The Art Of The Comeback - Part Two
Seemed fitting what with David Cameron's return from the political wilderness in the wake of Suella Braverman's sacking...
Richard Nixon
It's not only good guys who overcome the odds. In 1962, having lost the California gubernatorial election, the former Vice-President informed the press that they wouldn't "have Richard Nixon to kick around anymore." His home state defeat coming on the back of his narrow loss in the 1960 presidential election, the man from Yorba Linda quit politics to join a New York legal practice when a bizarre confluence of events led to him being dragged back into the political arena. Said incidents included the assassination of John F Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson becoming so disillusioned with the Vietnam War that he chose not to contest a second term. Even with all these misfortunes, it seemed improbable that the dour, shifty Nixon could possibly defeat Robert Kennedy, what with the nation so keen to see RFK complete the work his brother had begun. Then Sirhan Sirhan showed up at LA's Ambassador Hotel and all bets were off. Come the big day, Richard Milhous Nixon comfortably defeated Hubert Humphrey to become the 37th President of the United States. However, by the time he obliterated George McGovern in 1972, Nixon, Congress and the entire country were consumed with a little something called Watergate...
The 1981 Ashes
"The only thing better than winning is coming from behind to win." Those words were spoken by Australian cricket legend Steve Waugh, which is ironic since the Aussies were the victims of the greatest reversal of fortune in the history of test cricket. By the time the ancient foes arrived at Headingley for 1981's third test, England were already one-down and an out-of-form Ian Botham had been stripped of the captaincy. Not only that, but towards the end of the third day, the Poms were in such a parlous position, the bookies were offering odds of 500-1 on a home victory. At which point, a revived Beefy scored 149 not out, the late, great Bob Willis snared eight wickets and the series was levelled. With further Botham-inspired miracles at Edgbaston and Old Trafford, England completed the sort of comeback Lazarus would've been proud of. And 24 short years later, England did it again, the combination of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen helping the home side recover from a hammering at Lord's to lift the urn for the first time since 1989.
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