He was also assassinated when the MSM’s grip on the public was on the rise thanks to television. I doubt that if Nixon had won and had been assassinated he would be held in the same high esteem.
The MSM and their liberal adoration of Kennedy was central. With his death, they had a hollywood type story to dominate the future. And don’t forget the historians who peppered his administration. The MSM would have turned Nixon’s death into a morality play showing why Nixon should never have been elected.