The Honeymoon Ends – Late January 1963 to Early February 1963
For every President, there is a period of time in which both the media and his critics are either supportive or silent it is a time where the President is often viewed in a largely positive light. President Nixon had been ironically and uncommonly lucky up until the January of 1963. From the starting line the Nixon Administration had found itself hopping from one well-handled crisis to another, each one allowing the President’s approval rating to never sink below 64 points. Before January 1963, the public reaction to the crash of Air Force One had allowed the Administration to enjoy a public approval rating between 74 and 76 points for roughly two months. This living amongst the clouds had come to a screeching halt in the aftermath of the Turkish Missile Crisis. If the first blow was the report of an unsanctioned military engagement that nearly sparked a Third World War, the second and third blows were Nixon’s apology and his removal of the missiles in Turkey. The first several days following the President’s press conference on January 29th saw his approval ratings plummet from 75 to 42 points. This freefall was surely instigated by Nixon seemingly taking Khrushchev at his word without any true insurance that he would follow through with his promise. At an all-time low for his Presidency, Nixon’s approval rating would begin to bottom out when it appeared that Khrushchev had indeed followed through with the deal. The Administration managed to receive a slight bump following the cascade as everyday Americans witnessed the first trucks in nearly 2 years cross the East-West German border to bring supplies into West Berlin on their television sets.
When the dust settled, Nixon’s approval rating had gone from a beautiful 75 pre-crisis to an alarming 47 post-crisis. Nixon, while not outwardly furious, experienced an extreme but temporary bout of depression. After Pat Nixon found the President asleep in an armchair next to an empty bottle of scotch whiskey, it had become evident that the President could use some time away from Washington. Bob Finch, one of the few who were made aware of the President’s condition, instituted what he described as a ‘Presidential blackout’
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“Attention all White House Staff and members of the Presidential Cabinet,
The President informed me this morning that he and the First Family will be departing for Camp David this morning. Please note that all previously scheduled meetings or conferences with the President have been reorganized for times throughout next week. The President will be using this time to refresh and spend time with family. In addition, the meeting that had previously been organized by the First Lady for tomorrow afternoon involving all Resident Staff has been rescheduled for the Tuesday after next.
Again, I would like that thank everyone for their cooperation over these past few days.
With the greatest gratitude and respect,
-Robert Finch, Chief of Staff – The White House” – White House Memo February 4th 1963
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“My grace period with the American people has come to a complete end.” – Richard Nixon to wife Pat Nixon
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The first full week of February did Nixon more good than any intervention could have possibly dreamed. Being away from the constant stress of Washington allowed the man to take a breath for the first real time in months. He was able to get away from the cabinet meetings and endless conversations for an entire week; an entire week free to catch up with his growing daughters and devoted wife.
Never known to ever fully abandon a topic during a crisis he milled a decision he had been putting off for over two months while playing and running with his daughters and walking with Pat. Folded in the President’s pockets were napkins with names upon names of potential candidates to take the position of the Vice Presidency in the upcoming election as well as possible individuals who could take the reins of the State Department. Among the names for the Vice Presidency were John Sherman Cooper of Kentucky, William Scranton of Pennsylvania, Thomas Dewey of New York, and Treasury Secretary Robert B. Anderson (whom President Eisenhower had suggested before he had selected Lodge). Each of these options appealed to different areas of what Nixon sought in a Vice President. But most importantly, he sought someone he would be proud to nominate as his successor in 1968.
President Nixon meeting with Republican Party leaders including Thomas Dewey, who was acting Secretary of State at the time.
To discuss the topic of finally putting the ‘Vacancy Crisis’ to rest, Nixon arranged a meeting at the White House of Republican party leaders to meet and discuss his possible selections in depth upon his return. Over the course of an afternoon, Nixon discussed and debated his potential choices with trusted men of the party until he felt confident in making a final decision. At 52 years old, Treasury Secretary Robert B. Anderson would be tapped to become the Vice-Presidential candidate in the 1964 Presidential election. John Sherman Cooper would then be selected to take up Anderson’s Secretary position. Thomas Dewey, who took part in the meeting and flatly refused the possibility of becoming Vice-President, was also informed his time filling in for the position of Secretary was coming to an end.
