A Man is Finished When He Quits - The Presidency of Richard M. Nixon (Redux)
- Thread starter SargentHawk
- Start date
When is the next post? I really want to see what going to happen to Nixon concerning the Vietnam War.
I'm a bit tied up with personal life and getting the Turtledoves wrapped up, but I'll be getting it out as soon as possible. the next update will focus on domestic issues
Hey SargentHawk, I've been wondering recently in relation to your Space Race post if you'll have Nixon pursue the Apollo Application Program, or assumably the Gemini Application Program (GAP)? There are some really great ideas in there such as a moon base in the 70's, skylab, a manned venus flyby, and the Grand Tour program. With Nixon not wasting billions of dollars in the quagmire of Vietnam, these resources can instead be used in increasing NASA's budget which will help build these projects. After all I think that Nixon would love it if they had a Richard Milhous Nixon Lunar Base.
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I'm 6 pages into the update after that longer than intended break, Hope to have a very hefty update ready within the week.
Sorry, I didn't see this for a few months
There will be an extended program following the Gemini program that will incorporate a developed (possibly apollo-esque) program that focuses on these kind of projects. The extent to all of that however, I can not say.
The Ongoing March
The Ongoing March: April to July 1963
Civil Rights Demonstrators pinned against a wall by a jet of water in Birmingham, Alabama; April 23rd 1963
The Civil Rights Movement had been unceremoniously pushed to the background in the recent months by the tragedy of Black Thursday and the tensions surrounding the Turkish Missile Crisis. Promises made by the Nixon Administration for swift legislative action to answer for the events in Oxford had gone unanswered, their attempts stonewalled by several outspoken southern congressmen. Silence, while nothing foreign to leaders in the movement, had taken its toll and even Martin Luther King had taken to viewing the President’s word with a grain of salt. To those marching for their rights, the current Administration just wasn’t doing enough even if it appeared sympathetic and morally in agreement. Beginning in early 1963, SCLC leaders began an extensive selective buying campaign on local businesses in Birmingham, Alabama in a focused effort to pressure business owners. Modeling and adapting the campaign based on the successes and failures in Albany, Shuttlesworth and other leaders believed that targeting business owners instead of politicians would warrant success. This campaign on its own did not motivate the city government to curtail some of the harshest segregation laws in the South, and in retaliation of the damage done to the downtown economy, the city government retracted tens of thousands of dollars from programs used primarily by the low income African-American population. After the request for assistance from the SCLC was sent from Fred Shuttlesworth and others, Martin Luther King Jr. arrived in Birmingham with his staff in early April with the intentions of organizing a massive campaign that would rectify Albany, which failed to achieve many of its objectives. King’s arrival was not met with support from the entire community, with some disagreeing the idea of a campaign in its entirety and others with a more personal dislike of King after Albany and his meeting with Nixon.
In preparation of escalation beyond the buying campaign, King met with James Bevel, SCLC’s Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education to discuss tactics and goals for the coming months. Bevel, who noted the inability in Albany to gather enough volunteers to fill the jails, presented the plan to utilize African-American students from elementary schools, high schools, and nearby colleges to form the main force of their numbers. He further noted that they would likely prove able to stick together in the face of adversity due to their comradery with one another. King proved highly against the idea at first due to the violence incurred in recent events, and insisted that the idea be abandoned but soon found himself in the minority with those in the meeting. By the end of the meeting, King also agreed to the tactic of using children in demonstrations but with the assurance that the tactic only be put in place when it proved that traditional volunteers proved insufficient in number. Wyatt Tee Walker, SCLC Executive Director and member of King’s staff, undertook the leadership of planning the tactics and selecting locations throughout Birmingham’s downtown district. Key targets for this campaign included lunch counters, stores, libraries, all-white churches, and bathrooms; with secondary targets including municipal buildings throughout the downtown area. Walker designed the tactics and specific demonstrations with the strategy of utilizing Connor’s known use of violence against protestors to gain attention with press coverage and in turn force the city into action and removal of their segregationist policies. These protests began in force on April 7th 1963 when African-American protestors staged kneel-ins throughout Birmingham in all-white churches. Over the course of the next several days sit-ins at libraries and lunch counters coupled with public marches resulted in the arrests of hundreds of volunteers but the numbers of arrests were not proving large enough to result in an effective impact. Bull Connor, Birmingham Commissioner of Public Safety, obtained injunctions on April 12th that barred protests in the city and racked up the price of bail by $1,300 dollars. Protest organizers refused to abide by the injunction and continued protests in the face of the heightened bail prices. The rapid loss of funds to the campaign resulting from this price increase caused King to grant his blessing for the use of their most valuable weapon, students. Bevel had already begun recruitment and workshops for student volunteers through radio and flyers following his meeting with King. Now with King’s support, it was set that the child protests would begin on Monday April 22nd.
