Donna Axum-Whitworth Oral History

The Dr. Pepper Annual Bottlers Meeting on November 22, 1963, that Ms. Axum-Whitworth attended as Miss America immediately followed a larger meeting in the same location of the American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages Annual Convention, which involved Dr. Pepper, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, and other major brand manufacturers. Representing the Pepsi-Cola Company at this earlier meeting was attorney--and former vice president--Richard Nixon, who had been narrowly defeated by John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election. At the conclusion of this national bottlers meeting on November 21, Nixon left Dallas via Love Field the next morning. When the Kennedys arrived later that day, some bystanders were still holding handwritten signs that read "Nixon Go Home." - Stephen Fagin, Curator