• The People vs. The Big Few

    The People vs. The Big Few

    Throughout his career, Kefauver never lost touch with the people he served. A brochure from his final campaign proves it.

  • Too Much Democracy

    Too Much Democracy

    The press didn’t approve of Kefauver’s way of campaigning for President. Their criticism belied a deeper unease with the primary system.

  • Support Your Local Sheriff!

    Support Your Local Sheriff!

    The crime hearings earned Kefauver a reputation as a racket-buster. But that reputation obscured what he really tried to accomplish.

  • How Do You Solve A Problem Like Kefauver?

    How Do You Solve A Problem Like Kefauver?

    Kefauver’s Senate colleagues famously disliked him. But it wasn’t really personal – their dislike came from a deeper source.

  • How Adlai Really Won

    How Adlai Really Won

    Stevenson is remembered as the man who practiced a nobler brand of politics. A forgotten incident from the 1956 campaign tells a different story.

  • Portrait of a Lady

    Portrait of a Lady

    Lady Bird Johnson wasn’t just Lyndon’s wife – she was a key political adviser and an astute observer. Her comments about Kefauver show that she understood his immense political gifts – and what held him back.

  • He Never Fixed the Washing Machine

    He Never Fixed the Washing Machine

    In Kefauver’s home life and his political life, he often started projects he couldn’t finish. Why was that?

  • No Lamb for Slaughter

    No Lamb for Slaughter

    In 1954, the FCC – lead by a Joseph McCarthy acolyte – went after a close friend of Kefauver’s for alleged Communist ties. Kefauver stood up for his friend and for civil liberties – even at a political cost.

  • Opening Up An “All-American City”

    Opening Up An “All-American City”

    In the final months of his life, Kefauver endorsed a newspaper’s call for Knoxville, Tennessee to be an integrated “open city.” Did Knoxville’s example offer a model for desegregation without violence?

  • Kefauver Guides Youngsters on a Changing World

    Kefauver Guides Youngsters on a Changing World

    In 1957, Kefauver urged Young Democrats to stay involved and help shape the future of a world in turmoil. The topics he discussed -70 years ago – control of the Middle East, technology’s impact on American culture, the problem of too-powerful corporations – are just as relevant today as they were then.