Richard M. Nixon rose fast and young, became a national figure while still in his 30s, a senator at 37, Ike’s running mate and his vice president at 39. His loss in 1960 to a political talent the size of John Kennedy’s was not a disgrace, but his later loss, in his home state to the lesser known and undistinguished Edmund (Pat) Brown, was a humiliation that ate out his soul. He sat out the contentious 1964 season, and in the wreckage that followed began to rebuild. Under the radar, he campaigned for Republican candidates, who made remarkable gains in the 1966 midterms. Two years after that he became president in a three-way race in a very bad year for the country. Four years after that, he won in a blowout, losing only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia to his opponent. He was on track to becoming a respected world leader, when a break-in took place in a Watergate building. As the investigation wound on, he took every step possible to ensure his destruction. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Rick Santorum, like Nixon, rose fast and rose younger, reaching the Senate in the l994 blowout at age 36. Twelve years after that, he received his great smackdown, turned out by the son of a beloved ex-governor, in a 700,000 vote, 18-point rout. Like Nixon, he was mocked as a loser and a reject. Like Nixon, he fought to come back, and he did. Under the radar, he worked on the Iowa caucuses. But with a big lead heading into the Michigan primary, as he was about to break out as the leading contender, he undermined himself. He became abrasive, self-righteous and shrill. He lost Michigan, and the three big states after, and the roads that had opened began to close off.