Kevin O'Brien
PS 121 (02)
9/23/12
Dick
Tuck – A Political Prankster
Dick Tuck was an American political
advance man in the 1960’s. He would oversee the preparations of scheduled
events, such as open conferences, and presidential clinics. Tuck was also an
infamous political prankster, who targeted his pranks on Richard Nixon in his
political career.
In 1946, Tuck was one of Nixon’s
campaign workers. Unknowingly to Nixon, Tuck was a mole working for Nixon’s
adversary Helen Gagahan Douglas. Tuck rented out a large auditorium at the
University of California, Santa Barbara, where he delivered a long-filled
speech and eventually asked the president to speak about the International
Monetary Fund. Nixon was left speechless. When running for reelection as Eisenhower's
Vice President in 1956, Tuck paid garbage trucks to carry signs that read
"Dump Nixon" as they passed the convention center on the way to the
dump. In 1960, on the day of the first televised debate between Nixon and John
F. Kennedy, Tuck hired an elderly woman to approach Nixon as he got off a plane,
kiss him on the cheek, and say, "That's all right, Mr. Nixon. He beat you
last night, but you'll win next time." Tuck has also hired several pregnant
African-American women to show up at Nixon’s rallies, carrying signs reading,
“Nixon’s the One.”
One of the most famous pranks of Dick
Tuck was “The Chinatown Caper”. In 1962, Nixon visited the Chinatown of Los
Angelis. Tuck arranged Chinese-speaking residents to hold signs that read
“Welcome Nixon” in English on the top, but the bottom line read, “What about
the Hughes Loan?” in Chinese. This referred to a loan billionaire Howard Hughes
gave to Nixon’s brother Donald. In rage, Nixon took a sign on camera and ripped
it.
I really find it amazing for what Dick Tuck
did during Nixon’s vocation in politics. I’m astounded that he could be a
wisecrack at Nixon for such a lengthy period of time, and seeing how Nixon was
dealing with Tuck’s schemes for so long. Normally when someone tries to assault
a candidate, or an elected official (i.e. the Bush-shoe incident during a press
conference in Baghdad), he’s famous for a couple of weeks or months, he
disappears from the spotlight and everyone forgets him/her. Dick on the other
hand, has been harassing Republican Nixon for almost 30 years. That is such a
long time for someone to commit to weakening the tactical asset of one
political individual. Tuck had Nixon where it hurts.
