Category: Campaign 1952
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Sing Along with Keef, Part 3: “The Long, Tall Guy in the Coonskin Cap”
This is a story about one of Kefauver’s campaign songs. But it’s although the story of the plucky Nashville songwriter who leveraged the song’s success to become a D.C. society queen,
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Minority Report: Kefauver’s Advice to Dems in the Ike Era
In 1953, Democrats found themselves completely out of power for the first time in a generation. Kefauver had some ideas on how his party should navigate life in the minority.
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Print the Legend: A Flattering Presidential Portrait of Kefauver
In 1952, when Kefauver was first launching his presidential campaign, a magazine ran an article imagining his administration. It made Kefauver sound like more of a myth than a man.
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Miami Heat, Part 2: The Man Who Wasn’t There
In 1952, Florida Governor Fuller Warren challenged Kefauver to a debate about gambling and crime. Kefauver accepted the challenge, but when he showed up to debate… Warren was nowhere to be found.
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Miami Heat: Kefauver, Russell Face Off in ’52
In 1952, Estes Kefauver and Richard Russell had a furious faceoff on a Miami TV station. Was it the first televised Presidential debate? It’s complicated.
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Bye Bye, Shanghai: The Kefauvers’ Strangest Pet
The Kefauver family loved pets. At various times, the family had a veritable menagerie of animals around the home, including dogs, cats, birds, mice, and even… a skunk?
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On, Wisconsin: Kefauver’s Campaign Magic at Work
Kefauver’s popularity with the people made him a popular campaign speaker, especially in tough districts. In 1953, he helped Democrats flip a ruby-red seat in Wisconsin by connecting with farmers.
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Kefauver’s Unconventional Thoughts on Conventions
Ever the reformer, Estes Kefauver proposed a bold plan for reinventing the political convention during his 1952 Presidential campaign. His suggestions were ignored… but some of them were adopted eventually.
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I Want A Brave Man, I Want a Caveman: Kefauver Comes to Grants Pass
When Kefauver took his Presidential campaign to Oregon in 1952, he wound up getting initiated into a… wild bunch of locals.
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A Friendly Bet, A Big Game, Lasting Effects: Kefauver and the 1952 Sugar Bowl
When two Senators made a friendly wager on the outcome of this game, they felt they had a lot at stake. As it turns out, the real stakes of the game were about the future of college football.
Estes Kefauver for President 