The two of them vowed publicly to strengthen the civil rights plank of the Republican platform. Their last-minute pact was being denounced by conservative leader Barry Goldwater as “the Munich of the Republican Party,” as “immoral politics,” and as a “surrender” by Nixon to “the leader of the Republican left.” Goldwater’s hostility helped make Rockefeller a hero to nearly six thousand people who jammed in and around the Liberty Baptist Church for the afternoon rally.
