Nixon’s the One?

The Right’s strength within the party would become even more evident during the 1968 Republican presidential primaries when, as is revealed in Chapter Five, Conservatives, particularly those based in the South, would effectively handpick the party nominee. Nixon, the 1968 Republican nominee, had watched the implosion of Goldwater’s 1964 candidacy up close, and came away convinced that despite Goldwater’s poor performance the Right and the South would control the 1968 nomination. Nixon’s deference to the Right, as well as his reliance on Bliss’s national service party organization played an important role in his presidential victory in 1968.