On this day, over 1,500 students, some previously contacted and others spontaneous participants, from across Birmingham skipped school and coalesced at the 16th Street Baptist Church before being directed to chosen churches across the city. At timed intervals groups of students with ranks averaging at 50 in each group marched downtown to city hall to make an attempt at meeting the mayor. Few groups marched a great distance before they were stopped by the police and arrested. Many of the students sang songs, clapped, laughed, and carried on carelessly as they awaited in handcuffs for transports to cart them to jail. The sheer number of children being placed under arrest required Connor to enlist the services of city school buses to transport those arrested to jail and juvenile detention centers. Police cruisers were so far occupied with transporter those they had arrested that Connor found himself forced to utilize the cities fire department vehicles to maintain barricades. Some protestors took advantage of this fact by creating chaos within the emergency services channels by pulling fire alarms throughout the city. By the end of the first day of the “Birmingham Children’s Crusade”, Birmingham’s city jail was packed with 1300 protestors, well past its 900-person capacity. The next morning, protest organizers set out to march with students who again numbered above a thousand, but were immediately met with a line of police as they began dispersing from the 16th Street Baptist Church, which acted as the headquarters for the entire movement.
“Ya’ll are gonna get wet!” – unnamed Birmingham Police officer
“Peace and non-violence are our weapons here today. They can hit us. They can spray us. But they will see us! The world will see us!” – Fred Shuttlesworth
As protestors departed from the church and walked across Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham Police opened up hoses on the protestors which were majority children. Only after the initial water bombardment was any warning given to those walking, but when those still standing continued forward, the hoses were turned back on. Pressure was set so high that clothes were ripped off of those walking and those with uneven footing were swept down the concrete streets. Those who happened to make it through the water were met with another gauntlet in the form of police dogs and their handlers which had established a perimeter. The brutality continued as the marches attempted to move onward, and the screams of those hit by the water were mixed with those of Fred Shuttlesworth, King, and Bevel insisting that they meet the onslaught with non-violence. Moments later, Shuttlesworth and King were both hit with a blast from a fire hose and knocked down, a now famous picture which circulated nationwide after the event, shows a young girl, age 10-12, reaching out to help King stand up. Protests for the day ceased after the area cleared with those injured recongregating at the 16th Street Baptist Church and an unspoken truce lasted throughout that afternoon.
“Hey! Hey! Jail Us Today!” – Protest chant in Birmingham
“Its my opinion that Bull Connor did more to end segregation than King or any of the others ever did. If it weren’t for his overreaction and authoritarian response that little campaign would have ended as quickly as they put it together.” – George Wallace; 1964
“Let Freedom ring from City Hall, and through the streets of this city. Let it ring across this land and into the seas. Let freedom ring for the ears of all of us!” – Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth; May 3rd, 1963
Throughout the next week, the protests continued in the face of Connor’s efforts to break the back of protest organizers. On May 1st, a group of 400 picketers made their way to the Birmingham City Jail and asked to be imprisoned by those posted outside. With over 3,500 protestors currently filling the jails to the point of overflow, Connor and the police were forced to convert the fairground’s facilities into makeshift holding centers for the arrested protestors. With this influx, the city was beginning to grind to a halt with emergency services overburdened with the work of maintaining order. On May 2nd, the Birmingham Fire Department refused orders to turn their hoses on protestors fearing the public reaction after bottles and bricks had been thrown at them after their last outing. By this point, Birmingham business owners were so crippled by the demonstrations that they began openly calling for negotiations and a cessation to Connor’s tactics. That afternoon, Governor DeGraffenried called President Nixon to request the help of the Alabama National Guard to quell the demonstrations before things became violent. He would not be comforted by Nixon’s response.
