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Nixon Takes to the Airwaves, Accuses Brown of “Smear Tactics”

Nov. 5, 1962 - Richard M. Nixon made a dramatic 11th-hour bid tonight to turn an apparently adverse tide in his campaign for Governor of California. The former Vice President said his personal integrity had been smeared by his Democratic opponent, Gov. Edmund G. Brown. Mr. Nixon said the Democrats relied on old “smear tactics” in dredging up the $205,000 loan by the Hughes Tool Company in 1957 to Mr. Nixon’s brother, Donald. Mr. Nixon said President Kennedy “refused to use the scurrilous attacks that had been used before,” but they had now been revived by the Governor. “Governor Brown is a bad Governor,” said Mr. Nixon. “He has refused to debate me because his record is so vulnerable.” Mr. Nixon denied that he was anti-Semitic, anti-Negro, or anti-Catholic. Mr. Nixon said literature distributed by the Democrats during the campaign had charged him with being anti-Semitic, anti-Negro, and anti-Catholic. He vigorously denied the charges. The candidate was joined by his wife, Mrs. Patricia Nixon, and their two daughters, Tricia, 16, and Julie, 14. He spoke from a living room set at station KTTV in Los Angeles.

© 2024 by Joe Rubenstein

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