Concurrent with his public service , he chaired the Kentucky Republican Party in the 5th congressional district . He was also a delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention , where he supported the nomination of Nelson Rockefeller for president , although the nomination ultimately went to Richard Nixon . Although he was recommended by Kentucky 's Republican Senators John Sherman Cooper and Marlow Cook , Nixon is said to have refused to appoint Jones to the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky because Jones did not support him at the convention
1968 Republican National Convention
1968 Republican National Convention
Pleas Jones