Call Between Alabama Governor DeGraffenried and President Richard Nixon: May 2nd 1963:
Secretary: Please hold for the President……
Nixon: Speak.
DeGraffenried: Mister President, I think we’re on the verge of being in need of serious help down here.
Nixon: And why would that be? Looks to me like you and your boys have your own way of handling problems down there…
DeGraffenried: Mister President I’ve got a city close to chaos…
Nixon: Listen here Governor… I have sat by while you people have actively made my nation a goddamn global embarrassment. I had to sit through a briefing today detailing to me how the Soviets are using your city down there as the biggest propaganda victory piece this side of the Second World War and you come to me asking for help?.... I’m not sure how you run things down there, but I’m going to go ahead and tell you what I’m telling the rest of you down there from now on. You can expect to see nothing resembling help from me when it comes to this. If you want to avoid a fucking catastrophe I would suggest you do the right thing, do it quickly and continue to do it, or I will personally watch people piss on the ashes.
DeGraffenried: …….
Nixon: Have a good afternoon Governor.
*End Recording*
DeGraffenried, the first to witness Nixon’s ‘Nero Theory’ applied pressure to the Birmingham City government in the early morning hours of May 3rd to come to a peaceful resolution to what was becoming a crisis. By this point, business leaders within the city began to apply intense pressure on city politicians to enter negotiations with the SCLC to bring about an end to the protests that had in all essences shut down the city. On May 4th, after intense negotiations, the protest organizers and white business leaders reached an agreement on the terms to the end of protest demonstrations. The agreement declared that Birmingham would desegregate lunch counters, bathrooms, water fountains, parks, and stores within a 60-day timeframe. Furthermore, within 90 days the city was to begin opening employment up to African-Americans in the roles of salesmen, police officers, lawyers, and clerks. Upon reaching the agreement, protests began to cease and participators began to disperse, with those in jail being released on bail or outright. Birmingham’s outgoing Mayor remained silent on the agreement while still in office, although it was openly known of his vile disdain for the agreement. Bull Connor on the other hand, made it openly known how much he condemned both the protestors and those that had negotiated with them.
Martin Luther King Jr. After being pulled from the room in the Gaston Motel: May, 1963
King Recovering in the hospital later that same evening.
On May 8th, while Martin Luther King was preparing to leave his room at the Gaston Motel, a bomb was thrown out of a speeding car that landed outside the window of his room. The bomb detonated with king on the opposite side of the room and caused the outer walls to give way and blast debris inward. The explosion was deafening and could be heard for blocks throughout the city; those in King’s staff rushed through the rubble and into King’s room to find him underneath a table and obviously shocked. First responders loaded King onto a gurney and rushed him to the hospital while shocked onlookers feared for his life. King, bleeding from the ear, begged everyone to allow the police to go about their business and for everyone to go home, a plea most complied with. An hour later, Fred Shuttlesworth’s home was firebombed and burned to the ground while he and his family were away. To everyone’s relief, King was found to have miraculously escaped his bombing with the comparatively minor injuries of a blown ear drum and a concussion. To help put the community at ease, King delivered a press conference assuring his well-being and again insisting that the incident be put past them. More than anything, King worried of the potential seekers of retribution that would hinder the movement and possibly spark riots throughout the south and the country. Shuttlesworth and his family were supplied housing by A.G. Gaston, owner of the motel King had been staying in, while they found a new home.
