Page "news" Paragraph 2011

Republicans

last act

Since Election Day, Vice President Richard Nixon had virtually retired -- by his own wish -- from public view.

But with the convening of the new Congress, he was the public man again, presiding over the Senate until John Kennedy's Inauguration.

One day last week, Nixon faced a painful constitutional chore that required him to officiate at a joint session of Congress to hear the official tally of the Electoral College vote, and then to make `` sufficient declaration '' of the election of the man who defeated him in the tight 1960 presidential election.

Nixon fulfilled his assignment with grace, then went beyond the required `` sufficient declaration ''.