Four More Years: The 1952 Democratic Party Presidential Nomination
In 1948 Harry Truman baffled the pundits and the pollsters by winning a dramatic Lazarus-like victory over Thomas Dewey, recovering from brutal approval rating numbers. He would have liked to repeat the feat four years later, but he knew that there was not a second rabbit for him to pull out of his campaign hat. In 1952 the question on some people's minds was whether or not the incumbent President would seek re-election to another term in office. He had surprised everyone with his epic come-from-behind victory in 1948, despite heading a divided party and despite near unanimous predictions of his defeat. The newly passed 22nd Amendment did not apply to Truman, so he was eligible to run again. Truman entered 1952 with his popularity dropping in the polls. The indecisive Korean War was dragging into its third year. Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist crusade was stirring up public fears about the "Red Menace" which, according to McCarthy, had its tentacles in many branches of government, and the disclosure of widespread corruption among federal employees all combined to diminish Truman's chances at another political miracle. Polls showed that his disapproval rating at 66%.
A Gallup poll of February 15 showed Truman to be the choice of only 36% of Democrats. Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver, who had earned a reputation as a champion against crime and corruption by chairing a nationally televised investigation of organized crime in 1951, came second in the poll with 21% support. Among independent voters, Truman had only 18% while Kefauver led with 36%.
Truman let his name stand in the New Hampshire primary, but Kefauver upset Truman, winning 19,800 votes to Truman's 15,927 and capturing all eight delegates. Kefauver was gracious in victory. He told reporters that he did not consider his victory to be a repudiation of administration policies, but Truman knew that this wasn't the case. Eighteen days later, Truman announced that he would not seek re-election.
With Truman's withdrawal, Kefauver became the front-runner for the nomination. He won most of the primaries, winning in Oregon, California, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New jersey and Maryland. Other primary winners were Senator Hubert Humphrey, who won his home state of Minnesota, Senator Richard Russell Jr., of Georgia won the Florida primary and U.S. diplomat W. Averell Harriman, who won West Virginia.
Most states still chose their delegates to the Democratic Convention via state conventions. This meant that party bosses (mainly mayors and governors of large northern and midwestern cities and states) were able to control the delegates who would choose the Democratic nominee. Many of these people strongly disliked Kefauver because his investigations of organized crime had revealed connections between organized crime figures and many of the big-city Democratic political organizations. Most refused to support Kefauver for the nomination.
Truman was directly involved in the search for other, more acceptable, candidates. But many of these candidates had various weaknessed. Russell had a lot of support in the south, but his support of racial segregation and opposition to civil rights for African-Americans make him unacceptable to most northern and mid-western liberal Democrats. Truman's favorite was W. Averell Harriman of New York, but he had never held an elective office and was inexperienced in politics. Truman next turned to his vice-president, Alben W. Barkley, but at 74 years of age he was seen as being too old by many, including labor union leaders. Other possibilities included Oklahoma Senator Robert S. Kerr, Governor Paul A. Dever of Massachusetts, Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, and Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. Many of these were not seen as acceptable because they lacked support either in the north or south.
One candidate soon who seemed to have few political weaknesses was Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson. he was the grandson of former Vice-President Adlai E. Stevenson. Besides having a distinguished pedigree, he was a good speaker, an intellectual, and a political moderate. In the spring of 1952, Truman tried to convince Stevenson to seek the presidential nomination, but Stevenson refused, stating that he wanted to run for re-election as Governor of Illinois. But as the convention approached, many in the party hoped that he could be drafted to run.
By this point in time, popular General Dwight Eisenhower had been persuaded to run for the Republican Party as their candidate. Eisenhower was seen as a very strong candidate and he scored a major victory in the New Hampshire primary, when his supporters wrote his name onto the ballot. Eisenhower was involved in his own primary fight with Ohio Senator Robert Taft, but went on to win the nomination of his party as expected.
The 1952 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago in the same coliseum the Republicans had gathered in several weeks earlier. Since the convention was being held in his home state, Governor Stevenson, who still claimed that he was not a candidate, gave the welcoming address to the delegates. He gave a witty and stirring address that led his supporters to begin a renewed round of efforts to nominate him. After meeting with Jacob Arvey, the "boss" of the Illinois delegation, Stevenson agreed to let his name stand as a candidate for the nomination. Kefauver led on the first ballot, but had far fewer votes than necessary to win. Stevenson gradually gained strength until he was nominated on the third ballot.
