Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of Lace ‘Em Up’s Presidential Election series; Today, will be going over the election of 1952 as the Republicans are looking to get back into the White House after two decades away, but they have to go through Democrats who have a few problems heading into the general election
Truman’s Second Term & The Korean War
After pulling off one of the greatest election upsets in U.S. political history back in 1948; President Harry S. Truman has been busy dealing with domestic and foreign conflicts which range from corruption charges in his administration, his handling of a Steel Strike in 1952 and most importantly his decision to send American Soldiers to aid South Korea’s battle with their communist northern neighbors in what is now refered to as ‘The Korean War’.
To say things were disastrous when it came Korea would be an understatement as the war dragged on with neither side coming out on top.
For President Truman his decision on firing Military General Douglas MacArthur after disagreement about attacking enemy supply lines lead to his numbers landing a 66% disapproval rating despite achievements like creating the CIA, attempting to pass universal healthcare and pushing for racial integration in the military among other things.
Although the 22nd Amendment was ratified on Feburary 27th 1951, which officially made it clear that all future president’s could only run for two terms…this did not apply to the current commander and chief which meant that Harry Truman could run for another term which would’ve made him the second President (next to FDR) to have served more than eight years.
These plans were scrapped when Tennessee Senator, Estes Kefauver defeated Truman in the New Hampshire primary which led to the president dropping out and announcing he would not seek another term.
Kefauver, who became famous for his investigation into organized crime with the ‘Kefauver Committee’ discovered some corruption within the Truman administration which made him a traitor in the eyes of many Democratic party bosses.
With the populist Senator from Tennessee on track to win the remaining primaries and likely to become the party’s nominee for president, Harry Truman decides to look for someone else to continue his legacy and run for the presidency in 1952.
It’s Stevenson…Adlai Stevenson
The election of 1952 saw many Democrats vying for the nomination upon Truman’s refusal at another term; In addition to the previously mentioned Senator Kefauver, names like Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell, Robert Kerr, Averell Harriman and even Truman’s VP, Alben Barkley made a run for it, but many of those names couldn’t generate enough support from the base and many found the Vice President too old to become president as he was only 73 years old.
However there was one man Truman looked at as a likely successor to both him and Franklin Roosevelt in the form of Illinois Governor, Adlai Stevenson the Second who was also the grandson Grover Cleveland’s second Vice President.
Stevenson was known for his oratory skills and his record of pushing for progressive reforms, but the thing is though he didn’t want to become president of the United States so when Harry Truman proposed the offer to him, Adlai refused and instead focused his efforts on getting re-elected as Governor.
Truman however refused to give up on the idea of Stevenson becoming president and by the time of the Democratic National Convention which was taking place in Illinois conveniently enough, the party bosses pushed Stevenson to run after a well received opening speech at the convention.
Ultimately, Stevenson would announce that he would go for the party’s nomination where he would handily win and become the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.
Stevenson’s running mate was Alabama Senator John Sparkman who (much like Stevenson) was selected by the party bosses, but for his connections to the South which they believed would bring some balance to the ticket and to prevent any Southern Democrats from running as a third party candidate in the general election again.
Due to his Southern roots, it might not be surprising to hear that Sparkman was a supporter of racial segregation which is going to alienate many Northern states especially those that believe African Americans should be granted Civil rights.
The Soul of the Republican Party
The Republican Party by this point were divided following five straight election losses to the Democrats and this led to two factions emerging in the GOP with the more moderate to liberal Republicans being known as the “Eastern Establishment”. Led by former New York Governor and two time presidential election loser Thomas E. Dewey, this group was in favor of intervening in foreign affairs while also supporting social welfare, education and the business community.
On the opposite side you have the Conservative wing of the Republican Party which was led by Ohio Senator, Robert Taft who is the son of former President William Howard Taft, but also ran for the GOP nomination a few times before.
This faction supported policies that could be considered ‘America First’ which favored less government involvement and regulation, isolationism aka keeping out of foreign entanglements and abolishing social programs that expanded welfare.
With Dewey failing to win the presidency twice and with Americans wanting to get out the Korea War to deal with the issues at home, Taft decided to once again go the Republican Party’s presidential nomination…but he would have some tough competition from a decorated World War II General and the Eastern Establishment.
Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower (also known as ‘Ike’ to some) was not only one of many the Military Commanders to lead Allie Forces to victory during World War II, but he was courted by the Eastern Establishment to run for the presidency in 1948 but he refused to do so.
In order to pursuade Eisenhower to run in ’52, a bunch of grassroots movement were created like the Draft Eisenhower Movement and Citizens For Eisenhower, which saw Liberal Republicans, independent voters, celebrities and regular people throwing their support behind Ike.
After much proding and the fact that Senator Taft would more than likely refuse to support the North Atlantic Treaty Organization if elected president pushes Eisenhower to finally run for president, but he does so as an Eastern Establishment type of Republican.
