Nixon Runs for President of the United States
Nixon won the Republican nomination for the 1960 presidential election. He faced the Democratic nominee, John F. Kennedy. Nixon pushed himself to the limit in the race for the White House, campaigning in every state in the Union. Nixon’s political philosophy, and maybe justifiably, was that politics was a dog-eat-dog business – that you get the other man before he gets you. His reputation for underhanded politics had earned him the nickname “Tricky Dicky.” On this occasion, however, it appears that Nixon was on the receiving end of some political foul play. He lost out by the narrowest of margins and it is believed that significant electoral fraud occurred which swung the election in JFK’s favor.
The manner of his defeat in the presidential election is said to have hardened his attitude toward the Kennedys and over the following years, his hatred towards them verged on the obsessive. Nixon was notorious for holding a grudge. It was later discovered that Nixon had compiled a list of over two hundred people who he considered enemies. The list contained a number of political foes and representatives of the media amongst others. It is also alleged that Nixon was not above using the Secret Service and the IRS to target his perceived enemies.
In 1962 Nixon ran for Governor of California. When he failed in his attempt, an intoxicated Nixon gave a press conference where he said to the press, “you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” According to his brother Edward, this was “the kind of thing (their) father would say.” The dark side of Nixon’s personality manifested itself further when he beat his wife Pat so badly that she went into seclusion. She even considered divorce but in the end, stuck by her husband. However, it is claimed this was not the last time he was physical with her.
Around this time former Wall Street tycoon Jack Dreyfus was using his considerable wealth to lobby for wider use of Dilantin, an anticonvulsant drug used to treat epilepsy. Dreyfus believed that Dilantin could be used for a variety of disorders and conditions, including stress and depression. Nixon asked Dreyfus for a bottle of Dilantin, and when Dreyfus said to him that he would need to have it prescribed by a doctor, Nixon basically said to heck with doctors. Dreyfus took a bottle from the boot of his car containing 1000 pills and gave it to Nixon.
Dilantin was known to have serious side effects if taken in the wrong dose or if it was taken along with alcohol and/or sleeping pills, both of which Nixon was regularly using. The side effects included severe mental confusion, psychosis, delirium and slurred speech. Author Anthony Summers, who along with his wife Robbyn Swan, co-authored the Nixon biography, The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon, speculates that Nixon’s erratic behavior may not have been down to alcohol but the incorrect use of Dilantin.
According to Dr. Hutschnecker, Nixon sought out positions of power but lacked the resilience to cope with the pressure which came along with that power and responsibility. On one occasion, when war broke out in the Middle East, there were genuine concerns that Russia would get involved. At the height of the crisis, when top-ranking officials were meeting to discuss the matter, Nixon was unreachable, apparently having retired to bed at 9 p.m., and believed to be highly intoxicated. On another occasion, following the killing of four anti-war demonstrators at Kent State University, a worse for wear Nixon met with a group of protestors outside the White House. The protestors who were interviewed afterward said that Nixon had been rambling on incoherently, going from topic to topic without ever finishing a thought.