nonetheless, nixon acted in eisenhower's stead during this period, presiding over cabinet meetings and ensuring that aides and cabinet officers did not seek power. according to nixon biographer stephen ambrose, nixon had "earned the high praise he received for his conduct during the crisis ... he made no attempt to seize power". his spirits buoyed, nixon sought a second term, but some of eisenhower's aides aimed to displace him. in a december 1955 meeting, eisenhower proposed that nixon not run for reelection and instead become a cabinet officer in a second eisenhower administration, in order to give him administrative experience before a 1960 presidential run. nixon believed this would destroy his political career. when eisenhower announced his reelection bid in february 1956, he hedged on the choice of his running mate, saying it was improper to address that question until he had been renominated. although no republican was opposing eisenhower, nixon received a substantial number of write-in votes against the president in the 1956 new hampshire primary election. in late april, the president announced that nixon would again be his running mate. eisenhower and nixon were reelected by a comfortable margin in the november 1956 election. in early 1957, nixon undertook another foreign trip, this time to africa. on his return, he helped shepherd the civil rights act of 1957 through congress. the bill was weakened in the senate, and civil rights leaders were divided over whether eisenhower should sign it. nixon advised the president to sign the bill, which he did. eisenhower suffered a mild stroke in november 1957, and nixon gave a press conference, assuring the nation that the cabinet was functioning well as a team during eisenhower's brief illness. nikita khrushchev and nixon speak as the press looks on at the kitchen debate, july 24, 1959, with what's my line? host john charles daly at far left. on april 27, 1958, richard and pat nixon reluctantly embarked on a goodwill tour of south america. in montevideo, uruguay, nixon made an impromptu visit to a college campus, where he fielded questions from students on u.s. foreign policy. the trip was uneventful until the nixon party reached lima, peru, where he was met with student demonstrations. nixon went to the historical campus of national university of san marcos, the oldest university in the americas, got out of his car to confront the students, and stayed until forced back into the car by a volley of thrown objects. at his hotel, nixon faced another mob, and one demonstrator spat on him. in caracas, venezuela, nixon and his wife were spat on by anti-american demonstrators and their limousine was attacked by a pipe-wielding mob. according to ambrose, nixon's courageous conduct "caused even some of his bitterest enemies to give him some grudging respect". reporting to the cabinet after the trip, nixon claimed there was "absolute proof that were directed and controlled by a central communist conspiracy." secretary of state john foster dulles concurred in this view, as did his brother director of central intelligence allen dulles in his own rebuke. in july 1959 president eisenhower sent nixon to the soviet union for the opening of the american national exhibition in moscow. on july 24, nixon was touring the exhibits with soviet first secretary and premier nikita khrushchev when the two stopped at a model of an american kitchen and engaged in an impromptu exchange about the merits of capitalism versus communism that became known as the "kitchen debate". 1960 presidential campaign john f. kennedy and nixon before their first televised 1960 debate 1960 electoral vote results nixon and successor johnson on inauguration day 1961 in 1960 nixon launched his first campaign for president of the united states. he faced little opposition in the republican primaries and chose former massachusetts senator henry cabot lodge jr. as his running mate. his democratic opponent was john f. kennedy and the race remained close for the duration. nixon campaigned on his experience, but kennedy called for new blood and claimed the eisenhower–nixon administration had allowed the soviet union to overtake the u.s. in ballistic missiles (the "missile gap"). while kennedy faced issues about his catholicism, nixon remained a divisive figure to some. televised presidential debates made their debut as a political medium during the campaign. in the first of four such debates, nixon appeared pale, with a five o'clock shadow, in contrast to the photogenic kennedy. nixon's performance in the debate was perceived to be mediocre in the visual medium of television, though many people listening on the radio thought nixon had won. nixon narrowly lost the election, with kennedy winning the popular vote by only 112,827 votes (0.2 percent). there were charges of voter fraud in texas and illinois, both states won by kennedy. nixon refused to consider contesting the election, feeling a lengthy controversy would diminish the united states in the eyes of the world and that the uncertainty would hurt u.s. interests. at the end of his term of office as vice president in january 1961, nixon and his family returned to california, where he practiced law and wrote a bestselling book, six crises, which included coverage of the hiss case, eisenhower's heart attack, and the fund crisis, which had been resolved by the checkers speech. 