During the Republican presidential primaries Goldwater was opposed by establishment Republicans such as governors Nelson Rockefeller, William Scranton, and George W. Romney in a "Stop Goldwater" effort that continued unto the 1964 Republican National Convention. While Goldwater remained confident of his chances to secure the nomination, he did consider dropping out of the presidential race altogether after the Assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. While Goldwater and his supporters held that it was unlikely that voters would choose to go through three different men as President in the span of 14 months, he was convinced to continue if only to wrest party control away from the Republican Eastern establishment (a goal his campaign aide J. William Middendorf called the "noble reason").