On November 7, 1972, only several days more than 50 years ago, I was at the offices of the Beverly (Mass.) Times, where I was an editor, preparing for coverage of the local, state, and national elections taking place that day.
It was just about 8 pm, when nearly all the East Coast polling places would close. Suddenly, I heard the UPI teletype machine a few feet behind me ringing its bells — a “flash!” It was typing out news of major significance and immediacy! Before I even reached the machine, it stopped.
I held up the paper with the flash announcement. “8:01 pm. Nixon wins.” My head said, “Whiskey-tango-foxtrot.” It had been one minute since voting had stopped on the East Coast, most of the rest of the country had one-three hours more to vote . . . and the election’s been decided?
As one who had favored Senator George McGovern, running against incumbent U.S. President Richard Nixon, this was a stunning blow. Of course, just about every pundit had predicted a Nixon win. This, however, had been of stunning proportions. Nixon took 61 percent of the national vote, winning 521 votes in the Electoral College.
McGovern won only one state — the one I was in, Massachusetts. I’m pretty sure I remember seeing a sign that had been later erected unofficially on the roadside at the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It read something like, “You are leaving the United States of America. Welcome to Massachusetts.”
The rest of the evening at the newspaper was busy. Most of us were in our twenties and most of us had favored McGovern, so that lent the evening some sadness. We got over it. Nixon? Less than two years later, he resigned from the Presidency in disgrace after being threatened with impeachment over the Watergate scandal.