In the Wake of Kennedy’s Death, Nixon’s Obsession Re-emerges

While most of the talk surrounding the death of Ted Kennedy has revolved around "framing" the healthcare debate and invoking the late senator’s name in the ongoing legislative battle, it has also caused some interesting details of Richard Nixon’s obsession with Kennedy to resurface in the media. While Nixon is best known for the Watergate scandal and his impeachment, it’s clear that his modus operandi while in the White House was the questionable use of the forces at his disposal, a theme that also applied to his Kennedy fixation.

Nixon apparently had considered Kennedy such a threat to him back in the 1970s that he repeatedly tried to nab the late senator cheating on his wife, even using aides and Secret Service personnel to do the dirty work. According to reports, Nixon once asked his aide, John Ehrlichman, prior to the 1972 election, "Do you have anybody in the Secret Service that you can get to?" When Ehrlichman replied that he did, Nixon instructed, "Plant one. Plant two guys on him. This could be very useful." Nixon offered Kennedy the Secret Service prior to that election, but was clear that the protection would not continue after the election, noting, "If he gets shot, it’s too damn bad." Nixon aides also apparently referred to Kennedy and his supporters as "super swinger jet set types."

Offering some insight into the obsession, Luke A. Nichter, an authority on the Nixon years, noted, "President Nixon never forgot his humiliating defeat in the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy. Nixon did not intend to simply win in 1972; he wanted to destroy his opponent. If that opponent was a Kennedy, Nixon cautiously welcomed that opportunity but left nothing to chance. That is what these long-obscured recordings show us."