Nixon announced to the surprise of those in the meeting that he had reached out to Milton Eisenhower with an offer to become the official Secretary of State and that he had accepted. The former President’s brother had served as the Director of Information for the US Department of Agriculture from 1928 to 1941 and from there had been selected to head the War Relocation Authority, (created by Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066). As Eisenhower was heavily opposed to the internment of American citizens, he attempted to use his position to help Japanese Americans where possible even though he was rarely successful in any endeavors. Eisenhower would resign his position in the WRA after less than 100 days and went on to immediately serve from 1942 to 1943 as Associate Director of the Office of War Information. In civilian life, he had made a name of himself in academia by becoming the President of Kansas State University in 1943 where he would stay until 1950. He had also been President of Pennsylvania State University in 1950 to 1956, and President of John Hopkins University from 1956 until his current selection.
Secretary of State Milton Eisenhower - April 1963
With the positions selected the Administration was beginning to recover from the wounds it suffered in November but one problem was still apparent, the position of Vice President would remain vacant until next January and the next person in the line of succession belonged to the Democrats. With that in mind, the President would draft and send a formal request directly to Congress and set a first for the American system of governance.
“I, President Richard M. Nixon formally request the Congress of the United States to use its right under the Necessary and Proper Clause of the United States Constitution to immediately establish the temporary position of ‘First Deputy of the United States’ and that this position be filled by none other than Treasury Secretary Robert B. Anderson. I request that this position be placed first in the Presidential line of succession and that it be rightfully considered a member of the Presidential cabinet and National Security Council until such a time where the Office of Vice President is filled through the legal electoral process. Upon such a time where the Vice Presidency is no longer vacant, the ‘First Deputy’ position would remain unfilled and enter a phase of total non-use. I insist that this positon coincide with Constitutional law and in no way have power to preside over the United States’ Senate.”
–President Nixon’s request for the creation of the First Deputy February 13th 1963
“Robert Anderson, From Treasury to First Deputy?” – New York Times Headline February 14th 1963
The 1st First Deputy of the United States Robert B. Anderson and set to become Nixon's new Vice President in 1964
The motion to create the position of the First Deputy of the United States passed comfortably through the atmosphere of Congress who were beginning to realize a solid path of Presidential succession was becoming a requirement in the modern era. Robert B. Anderson was designated First Deputy of the United States and made first in the line of Presidential succession on February 25th 1963. This system of pseudo-filling the vacancy of the Vice Presidency would become the basis of the 26th Amendment of the United States passed in 1972. The 26th Amendment would set in stone the office of ‘First Deputy’ as the procedural way of ensuring a clean line of succession to the American Presidency in the event of a vacancy crisis. While filling the office of First Deputy during a vacancy is not required, it is heavily encouraged.
The Cabinet of the Richard M. Nixon Administration (1963 - 1964)
Vice President – VACANT
First Deputy*– Robert B. Anderson
Secretary of State – Milton Eisenhower
Treasury – John Sherman Cooper
Defense – Paul Nitze
Justice – Gerald R. Ford
Postmaster General – Joseph F. Holt
Interior – Robert B. Meyner
Agriculture – Alfred E. Driscoll
Commerce – Christian Herter
Labor – Margaret Chase Smith
H.E.W. – Ralph Bunche
Chief of Staff: Robert Finch
Counselor to the President: Thomas Dewey
Press Secretary: Herbert G. Klein
United States Ambassador to the United Nations: Harold Stassen
National Security Adviser: George Kennan
*First Deputy of the United States put into use upon a vacancy of the Vice Presidency.
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- The 26th Amendment ITTL was passed in 1972 and focused on the establishment of the "First Deputy" as the way to ensure succession.
-Thanks to DavidT for helping me with a question on the topic of the OTL succession and VP appointment.
-Murray Chotiner is no longer Counsel to the President, having gotten the boot sometime in 1962.
-Harold Stassen was chosen as UN Ambassador following Dewey acting as Secretary of State.
-This is ITTL the first usage of the First Deputy option for the Presidential line of succession. Here we have what may just be the first great difference in constitutional law in comparison to OTL
