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Since Nixon has been one of the most effective harriers of Communism in the U.S., he is inevitably compared to Joe McCarthy. Some of the anti-anti-Communists have made the mistake of calling Nixon "another McCarthy." There is nothing McCarthyesque about Nixon's methods. He has laid down and followed two rules: 1) "There must be no charge without evidence to support it"; 2) "a charge that is false can harm our case more than it can help." Nixon has been advocating a change of rules to give more protection to people arraigned before congressional committees.
To the Senate. Largely as a result of Nixon's work on the Hiss case, a group of young California Republicans urged him to run for the Senate in 1950. Campaigning vigorously against the Democrats' Actress-Politician Helen Gahagan Douglas, Nixon toured the state in a station wagon, while Mrs. Douglas used a helicopter. Nixon developed a memorable ploy against her, obviously a major addition to Lifemanship.* He audibly and publicly worried about her health and, as a friend describes it, "He'd get a real sad look on his face whenever he bumped into her and say, 'It's awfully hard on a woman, this campaigning.' " He beat her by 680,947 votes.
In the Senate he has fought Government corruption by backing legislation to i) waive the statute of limitations on corruption cases; 2) enable federal grand juries to investigate without waiting for permission from the courts or the Justice Department; 3) make it an offense for a Government employee to accept gifts from a political party.
At Home. Nixon is a hard worker, never goes to the movies, rarely allows himself a weekend trip. Once, when he promised his two daughters (Patricia, 6, and Julie, 4) a picnic on a hot day, they wound up in his air-conditioned Senate office. Nixon just misses being handsome (he has fat cheeks and a duckbill nose), but he is what women call "nice-looking"; he gives an impression of earnest freshness.
The Nixons live in a spick & span, two-story white brick house at Spring Valley, a Washington suburb. Nixon no longer does the dishes, and is generally bad at fixing things around the house, but (after his strict Navy training) always neatly hangs up his clothes. Pat Nixon is a good and enthusiastic campaigner, and .so is the rest of the family (although Julie has lately taken a dislike to photographers). During Nixon's senatorial campaign, when all the Nixons were on TV, Julie thoughtfully picked her tiny nose in full view of the TV camera. Said her father: "Julie honey, you have either just won or lost me the election."
"It isn't as if I were running for office myself," said Nixon in Denver last week. "I am out here to help General Eisenhower get elected." No passive running mate, Nixon has been conferring with Eisenhower steadily during recent weeks, has offered firm and sometimes critical suggestions on how the campaign should be run. Nixon himself is preparing to travel up & down the land, particularly to places that Eisenhower will not cover. Nixon will go to New Hampshire this week, also intends to campaign in Republican Maine—a state, like a woman, he thinks, should never have the feeling of being taken for granted.