Richard Nixon

There has been a lot of talk about John McCain's pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as historic because she is the first Republican women nominee for VEEP.  But there is another historical angle to this ticket that crosses party lines.

If you consider western to be everything from New Mexico up to Montana and west of that, this is the first ticket that is completely comprised of candidates from the west.  If you look at the history of the Democratic Party, the closest the Democrats have had to a presidential of vice presidential candidate are Texas and South Dakota.  While Republicans have had Ronald Reagan (California), Richard Nixon (California) and Barry Goldwater (Arizona) on their tickets at one time or another, never have they had two candidates on the ticket at the same time from the west.