The schism between Cramer and Kirk accelerated in 1966 to the point that in a 1988 interview , Kirk said that he could not recall Cramer having rendered him any assistance at all in either the 1964 or 1966 campaigns : " Cramer never helped me do anything . At all times he was a total combatant . " Kirk claimed that Cramer wanted the 1966 gubernatorial nomination himself after Burns , the primary loser , refused to endorse Mayor High , an ally of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York . Kirk said that Cramer 's legislative assistant , Jack P. Inscoe , later a real estate developer from Tampa , could verify that Cramer had asked Kirk to bow out of the race with High . Kirk claimed that the three met " in a car ... probably in Palm Beach County . " Inscoe said : " This never happened . Kirk is not known for telling too much truth . " Though Cramer said that he had no ambition to be governor , Kirk retorted , " How could I have brought this up if it did n't happen ? " Cramer said that he subsequently urged Kirk to merge his own organization into the regular party structure in Cramer 's home county of Pinellas . However , Kirk maintained a separate entity in the hope of maximizing crossover support from conservative Democrats unhappy with the nomination of Mayor High . Cramer recalled this disagreement over strategy as the " first indication that Kirk intended to do his own thing and attempt to form his own organization within the Republican Party in Florida . I did n't get the signal at the time , but it became very obvious later , particularly when he attempted to defeat me as national committeeman in 1968 . " Kirk asked the representative and later Senator Edward Gurney of Winter Park serve as chairman of the 1967 gubernatorial inauguration although Gurney had not been involved in the Kirk campaign . By contrast , Cramer was not even asked to serve on the inaugural committee . In 1968 , Governor Kirk dispatched his staff to the Republican state convention in Orlando to push for Cramer 's ouster as national committeeman . Kirk justified his move against Cramer : " I wanted my own man . After all , I was the leader of the party . If Cramer had been the leader of the party , he would have wanted his own man too . " Cramer said that Kirk was attempting to be " not only the governor but the king of the party , and I was about the only person at the time who stood in his way from taking total control . " Despite Kirk 's opposition , Cramer attributed his retention in 1968 as national committeeman to the loyalty of organizational Republicans : " I had proved myself an effective congressman . I was on the House leadership as vice chairman of the Republican Conference and was ranking member on the then named House Public Works Committee . " In 1988 , Cramer recalled a visit 21 years earlier to Kirk 's office when a former state legislator was denied an appointment with the governor even though the man was a stalwart Republican . According to Cramer , " Kirk made it very clear that he got a great deal of joy in making sure that this guy did n't get an appointment ... . He just loved to kick people in the teeth to show how much power he had . " Despite observing this incident , Cramer said that party unity led him to avoid public criticism of Kirk . Cramer viewed Kirk as " his own worst enemy . " Kirk claimed that he had never had a " serious discussion " on any topic with Cramer . Walter Wurfel , a Floridian who was later U.S. President Jimmy Carter 's deputy press secretary , termed Kirk 's election in 1966 as " the worst thing that could have happened to the Republicans . He was n't interested in the Republican Party ; party was a matter of convenience for him . " Cramer said he believed that Kirk may have become vice president or even president had he tended to his gubernatorial duties rather than openly seeking the second position . Eyeing the vice presidency in 1968 , Kirk stood alone in the Florida delegation at the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach by supporting Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York , rather than the clear frontrunner , Richard Nixon . Cramer said that Nixon may have selected Kirk , rather than Spiro T. Agnew of Maryland for the second slot had Kirk concentrated on his duties of office . Kirk claimed that it " had been agreed " that he would run with either Rockefeller or Nixon , but Nixon chose Agnew in the hope of enhancing campaign contributions from Greek American businessmen
1968 Republican National Convention
1968 Republican National Convention
Claude R. Kirk Jr.