In the adjacent state of Mississippi, Gilbert R. Mason, who had led protests to integrate the beaches of Biloxi Mississippi since 1959, met with Medgar Evers on May 10th to organize yet another protest to integrate the beaches. Their plans called for a wade-in on a massive scale that would bring the issue back into the forefront following three years of inaction on the part of Biloxi to integrate the beaches even after federal instruction to do so. Both men considered to mirror King and the SCLC by using students and children in their protest but the idea was quickly set aside after memories of the “Bloody Wade-in” of 1960 were brought up. The May Wade-In began on May 24th at 11:00 AM when roughly 600 African-American men and women along with 31 whites walked onto the Biloxi beach front and waited for the police to arrive. When arriving officers demanded that demonstrators leave the area, all of the protestors waded at least knee deep into the water and refused to leave. Just days past the three year anniversary of the “Bloody Wade-in”, Biloxi police officers walked down into the water and began removing protestors with force and dragging them out of the water and onto the beach. Within thirty minutes, a police line had formed and a mob of white counter-protestors formed that joined with police in clearing the water. Violence against the protestors closely resembled that of the protest three years earlier and grew to surpass it in brutality. Mason was among those in the water, Evers had returned home to Jackson, and spoke words of strength and encouragement until his bullhorn was knocked from his hands and into the water when he was arrested.
“Its better we get beaten here accomplishing a step in the march to freedom than on the street doing nothing.” – Gilbert R. Mason
“They should have beat them until the beaches were red and left them for the tide.” – General Edwin Walker
Out of the 600 plus protestors, 368 of them were arrested and taken to the jail. Others, were beaten by the white mob that had congregated and taken to beating and turning over the cars of some protestors. The whole demonstration lasted about two hours in total but resulted in many more hours of news coverage that included the bigger picture of the ongoing march of the Civil Rights movement. Across Mississippi the protests created a massive amount of attention in the white supremacist movements and Klan rallies intensified during this period. In the days after the demonstration, The NAACP office in Jackson was firebombed along with several homes of leaders in the movement, including Evers, and General Edwin Walker, previously having escaped from any responsibility in the Battle of Oxford, arrived in Jackson after making a statement that he fully intended to take part in the public response to the protests.
On the 30th, Walker was the main speaker at a counter-protest rally that was put together by local men who were primarily members of the White Citizens’ Council and Klan. As night fell on the event, Walker made his way to the hotel where he was staying after complaining about the mosquitoes near the venue. What the men did not know was that downtown Jackson would be the sight of an ambush and they were the targets. At 8:37 PM, The car transporting Walker came to a stop at a red light. As the motorcycle officer supplying escort steadied his bike during the stop, 4 African men ran toward the car and quickly emptied 10 shots into the windows of the automobile, leaving Walker, the driver, and another man, Byron De La Beckwith, dead at the scene. The startled officer retrieved his pistol and fired shots into the running men, hitting one in the leg who he then arrested. By the time the ambulances arrived, all three men had expired.
The car General Edwin Walker and 2 others were killed in being inspected by an off duty Jackson Police officer; May 31st, 1963
“Coming out of Jackson Mississippi last night, retired General Edwin Walker of the United States Army was assassinated when his car was suddenly attacked by who an officer of the Jackson Police Department identified as 4 negro men. Walker was one of the three killed in the vehicle as it was ambushed at a stoplight, the other two men; Byron De La Beckwith and Ross Salverson were both members of the White Citizens’ Council who had hosted an event Walker was leaving. Governor Ross Barnet of Mississippi has declared this to be, quote, ‘one of the darkest days in his state’s history’.” – Walter Cronkite; May 31st, 1963
“I want to just reiterate again that the usage of violence in this crusade will not result in anything but pain for all involved.” – Martin Luther King Jr.; May 31st 1963
“I am saying that it is about time we as a people stand up for our rights. What happened to Walker isn’t a tragedy, that’s justice. That man was a devil as responsible for the wrongs we are forced to bear everyday as any man. Those men, who stood up for the freedom of the American negro did more for us than those that had children stand in for them in Birmingham. They did more and accomplished more for justice and the American negro than arguably any of us. How long do we stand by and watch our brothers gunned down, beat, and burnt before we realize that unless we stand up for ourselves nothing is going to change? This isn’t an anti-White movement, this isn’t an equality movement, this a justice movement, this is a human rights issue. It is about time we see justice done and its about time we see some willing to stand up for their rights.” – Malcolm X; June 1st, 1963
Walker’s assassination was the spark that started the flame on the tinder box that had been collecting since the Anniston attack on the Freedom Riders. The morning after the shooting, police responded to reports of 4 lynchings in Jackson, Mississippi, and at least 3 other reports of mob killings involving the Ku Klux Klan occurred in the deep South. This did nothing to redirect FBI investigations, which were still focused toward leaders of the Civil Rights organizations, something the President was quick to notice.
