Then too there was Eisenhower’s mistrust of Nixon. The infamous remark in the news conference—“If you give me a week, I might think of one”—may have been a lapse, but it told a deep truth about the relationship. William Ewald explained the problem well: “Eisenhower did not so much wish victory for Nixon [as] he wished defeat for Kennedy.” When he went into battle in the last week of the campaign, Eisenhower fought to defend his own record, not to clear a path for Nixon as his successor. Ike never believed in Nixon and did not particularly like him, and he was unable to keep his feelings
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