1962 california gubernatorial campaign local and national republican leaders encouraged nixon to challenge incumbent pat brown for governor of california in the 1962 gubernatorial election. despite initial reluctance, nixon entered the race. the campaign was clouded by public suspicion that nixon viewed the office as a stepping stone for another presidential run, some opposition from the far-right of the party, and his own lack of interest in being california's governor. nixon hoped a successful run would confirm his status as the nation's leading active republican politician, and ensure he remained a major player in national politics. instead, he lost to brown by more than five percentage points, and the defeat was widely believed to be the end of his political career. in an impromptu concession speech the morning after the election, nixon blamed the media for favoring his opponent, saying, "you won't have nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference." the california defeat was highlighted in the november 11, 1962, episode of abc's howard k. smith: news and comment, titled "the political obituary of richard m. nixon". alger hiss appeared on the program, and many members of the public complained that it was unseemly to give a convicted felon air time to attack a former vice president. the furor drove smith and his program from the air, and public sympathy for nixon grew. wilderness years nixon shows his papers to an east german officer to cross between the sectors of the divided city of berlin, 1963. in 1963 the nixon family traveled to europe, where nixon gave press conferences and met with leaders of the countries he visited. the family moved to new york city, where nixon became a senior partner in the leading law firm nixon, mudge, rose, guthrie & alexander. when announcing his california campaign, nixon had pledged not to run for president in 1964; even if he had not, he believed it would be difficult to defeat kennedy, or after his assassination, kennedy's successor, lyndon johnson. in 1964, nixon won write-in votes in the primaries, and was considered a serious contender by both gallup polls and members of the press. he was even placed on a primary ballot as an active candidate by oregon's secretary of state. nevertheless, as late as two months before the 1964 republican national convention, nixon fulfilled his promise to remain out of the presidential nomination process and instead gave his support to the eventual republican nominee, arizona senator barry goldwater. when goldwater won the nomination, nixon was selected to introduce him at the convention. although he thought goldwater unlikely to win, nixon campaigned for him loyally. the election was a disaster for the republicans, as goldwater's landslide loss to johnson was matched by heavy losses for the party in congress and among state governors. nixon was one of the few leading republicans not blamed for the disastrous results, and he sought to build on that in the 1966 congressional elections. he campaigned for many republicans, seeking to regain seats lost in the johnson landslide, and received credit for helping the republicans make major gains that year. 1968 presidential campaign at the end of 1967, nixon told his family he planned to run for president a second time. pat nixon did not always enjoy public life, being embarrassed, for example, by the need to reveal how little the family owned in the checkers speech. she still managed to be supportive of her husband's ambitions. nixon believed that with the democrats torn over the issue of the vietnam war, a republican had a good chance of winning, although he expected the election to be as close as in 1960. an exceptionally tumultuous primary election season began as the tet offensive was launched in january 1968. president johnson withdrew as a candidate in march, after an unexpectedly poor showing in the new hampshire primary. in june, senator robert f. kennedy, a democratic candidate, was assassinated just moments after his victory in the california primary. on the republican side, nixon's main opposition was michigan governor george romney, though new york governor nelson rockefeller and california governor ronald reagan each hoped to be nominated in a brokered convention. nixon secured the nomination on the first ballot. he selected maryland governor spiro agnew as his running mate, a choice which nixon believed would unite the party, appealing both to northern moderates and to southerners disaffected with the democrats. nixon's democratic opponent in the general election was vice president hubert humphrey, who was nominated at a convention marked by violent protests. throughout the campaign, nixon portrayed himself as a figure of stability during this period of national unrest and upheaval. he appealed to what he later called the "silent majority" of socially conservative americans who disliked the hippie counterculture and the anti-war demonstrators. agnew became an increasingly vocal critic of these groups, solidifying nixon's position with the right. nixon waged a prominent television advertising campaign, meeting with supporters in front of cameras. he stressed that the crime rate was too high, and attacked what he perceived as a surrender of the united states' nuclear superiority by the democrats. nixon promised "peace with honor" in the vietnam war and proclaimed that "new leadership will end the war and win the peace in the pacific". he did not give specifics of how he hoped to end the war, resulting in media intimations that he must have a "secret plan". his slogan of "nixon's the one" proved to be effective. johnson's negotiators hoped to reach a truce in vietnam, or at least a cessation of bombings. on october 22, 1968, candidate nixon received information that johnson was preparing a so-called "october surprise", abandoning three non-negotiable conditions for a bombing halt, to help elect humphrey in the last days of the campaign. whether the nixon campaign interfered with negotiations between the johnson administration and the south vietnamese by engaging anna chennault, a fundraiser for the republican party, remains a controversy. it is not clear whether the government of south vietnam needed encouragement to opt out of a peace process they considered disadvantageous. in a three-way race between nixon, humphrey, and american independent party candidate george wallace, nixon defeated humphrey by only 500,000 votes, a margin almost as close as in 1960, with both elections seeing a gap of less than one percentage point of the popular vote. however, nixon earned 301 electoral votes to 191 for humphrey and 46 for wallace, a majority. he became the first non-incumbent vice president to be elected president. in his victory speech, nixon pledged that his administration would try to bring the divided nation together. nixon said: "i have received a very gracious message from the vice president, congratulating me for winning the election. i congratulated him for his gallant and courageous fight against great odds. i also told him that i know exactly how he felt. i know how it feels to lose a close one." nixon and johnson meet at the white house before nixon's nomination, july 1968. nixon campaigning july 1968 1968