Richard Nixon's November 1962 press conference

The "last press conference" of US politician Richard Nixon took place on November 7, 1962, following his loss in the 1962 California gubernatorial election to Democratic incumbent Pat Brown.

Nixon would ultimately win the presidency six years later in the 1968 election, making a political comeback that seemed nearly impossible after the "last press conference.

Nixon was widely viewed by the California Republican Party as its best hope for defeating the popular Brown to retake the governor's mansion, itself perceived as a prominent stepping stone for a rematch against Kennedy in 1964.

The polls showed Brown, who made a point of not beginning to campaign until late in the season, closing the margin in the days before the election, but Nixon was still favored to win.

Nixon's press secretary Herbert G. Klein held a news conference at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, telling the assembled reporters that despite trailing Brown by 90,000 votes at that time, Nixon was going to bed without issuing a concession, as there appeared to be sufficient uncounted votes in reliably Republican Orange County and San Diego County to overturn Brown's margin.

While the program was on the air, angry callers clogged the ABC switchboard with complaints, many criticizing the decision to include Hiss, a convicted perjurer, to comment on Nixon.

[9] Nixon never showed any remorse for his remarks, instead feeling that the benefits outweighed any possible repercussions, noting in his memoirs: I have never regretted what I said in 'the last press conference.'

[7]The "last press conference" has become a generic term for a politician's valedictory address, one in which all possibilities for future political activity are being abandoned.

In an editorial, The New York Times noted Gary Hart's statement following his withdrawal from the 1988 Democratic Party presidential process, in which he stated that he was "angry and defiant" at a system that "reduces the press of this nation to hunter and Presidential candidates to being hunted," likening his remarks to Nixon's "last press conference".

[10] Dan Quayle, effectively conceding defeat to Republican rival George W. Bush in the party's 2000 presidential primaries, noted his relative youth and stated, "I seriously doubt if this will be my last press conference.