Partial Recording of Oval Office Conversation between Richard Nixon and Attorney General Ford; June 2nd 1963:
…
Ford: It seems our work against the Klan hasn’t done much to break their backs… all these trials and convictions and yet we still can’t prevent them from lynching negros in the streets down in that godforsaken place.
Nixon: I struggle to understand it. They would rather burn themselves to the ground than sit down with negros. I’m personally inclined to let the bastards burn themselves to the ground and let the blacks piss on the ashes. And that’s what I told the Governor down in Alabama. And Hoover… he’s one of the worst of the whole damn lot. Disobeying orders… placing wiretaps.
Ford: It’s not like he comes to my office anymore for them. The old man just does whatever the hell he wants.
Nixon: I think it’s about time we get rid of him…
Ford: What caused that conclusion?
Nixon: When I hosted King here… He brought to my attention multiple phone calls made to him demanding that he abandon his position in the movement. He’d received death threats among other threats, and I’m nearly positive that they’re coming from Hoover’s boys… its his style.
….
Nixon: In the most recent report regarding all of this going on down there I realized that not only has the old man disregarded any affiliation the Klan may have had with the bombings, with the lynchings, or with the beatings… but he has been directly disobeying me and continued to monitor King like he was working with goddamn Rosenbergs. I was very specific months ago when I said I wanted attention turned away from King and applied to the Muslims. Hell, King is probably the only friend we still have after the stonewalling Congress has done. They’ve made this Administration look powerless here… and I’m probably going to have to march the damn national guard through Alabama too when the University integrates next week…
Ford: Can’t say I’d lose any sleep over having someone else in the Director’s chair… Hell, it would change the entire system with Hoover gone. The biggest mistake this country ever did was hand it over to Hoover.
Nixon: Look, I know without a doubt... That you're trustworthy. You have my back and I have yours Jerry. Hoover, on the other hand, makes my skin crawl. There's something about him, something predatorial. I can't shake the feeling he'd have me killed if he could get away with it. I was content with him before this Civil Rights mess consumed this Administration, but now… I can’t have someone so powerful actively working against my direction. Its time we cut the cord.
Ford: Well, if we were to get rid of him… who do you have in mind?
Nixon: Someone from the inside. That much I know for sure. Bob probably…
*End Excerpt*
The atmosphere in Birmingham after the “Children’s Campaign” was beyond tense between the white and black populations in the city. The assassination of Edwin Walker proved to be the weight that sent the uneasy truce into a tailspin in Birmingham. On June 3rd, a Birmingham Police officer stopped a young black man in the street while on patrol only to have bottles hurled at him from down the sidewalk. The officer responded by cracking one of the men over the head with his baton so harshly that it knocked him unconscious in the street. Within minutes, the officer found himself surrounded, beaten, and stabbed. Blacks and whites clashing in the streets an hour after the confrontation signaled the beginning of the Birmingham Race Riot of 1963 that would rage for 4 days. After a full day of violent clashes between African-Americans and police officers, Bull Connor rolled in the cavalry in the form of Birmingham’s armored riot control vehicle, and a 100 men strong force backed up by a strong collection of State troopers ordered in by Governor DeGraffenried. Many of the state troopers, who were mounted on horses, rode into collected crowds to break up the mobs that were obstructing traffic and damaging cars and engaging in fights. Each collected mob proved easy enough to break up, but the problem in Birmingham were the number of mobs expressing their collective outrage. When officers broke up one, another one soon followed in another area; making the Birmingham riot not one collected riot but a long string of collected outbreaks within the city.
