The Road Back

With two brief, declarative sentences, Richard Milhous Nixon moved back onto the firing line of U.S. politics and announced a decision that will influence the course of the Republican Party to the very moment the G.O.P. nominates its 1964 presidential candidate. Said Dick Nixon in Los Angeles: "I shall not be a candidate for President of the U.S. in 1964. I shall be a candidate for Governor of the State of California in 1962."

Ever since he lost the 1960 presidential election by a breathless .17% of the popular vote, Nixon has been pondering about the care and feeding of his political future. His obvious course was to run for Governor of California. But there were grave hazards, including: 1) the chance that his political career might be abruptly ended by defeat either in the Republican primary or in the general election against Democratic Incumbent Pat Brown, and 2) the fact that the next Governor of California will be elected to serve until 1966, and the state's voters are notably leary of politicians who regard the Governor's mansion as a part-term campsite on the trail to the White House.

2-c- Worth. Nixon kept his own counsel until a few nights before his announcement. Then, recalls Wife Pat Nixon, "Dick came home very late. We all heard Dick enter, and the girls ran downstairs. Then we discussed the matter, as we always do, in one of our family sessions. We put in our 2-c- worth--and I guess that was pretty close to the first time I knew definitely Dick was back in it."

Lawyer Nixon's decision opened the way for a series of savage political struggles. There are already three other announced candidates for the Republican gubernatorial primary, including ebullient Goodwin J. Knight, who held the office from 1953 until 1959. No sooner had Nixon announced his candidacy than Knight showed just what kind of campaign fight it will be. He charged that a Nixon aide had offered him "any job in the State of California, 'Chief Justice or anything you want, if you won't run against Dick.' " Said Nixon of the Knight accusation: "False and libelous."

If he gets past the primary, Nixon must next face Democrat Brown, an inept Governor but a tireless campaigner, whose state party outnumbers the Republicans in registration by more than 1,000,000. Not until private polls told him that he could trounce Brown did Nixon actually decide to run for Governor. But Brown would go down hard. As soon as he heard of Republican Knight's charges against Republican Nixon, Governor Brown picked up the cry: "If Knight's charges are true, it's the most shocking political scandal in the history of the state. If Richard Nixon did offer to sell the highest judicial office in California for a political favor, the public exposure of his act would require that he withdraw from the race."

Politician's Right. Nixon's announcement brought contrasting reactions from his two most notable rivals for the Republican nomination in 1964. New York's as a presidential "candidate," he had said nothing about how he would respond to a draft. Arizona's Senator Barry Goldwater argued that Nixon had really read himself out of the presidential race. Said Goldwater: "Everyone who runs for office over there in California has to carry a Bible around and swear he won't run for the presidency. I'm convinced that Dick meant what he said."

At week's end, Dick Nixon showed up at a conference of Republicans in Sun Valley, Idaho, and was besieged by newsmen who asked him pointblank: "Would you accept a draft?" Replied Nixon: "The answer is no. Despite all the talk about drafts, there has never been one in history. The candidate has always initiated it, and this I will not do."

Even after this declaration, many Republican politicians remained convinced that Dick Nixon would still be avail able for the nomination in 1964. If Rockefeller and Goldwater fought to a draw in the primaries, the Republican Party would assuredly turn to Nixon. And, by hallowed custom, politicians--like women--have the right to change their minds. In the next 2 1/2 years, a lot could happen in Republican politics to change Dick Nixon's mind.

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