National Trends Nixon’s Round

The commentators’ consensus after the second television debate was that Nixon won it, but most of them were not very helpful in explaining why. The talk here in Washington, and elsewhere, was about Nixon’s rehabilitated “image”—how he was more “aggressive” and “tougher” and looked less like warmed-over death than the first time out. But while all that was perfectly true, Kennedy also seemed healthy and was at least as contentious; so that these fascinating comparisons could at most account for a draw. The advantage in this encounter, if there was one, was in the arguments. And the only real argument was on foreign policy.

In all, there were seven clashes on the subject—though two of them were hardly that since Kennedy either went into a clinch or backed away.

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L. Brent Bozell Jr.

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Richard Nixon

John F. Kennedy

Presidential Election

The commentators’ consensus after the second television debate was that Nixon won it, but most of them were not very helpful in explaining why. The talk here in Washington, and elsewhere, was about Nixon’s rehabilitated “image”—how he was more “aggressive” and “tougher” and looked less like warmed-over death than the first time out. But while all that was perfectly true, Kennedy also seemed healthy and was at least as contentious; so that these fascinating comparisons could at most account for a draw. The advantage in this encounter, if there was one, was in the arguments. And the only real argument was on foreign policy.

In all, there were seven clashes on the subject—though two of them were hardly that since Kennedy either went into a clinch or backed away.