The four-day riot sent the city into chaos. The Birmingham chapter of the Ku Klux Klan used this chaos as their window of opportunity to wage a campaign of terror on the black community, with upwards of 10 explosive bombs destroying prominent black businesses, many of which were owned by A.G. Gaston. An attempted bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church was thwarted on the afternoon of June 5th when church members found klansmen planting explosives underneath the main steps; a fight between the two groups followed and while one member of the congregation was killed, the church itself was saved. White ‘Vigilantes’ roamed the streets of Birmingham at night, not being impeded by many of the police, and beat any African-Americans they found outside, and in some cases fires were set in black neighborhoods that consumed entire streets. The phrases of ‘Bombingham’ and ‘Burningham’ were used on newscasts to describe the chaos in the streets of the city and soon President Nixon began receiving criticism for remaining absolutely silent on the issue. No move was made by the President or the Attorney General to nationalize the guard to alleviate the extended state police as areas of the city burned. Added to the footage from the Children’s March and Biloxi, a great number of Americans were subjected to the severe injustices being suffered by the African-American community through their television sets. However, just as images were swaying some opinion to the side of civil rights, the violent footage from Birmingham was seen by many as evidence to why blacks and whites could never occupy the same spaces peacefully. With that being so, Alabama State Police quelled the riot by June 7th and declared an end to the emergency on the 8th when another incident did not occur for 24 hours, upon which DeGraffenried ended the declaration of Martial Law in the city. Also on the 8th SCLC leaders again opened channels with Birmingham business owners to reinsure the negotiated settlements achieved the previous month.
A Black neighborhood burns to the ground during the Birmingham Riots after a fire bomb engulfs a home; June 5th 1963
“They have no problem in marching an army down 16th Street to stop a peaceful march, but they’ll sit by while our brothers are bombed and shot in the street. We’ve had enough.” – unnamed protestor; June 5th 1963
“Now, In trying to protect the matter of Law and Order I must ask if many of the actions being taken in Birmingham are doing more harm than good in these instances. I think the current situation especially calls for a moment of consideration into how much damage is being done to the city, and if this absolute response is really the answer here. Yes, I’m questioning DeGraffenried’s ability to handle this crisis, you bet your ass I am.” – George Wallace; June 7th, 1963.
Three days beyond the end of the riots, Alabama again braced to be hit with unrest when the University of Alabama was set to be integrated on June 11th. After providing DeGraffenried with nothing but silence in Birmingham, Nixon wasted no time in nationalizing the Alabama National Guard ahead of the students being enrolled. In another meeting with Attorney General Ford, Nixon expressed a hardened focus on preventing another Oxford by any means necessary. After mustering the guard, Nixon called DeGraffenried to express this desire, one in which the Governor heartily agreed with despite the angered air between the two men. The guard deployed onto the campus of the University in full force at 3:00 AM with the mission of preventing any crowd from gathering like that in Oxford. At 9:00 AM, the campus resembled a scurrying ant hill made up of national guardsmen and military police. Students at the University still attempted to gather in protest to the integration of their college, but were pushed back by guardsmen armed with rifles equipped with bayonets; they were however, allowed to gather at the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library to practice their freedom of speech. Under specific orders from the President, Guardsmen under the command of General Henry Graham detained the demonstrators that became violent or belligerent with other spectators or the military presence on the campus. When the time came for the 4 attending students to enter Foster Auditorium to pay entrance fees and finalize their courses, each were surrounded by 6 federal marshals that walked them into the building and stayed with them during the entire process. After nearly a month of unrest, a Civil Rights milestone was achieved without a single outbreak of violence. The national guard remained on the campus for the rest of the day and into the night before loading back into transport trucks parked along the campus quad and returning to their stations. Students and demonstrators that had been detained were released at intervals throughout the night to further eliminate the threat of a violent demonstration on the campus.
The Alabama National Guard keeps the peace on the campus of the University of Alabama throughout the enrollment process for 4 Negro students; June 11th 1963
(((Special thanks to Wikipedia articles on the Birmingham Campaign and Biloxi Wade-Ins for helping brush up my education on the events)))
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Here's hoping Hoover just gets..... dealt with. Publically. Out all his dirty shit.
Here's the thing. That removes all his leverage, and ups the risk he "slips in the shower'.
Nixon hell, anyone he's got blackmail on would do so.
Plus the usual risk cops get when in prison.
Out of curiosity has anyone tried propositioning Project Orion to the USAF or NASA this time around? IIRC It was MacNamara who blocked it from going through so I'd be interested to see how it got handled in this timeline.