Delegates chose Senator John Sparkman, a segregationist from Alabama, as Stevenson's running mate.
During the campaign, Eisenhower campaigned by attacking "Korea, Communism, and Corruption" as the three failures of the Truman administration. Eisenhower accused the Truman administration of neglecting Latin America and letting it fall into Communist influence. Republicans made accusations that Soviet spies had infiltrated the government. The Republicans also blamed the Democrats for the military's failure to be fully prepared in Korea and they criticized the Truman Administration for the numbers of officials who had been accused of various crimes of corruption.
In response, the Democrats criticized Senator Joseph McCarthy and other Republican conservatives as "fearmongers" who were trampling on the civil liberties of government employees. Stevenson criticized Eisenhower, who was on a scheduled campaign visit to Wisconsin, for not criticizing McCarthy's methods, and then allowing himself to be photographed shaking hands with McCarthy. Truman said of Eisenhower's actions, "he has betrayed almost everything I thought he stood for."
Eisenhower retained his enormous personal popularity and huge crowds turned out to see him during his campaign stops. His campaign slogan, "I Like Ike," was one of the most popular in American history. Stevenson also drew large crowds, giving a series of policy speeches around the nation which were praised by intellectuals and academics, but seemed to be too deep for most of his listeners. His critics called him an "egghead" because of on his bald head and his professorial demeanor.
It looked like the Democrats caught a break when a scandal emerged concerning Richard Nixon, Eisenhower's running mate. Nixon was accused by several newspapers of receiving $18,000 in undeclared "gifts" from wealthy donors. Nixon had been accusing the Democrats of covering up for crooks, and now found himself on the defensive. Eisenhower and his aides considered dropping Nixon from the ticket and picking another running mate. Nixon saved his political bacon with a dramatic half-hour speech, the "Checkers speech," on live television. In this speech, Nixon denied the charges against him, gave a detailed account of his modest financial assets, and offered a glowing assessment of Eisenhower's candidacy. The most memorable moment of the speech came when Nixon stated that a supporter had given his daughters a gift, a dog named "Checkers", and that he would not give it back because his daughters loved the dog. The "Checkers speech" led a groundswell of supporters to wire the Republican National Committee urging the Republican Party to keep Nixon on the ticket. Eisenhower did so.
On election day, Eisenhower won a decisive victory, winning over 55% of the popular vote and carrying 39 of the 48 states. He took three Southern states that the Republicans had won only once since Reconstruction: Virginia, Florida, and Texas. Four years later, Eisenhower and Stevenson would have their rematch.
A Gallup poll of February 15 showed Truman to be the choice of only 36% of Democrats. Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver, who had earned a reputation as a champion against crime and corruption by chairing a nationally televised investigation of organized crime in 1951, came second in the poll with 21% support. Among independent voters, Truman had only 18% while Kefauver led with 36%.
Truman let his name stand in the New Hampshire primary, but Kefauver upset Truman, winning 19,800 votes to Truman's 15,927 and capturing all eight delegates. Kefauver was gracious in victory. He told reporters that he did not consider his victory to be a repudiation of administration policies, but Truman knew that this wasn't the case. Eighteen days later, Truman announced that he would not seek re-election.
With Truman's withdrawal, Kefauver became the front-runner for the nomination. He won most of the primaries, winning in Oregon, California, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New jersey and Maryland. Other primary winners were Senator Hubert Humphrey, who won his home state of Minnesota, Senator Richard Russell Jr., of Georgia won the Florida primary and U.S. diplomat W. Averell Harriman, who won West Virginia.
Most states still chose their delegates to the Democratic Convention via state conventions. This meant that party bosses (mainly mayors and governors of large northern and midwestern cities and states) were able to control the delegates who would choose the Democratic nominee. Many of these people strongly disliked Kefauver because his investigations of organized crime had revealed connections between organized crime figures and many of the big-city Democratic political organizations. Most refused to support Kefauver for the nomination.
