President Nixon

This plate celebrates Richard M. Nixon’s victory over Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey in the 1968 presidential elections. The Republican Party platform for that year did not expressly mention Apollo XI, but it did emphasise the benefits space research might bring to American citizens, particularly in terms of defence. Whilst Cold War space exploration had been most closely linked with President John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s, by decade’s end it was President Nixon who eagerly awaited aboard the USS Hornet to welcome returning astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins, when they splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 24 July 1969.

Plate, Richard M. Nixon (Republican), 1969. Philip & Rosamund Davies US Elections Campaigns Archive. MSS Amer. s. 33 / 55. Vere Harmsworth Library (Rothermere American Institute), Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.