The Good Ruler by Bruce Kuklick (hardcover) 1988

Richard Nixon's electoral victory in 1 go was the closest in American political history, the triumph perhaps tarnished by voting irregularities in crucial states that went Republican by narrow margins. Nonetheless, in a secret agreement that only came to light later, an aide to John Kennedy-Nixon's defeated opponent-met with Nixon and suggested that Kennedy would not dispute Nixon's claims if Kennedy could choose the secretaries of state and treasury. Later critics have argued that Nixon should never have acquiesced in what, from the records of the conference, appears to be a threat of blackmail on the part of the Democrats. Nixon's associates have argued, how-ever, that he faced a terrible dilemma. The evidence now demonstrates that electoral irregularities on the Democratic side were greater than those of the GOP. Nixon, indeed, had won the election and could have won a fight over its outcome. But for Nixon to have dismissed the Kennedy offer, the argument goes, would have risked a consti-tutional'crisis and the electorate's faith in the political process itself. In this unfortunate situation, some historians contend, Nixon allowed Kennedy the choice of the two