# Rockefeller introduces Richard \*E.\* Nixon at convenion. Joke? Flub? Did I hear wrong? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockefeller-introduces-richard-e-nixon-at-convenion-joke-flub-did-i-hear-wrong/461098 "2008-08-24T14:13:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockefeller-introduces-richard-e-nixon-at-convenion-joke-flub-did-i-hear-wrong/461098/1 "2008-08-24T14:13:52Z")
I was just watching a segment about political conventions on “CBS News Sunday Morning.” They showed a montage of clips from past convention speeches. One of the clips showed Nelson Rockefeller nominating or introducing Richard \*\*\*E. \* \*\* Nixon. Now, Nixon’s middle name was Millhouse, so, unless I heard it wrong, Rocky used the wrong middle initial. I tried to Google around to see what this was all about, but all I learned was that the Archie Bunker character on the TV show “All in the Family” used to refer to the president as “Richard E. Nixon.” I suspect the two flubs are related. (But maybe not.) Was Rockefeller making a joke – that is, winking at the well-known Archie Bunker reference? Or were the “All in the Family” writers running with the Rockefeller goof. Or was it something else entirely? Thanks all, in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockefeller-introduces-richard-e-nixon-at-convenion-joke-flub-did-i-hear-wrong/461098/2 "2008-08-24T15:12:26Z")
I think it’s a fairly obvious reworking of [Alfred E. Newman.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_e_newman) ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockefeller-introduces-richard-e-nixon-at-convenion-joke-flub-did-i-hear-wrong/461098/3 "2008-08-24T16:10:40Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] I think it’s a fairly obvious reworking of [Alfred E. Newman.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_e_newman) [/QUOTE] 😕 Other than the fact that they have the same syllables with the same stress pattern, I can’t see what suggests that the one is a reworking of the other. And the syllable matching only suggests it very weakly. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockefeller-introduces-richard-e-nixon-at-convenion-joke-flub-did-i-hear-wrong/461098/4 "2008-08-24T22:50:01Z")
And Jimmy Carter, at the 1976 Democratic convention, praised the great "Hubert Horatio Hornblower. " Sometimes, people just foul up while in the media spotlight. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockefeller-introduces-richard-e-nixon-at-convenion-joke-flub-did-i-hear-wrong/461098/5 "2008-08-24T23:01:28Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] And Jimmy Carter, at the 1976 Democratic convention, praised the great "Hubert Horatio Hornblower. " Sometimes, people just foul up while in the media spotlight. [/QUOTE] “Barack America!” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockefeller-introduces-richard-e-nixon-at-convenion-joke-flub-did-i-hear-wrong/461098/6 "2008-08-24T23:24:43Z")
[QUOTE=stuyguy] I was just watching a segment about political conventions on “CBS News Sunday Morning.” They showed a montage of clips from past convention speeches. One of the clips showed Nelson Rockefeller nominating or introducing Richard \*\*\*E. \* \*\* Nixon. [/QUOTE] I saw the clip today, too. It was clearly a slip of the tongue by Rockefeller – there is no way he would joke in that situation. Whether the **All in the Family** use was related would be difficult to assess without knowing when it was first used in the show. It could have been a reference to Rockefeller (hardly an Archie Bunker type, though), or Rockefeller could have been influenced by seeing the show, but more data is needed. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockefeller-introduces-richard-e-nixon-at-convenion-joke-flub-did-i-hear-wrong/461098/7 "2008-08-25T14:11:08Z")
Monday morning bump. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockefeller-introduces-richard-e-nixon-at-convenion-joke-flub-did-i-hear-wrong/461098/8 "2008-08-25T16:08:22Z")
Yes, he did say it, no it wasn’t a joke, and yes it’s one of the all-time great political flubs. Ed ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockefeller-introduces-richard-e-nixon-at-convenion-joke-flub-did-i-hear-wrong/461098/9 "2008-08-25T17:24:07Z")
Huh. I’d heard of Carter’s Hornblower gaffe, but never the Rockefeller one about Nixon. (BTW, his middle name was “Milhous”).