Nixon Rival

Stephen I. Zetterberg, a California Democrat whose loss to Richard M. Nixon in a primary race for Congress in 1948 helped propel Nixon’s early career, died on Jan. 30 in Claremont, Calif. He was 92. The cause was heart failure, his son Charles said.

Nixon, an incumbent in the House of Representatives who had no Republican primary opponent, ran against Mr. Zetterberg in the Democratic primary, as California law then permitted. By defeating him, Nixon effectively won re-election to the seat. Nixon won the primary after presenting himself as a Democrat to Democratic voters, sending out postcards to them with the salutation “Fellow Democrats.” Elsewhere he played down his party affiliation by advertising himself as simply “Your Congressman.” The tactics contributed to his later reputation for trickiness.

On the primary ballot, Nixon headed the list of Democratic candidates and was identified as “Congressman.”

“When Democratic voters received their sample ballots, they could logically have assumed that Richard Nixon was the Democratic incumbent,” The Los Angeles Times wrote in 1972. Frank Mankiewicz, in his book “Perfectly Clear: Nixon from Whittier to Watergate” (1973), wrote that Nixon might have faced a stiffer challenge if Mr. Zetterberg had somehow survived to face him in the general election.

Mr. Mankiewicz noted that 1948 was becoming a Democratic year, with President Harry S. Truman gaining strength through the fall and winning in California as he went on to defeat Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York. Democrats also picked up House seats in California, as they did in the rest of the country.

“Had Zetterberg won that primary and forced Nixon into a straight Republican-Democratic contest in November, it is likely Nixon’s career would have ended then,” Mr. Mankiewicz wrote.

Mr. Zetterberg refused to run in the Republican primary, as he legally could have — the practice was called cross-filing — because he considered it hypocritical. Cross-filing was put in place in California in the early 20th century to reduce party bosses’ power; it was ended in 1959.

Mr. Zetterberg had jumped into the race only six weeks before the primary. He opposed legislation that Nixon had introduced to require Communists to register with the government. As part of his effort to drum up interest in his campaign, Mr. Zetterberg called square dances.

In 1950, when Representative Nixon ran against Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas, he again cross-filed and ran an advertising campaign to attract Democrats. But this time Democrats fought back, focusing their ads on Nixon’s strategy and coining a phrase that would live on: “Tricky Dick.”

Stephen Ingersoll Zetterberg was born on Oct. 2, 1916, in Galesburg, Ill., grew up in Newcastle, Ind., and moved to Claremont when he was in high school. He graduated from Pomona College and Yale Law School. He served in the Coast Guard during World War II. After his discharge, he worked on the staff of Senator Scott W. Lucas of Illinois, a Democrat.

Mr. Zetterberg returned to Claremont to practice law and in 1947 was elected chairman of a citizens’ committee concerned with managing the area’s rapid growth. He became active in Democratic politics and urged Jerry Voorhis to run again for the Congressional seat that Mr. Voorhis had held for five terms before losing it to Nixon in 1946.

But Mr. Voorhis would not run, partly for health reasons, and Mr. Zetterberg reluctantly agreed to run himself. Several important Democrats in the district had already endorsed Nixon, Conrad Black wrote in his book “Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full” (2007). Nixon declined to debate Mr. Zetterberg.

Moreover, Mr. Black wrote, Nixon was still basking in the favorable publicity he received in February 1948, when, while carrying his daughter, Tricia, he slipped on icy steps but protected the baby, even as he broke an arm.

Mr. Zetterberg ran for the same House seat in 1950 but lost in the general election to a Republican, Patrick Hillings. He remained active in politics and government, at one point serving on a governor’s task force on health.

In his mid-80s, he was still auditing courses at Pomona, including music, quantum physics and Asian history. He practiced law until last year.

Mr. Zetterberg’s wife of 67 years, the former Connie Lyon, died in 2007. Besides his son Charles, of Claremont, Mr. Zetterberg is survived by two other sons, Alan, of Princeton, N.J. and Arvid Pierre of San Francisco; his daughter, Dell Zetterberg, of Plains, Mont.; and nine grandchildren.

February 3, 2009
Stephen Zetterberg, Nixon Rival, Dies at 92
By DOUGLAS MARTIN