If Richard M. Nixon's noisy exit from elective politics in 1962 was a classic example of gracelessness, his re-entry last week was the very model of dignified restraint. In fact, about the only surprise in his announcement that he was a candidate for President was its manner.
There was no formal news conference, no crush of reporters, no tangle of television cables. The announcement came by means of an open letter—under a plain letterhead reading "Richard M. Nixon, New York, New York"—that was delivered by messenger boys to the Associated Press and United Press International in Manhattan. As a personal touch, 150,000 copies were mailed to voters in New Hampshire. Addressed "to the citizens of New Hampshire," Nixon's letter recalled his 14 years of Washington service and the forced retirement that followed his narrow defeat for the presidency in 1960 and his rout in California's 1962 gubernatorial race. During those private years, he wrote, he had had "a chance to reflect on the lessons of public office, to measure the nation's tasks and its problems." "I believe," he concluded, "that I have found some answers."
Disarming Self-Mockery. The day after his announcement, Nixon was in New Hampshire beginning his eighth run for public office in 22 years. He opened a Manchester press conference with some of the disarming self-mockery that has become a trademark recently: "I should make one thing clear at the outset. This is not my last press conference." In 1962, he had counted himself out of politics—and press conferences—with a bitter attack on reporters in California; now he virtually proclaimed Journalism Day. He put the press conference off for two hours because some out-of-state reporters had been delayed by bad weather. Afterward he held a reception for newsmen. All the while, he was proving himself capable of supplying answers that were sharp but not gratuitously abrasive, as they often were in the old days. Nixon may make some mistakes in the months to come, but he is unlikely to repeat those of campaigns past.
He turned aside Michigan Governor George Romney's "friendly" challenge to debate because "the only winner of a debate between Republicans would be Lyndon Johnson." He expressed his "great respect" for Nelson Rockefeller, but refused to count him as a rival now because "your opponent is the man in the arena with you, not the man in the grandstand rooting for the man who's in the arena." Although the early opinion polls have made Nixon the heavy favorite over Romney in New Hampshire, he declared that defeat in the Granite State "will not be fatal to either candidate." Yes, he conceded, he must erase his loser's brand. But, at the risk of sounding "insufferably conceited," he predicted: "I will be the decisive winner of the primaries. I will go on and win the nomination. And I will beat Lyndon Johnson."