Source: Washington Post
by Matt Bai
“To understand why JD Vance could be the most consequential figure on either presidential ticket this year, and why you should pay close attention to his debate with Tim Walz next week, consider what almost happened to Richard M. Nixon. In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower needed a running mate and settled on Nixon, a 39-year-old first-term senator and military veteran, who had found instant celebrity among his party’s arch-conservatives for his ardent, often misleading attacks on alleged communists. Nixon was, in other words, eerily similar to Vance — at least in his resume. What you might not remember is that in 1955, Eisenhower, who at 65 was considered a notably old president, suffered a massive heart attack while on a golfing trip in Denver. That Ike survived was pretty much a flip of the coin. Had he died, America would have seen the Nixon presidency 14 years earlier than it actually did.” (09/25/24)