eight years earlier in 1952, when he and William Rogers went to Laguna Beach, swam, and played touch football with some Marines.3 By the time Nixon returned to his hotel suite, it was 8:00 p.m. EST, and meaningful returns were now pouring in from the East as well as some southern and border states. The totals filtered in, but there was so much air time to fill that the television coverage inevitably dedicated itself to rehashing what had already been said numerous times, revisiting previous certitudes , and pontificating on the obvious while reiterating a vast reservoir of platitudes. Even on an exciting election night, such as November 8, 1960, there were few moments of high drama.4 Television network coverage on the night of November 8, 1960, possessed two striking characteristics. The first was the inept attempt to utilize computers to predict the election outcome in an effort to make network predictions seem more “scientific.” In 1960, computer technology was in an early stage, and its use...

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