In 1959, Vice-President Nixon, speaking to members of Californias Commonwealth Club, was asked if hed like to see the parties undergo an ideological realignmentthe sort that has since taken placeand he replied, I think it would be a great tragedy . . . if we had our two major political parties divide on what we would call a conservative-liberal line. He continued, I think one of the attributes of our political system has been that we have avoided generally violent swings in Administrations from one extreme to the other. And the reason we have avoided that is that in both parties there has been room for a broad spectrum of opinion. Therefore, when your Administrations come to power, they will represent the whole people rather than just one segment of the people.
About This Quote
Themes
- Politics — Governance, civic duty, and the structures of power