Heading into the Republican National Convention, it was a back and forth fight between the Taft and Eisenhower supporters to get the most delegates to their side, but Taft and his team where accused of not allowing Eisenhower delegates from Southern states to be involved and instead replaced them with their own. Whether these claims were true or not is unknown, but in the wake of these claims Eisenhower narrowly escapes the convention as the GOP’s nominee.
Nixon and The Checker’s Speech
While Eisenhower may have won the Republican Party’s nomination for president, the Conservative wing are not going to let the Eastern Establishment dictate the rest of the proceedings unless a compromise is made in form of a rising California Senator, Richard Milhous Nixon being on the ticket as Eisenhower’s running mate.
Nixon, in the early stages of of his political career was known for his ‘slash and burn tactics’ or another way of looking at it: it’s not about making yourself look good, but it’s about making your opponents look worse…and this tactic helped him in defeating political opponents like Jerry Voorhis and Helen Douglas by labeling them as being “soft on Communism” and his anti-communists beliefs led to him revealing that a politician by the name of Alger Hiss was a former Russian spy which resulted in Nixon getting the infamous nickname of “Tricky Dick”.
Nixon was associated with the Conservative wing of the party and when he was chosen to be Eisenhower’s Vice Presidential candidate, the conservatives were pacified with this decision, however Ike would go on to have a major problem with Nixon when it was discovered that the California Senator had a slush fund and was being given around $18,000 worth in gifts leading to Ike considering the idea of dropping Nixon off the ticket.
When word of Eisenhower talking about dropping Nixon off the ticket was made known to the Senator, he decided to give a speech on national TV which seems cliche by today’s standards, but worked wonders back in 1952 as he attempted to disprove these charges against him while mentioning his modest upbringing and even mentioned that one of the gifts he got was a cocker spaniel dog named ‘Checkers’ and that his children loved the dog and he had every intention of keeping it.
The now famous ‘Checkers Speech’ saved Richard Nixon’s political career and his position on the ticket with many American’s and even Eisenhower himself supporting Nixon.
The Campaigns
As the election officially got underway, Eisenhower had the momentum for most of the race and his promises to clean up corruption in Washington, fighting back against Communism, and pulling American Soldiers out of the Korean War made people even more excited about an Eisenhower Presidency.
As Ike uses his charm to win over the people, his running mate meanwhile becomes the general’s political attack dog as Nixon is using the same slash and burn tactics his known for to plant the seeds of doubt in the minds of many voters when comes to the effectiveness of Stevenson as a leader thus leading to the Illinois Governor having to clap back at Nixon for criticizing his judgment.
Stevenson and the Democrats campaign on the idea of continuing the New Deal policies while also attempting to distance himself from the very unpopular Harry Truman but varying degrees of success.
The Democrats are describing the GOP as a two head elephant, unsure of which direction it will go or who is actually in charge; The Republicans are calling out Stevenson for being an “Egghead” and not just because of his baldness, but for the fact that he comes off as too intellectual and out of touch with suburban and rural voters.
Eisenhower’s biggest problem in the election occurs when he heads to Wisconsin to drum up support and plans to give a speech criticizing hometown Senator, Joseph McCarthy who was infamous for causing major hysteria in the 1950’s due to him suspecting folks of being members of the Communism Party. Instead of giving that speech and potentially risk pissing off the Conservative wing of his party, Eisenhower decides to have a photo op where his seen shaking hands with the radical Senator which was used as a way to unite the party more around Ike.
This moment angered many voters and president Truman who felt that McCarthy’s witch hunt like mentality was actually causing more harm then good, so the fact that Eisenhower was shaking his hands with the Senator was shocking; Even George C. Marshall, then Secretary of State, the target of McCarthy’s rhetoric and army friend to Ike was stunned by the whole photo op.
Politics Moves To Television
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this election would have to be the fact that political ads could now be seen on TV right in the comfort of your own home and both candidates use this media to get their points across.
Most of Adlai Stevenson ads used cartoons and sing-a-longs to promote his platform which calls for expanding social security and supporting laborer and farmers, however Stevenson comes off as stilted and uncomfortable to those watching at home, but for those listening to him on the radio Stevenson’s oratary skills attract many.
Eisenhower on the other hand was lucky enough to have the skills of a major advertising executive named Rosser Reeves who helped produce commercials while also making the general look and sound more relaxed on TV.
Many of these ads would see regular people asking Eisenhower questions or explaining their present situation before he gave his response and ending with the line “It’s Time For A Change”, but by far the most famous political ad would be the ‘I Like Ike’ commercial which has become of the most famous ads in US political history.
Election of 1952: The Results
By Election day there was no doubt who would win as Dwight D. Eisenhower easily won and became the 34th president in US History; Eisenhower became the first Republican since Herbert Hoover to be elected president in a landslide as he carried 39 states while also receiving 442 electoral votes and 55.2% of the popular vote.
Adlai Stevenson only carried eight states (all of which were in the South) and received 89 electoral votes and 44.3% of the popular vote marking the first time the Democrats lost a presidency election since 1932.
This election is also memorable for be the last time the GOP won the presidency without winning the states of Kentucky or West Virginia and it’s the first since the election of 1924 that the Democrats failed to carry the state of Massachusetts.
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