Put The Top Down
Yeah yeah, everybody thought for sure I’d have something to say about the recent election. I’d rather talk about the story Bob Greene wrote about Kennedy/Nixon in 1960. I never liked Dick Nixon until I read this story, which Greene says was lost to history until now. On Election Day that year, after Nixon and his wife Pat voted in East Whittier, California, the big black VP sedan with full security detail was waiting to bring them back to Los Angeles. Throngs of reporters were on the scene. But when Pat Nixon got in the VP vehicle, Tricky Dick pulled a fast one. He hopped into a white convertible with a coupla buddies and left everybody in the dust–including the Secret Service. He just wanted to go for a cruise. Beautiful, Dickie, beautiful.
Along the way, the boys stopped for gas and the station’s owner was startled to see the Vice President of the United States behind the wheel. Nixon told the bloke he was just out for a little rest and relaxation after a long tough campaign. Cruisin’ on down the road, Nixon got a hankering for Mexican food. So they crossed the border into Mexico to get some grub. He invited the mayor of Tijuana to have lunch with him. Tacos, tamales, and German beer. The mayor couldn’t believe what was happening. He was also surprised Nixon spoke Spanish.
We all thought Jack Kennedy was the cool one. But while Americans were voting all over the country, Nixon was having a helluva time just road-trippin’ around. Headed back to LA, Nixon made one last pit stop for a pineapple milkshake before he and the boys finally pulled up to the Ambassador Hotel that afternoon. What a day. He sure had a lot of fun—until the votes were counted that night and he lost.
Keep your dukes up.
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