"Winning Isn't Everything. It Is the Only Thing."

Bettmann / CORBIS

37th President of the United States Richard M. Nixon

Winning isn't everything. It is the only thing.

—The late Vince Lombard!,

often quoted by Richard Nixon

IN politics, as in history, the past is prologue. On the morning after the midterm election, the party professionals —the men whose prime concern is how to fashion a presidential victory in 1972 rather than how to put the best public face on the instant returns—had no illusions about the outcome. An exuberant Democratic National Chairman Larry O'Brien declared: "We're back in business." Understandably reticent about being identified, an official of the Republican National Committee was bitter...

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