Truman was directly involved in the search for other, more acceptable, candidates. But many of these candidates had various weaknessed. Russell had a lot of support in the south, but his support of racial segregation and opposition to civil rights for African-Americans make him unacceptable to most northern and mid-western liberal Democrats. Truman's favorite was W. Averell Harriman of New York, but he had never held an elective office and was inexperienced in politics. Truman next turned to his vice-president, Alben W. Barkley, but at 74 years of age he was seen as being too old by many, including labor union leaders. Other possibilities included Oklahoma Senator Robert S. Kerr, Governor Paul A. Dever of Massachusetts, Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, and Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. Many of these were not seen as acceptable because they lacked support either in the north or south.
One candidate soon who seemed to have few political weaknesses was Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson. he was the grandson of former Vice-President Adlai E. Stevenson. Besides having a distinguished pedigree, he was a good speaker, an intellectual, and a political moderate. In the spring of 1952, Truman tried to convince Stevenson to seek the presidential nomination, but Stevenson refused, stating that he wanted to run for re-election as Governor of Illinois. But as the convention approached, many in the party hoped that he could be drafted to run.
By this point in time, popular General Dwight Eisenhower had been persuaded to run for the Republican Party as their candidate. Eisenhower was seen as a very strong candidate and he scored a major victory in the New Hampshire primary, when his supporters wrote his name onto the ballot. Eisenhower was involved in his own primary fight with Ohio Senator Robert Taft, but went on to win the nomination of his party as expected.
The 1952 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago in the same coliseum the Republicans had gathered in several weeks earlier. Since the convention was being held in his home state, Governor Stevenson, who still claimed that he was not a candidate, gave the welcoming address to the delegates. He gave a witty and stirring address that led his supporters to begin a renewed round of efforts to nominate him. After meeting with Jacob Arvey, the "boss" of the Illinois delegation, Stevenson agreed to let his name stand as a candidate for the nomination. Kefauver led on the first ballot, but had far fewer votes than necessary to win. Stevenson gradually gained strength until he was nominated on the third ballot.
Delegates chose Senator John Sparkman, a segregationist from Alabama, as Stevenson's running mate.
During the campaign, Eisenhower campaigned by attacking "Korea, Communism, and Corruption" as the three failures of the Truman administration. Eisenhower accused the Truman administration of neglecting Latin America and letting it fall into Communist influence. Republicans made accusations that Soviet spies had infiltrated the government. The Republicans also blamed the Democrats for the military's failure to be fully prepared in Korea and they criticized the Truman Administration for the numbers of officials who had been accused of various crimes of corruption.
In response, the Democrats criticized Senator Joseph McCarthy and other Republican conservatives as "fearmongers" who were trampling on the civil liberties of government employees. Stevenson criticized Eisenhower, who was on a scheduled campaign visit to Wisconsin, for not criticizing McCarthy's methods, and then allowing himself to be photographed shaking hands with McCarthy. Truman said of Eisenhower's actions, "he has betrayed almost everything I thought he stood for."
Eisenhower retained his enormous personal popularity and huge crowds turned out to see him during his campaign stops. His campaign slogan, "I Like Ike," was one of the most popular in American history. Stevenson also drew large crowds, giving a series of policy speeches around the nation which were praised by intellectuals and academics, but seemed to be too deep for most of his listeners. His critics called him an "egghead" because of on his bald head and his professorial demeanor.
It looked like the Democrats caught a break when a scandal emerged concerning Richard Nixon, Eisenhower's running mate. Nixon was accused by several newspapers of receiving $18,000 in undeclared "gifts" from wealthy donors. Nixon had been accusing the Democrats of covering up for crooks, and now found himself on the defensive. Eisenhower and his aides considered dropping Nixon from the ticket and picking another running mate. Nixon saved his political bacon with a dramatic half-hour speech, the "Checkers speech," on live television. In this speech, Nixon denied the charges against him, gave a detailed account of his modest financial assets, and offered a glowing assessment of Eisenhower's candidacy. The most memorable moment of the speech came when Nixon stated that a supporter had given his daughters a gift, a dog named "Checkers", and that he would not give it back because his daughters loved the dog. The "Checkers speech" led a groundswell of supporters to wire the Republican National Committee urging the Republican Party to keep Nixon on the ticket. Eisenhower did so.
On election day, Eisenhower won a decisive victory, winning over 55% of the popular vote and carrying 39 of the 48 states. He took three Southern states that the Republicans had won only once since Reconstruction: Virginia, Florida, and Texas. Four years later, Eisenhower and Stevenson would have their rematch.