Too Much The American Patriot To Be Divisive

	The 1960 US presidential election was one of the closest in history. By midnight of election day, it was apparent that John Kennedy and Richard Nixon were close in popular votes. The election would be decided in the electoral college -- as the US Constitution prescribes -- by one swing state.
In 1960, Illinois would make the difference just as Florida made the difference in the 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and George Bush.
Throughout the evening and into late night Illinois reported a very close popular vote except in the Daley machine controlled Democratic stronghold of Cook Country which includes Chicago. The Daley machine's Cook County swung the State of Illinois's popular vote to the Democrats column, giving Kennedy the state's popular vote and therefore, all its electoral votes.
Having gained Illinois' electoral votes, Kennedy won the presidency.
Late that night there was raised the obvious question of how much the Daley Democratic Chicago-Cook County machine had played in modifying the vote?
Nixon's advisors, TV reporters, political strategists all knew that the obvious was possible. That was that the Daley Democratic machine had in some manner influenced -- even changed -- the election outcome in their tightly controlled Cook County. In the late night hours it was impossible to know for certain if or to what degree the Daley Democratic machine might have influenced the election's outcome. It was known that Daley was powerful, a staunch Democrat, and friendly with Joseph P. Kennedy, John's father.
TV commentators and their primitive computers determined the election was too close to call. When the Daley Democratic machine's final votes were tallied, the count favored Kennedy. However several Chicago precincts were late in reporting.
Nixon was then in a position to dispute the election's close outcome on the grounds that Illinois' votes were inaccurate. He did not need to claim vote fraud or specify why, he could just dispute the vote count and initiate a recount. That would delay determination of a winner for days or weeks until Illinois, or any portion of it, had completed a recount.
A recount would have been troubling in 1960 as it was in 2000. A recount would have likely put on national display the Daley Democratic machine's power and influence and exposed its possible corruption.
Richard Nixon knew that. Instead of contesting, complaining and demanding a recount, Nixon made an executive decision. Nixon nixed the idea of a recount. Nixon accepted the election's outcome including the Daley Democratic machine's precinct vote counts.
Nixon went on to become one of the media's most reviled presidents and was responsible 10 years later for the myriad of serious mistakes known collectively today as Watergate. Kennedy went on to insert the nation into the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Vietnam, and his own assassination.
In 1960, Richard Nixon demonstrated that he cared more for the stability of the United States and the smooth transition of the presidency than for himself becoming president. He nixed the idea of forcing a protracted, divisive recount that would likely have fractured the nation.
Nixon accepted the situation as a man of character. He played the politics and nearly a decade later won the presidency.