Category: Corporations
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The Past is a Foreign Country: Decoding an Old Political Poster
I decipher an anti-Eisenhower poster from 1956, showing how many issues that seem vitally important in their day will ultimately be forgotten by history.
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Dirksen vs. Kefauver: Friendly Foes
Everett Dirksen and Estes Kefauver were fierce opponents when it came to regulating big business and monopolies… but when they fought, they often did it with a smile.
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Deep in the Heart of Texas: Kefauver Declines to Referee Football Feud
Like baseball’s Continental League, an upstart football league looks to Kefauver’s Antitrust and Monopoly Subcommittee for help when the older league tries to freeze them out. But this time, Kefauver stays out of it.
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How’s That Again, General?
Adlai Stevenson knew he had a secret weapon in the 1956 Presidential campaign: his running mate. In his ads, Stevenson prominently featured Kefauver’s name – and even the man himself, talking about Ike’s broken promises.
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Talkin’ Baseball: Kefauver, the Reserve Clause, and Expansion
A lot of Senators can claim to be responsible for important laws. But how many of them can claim to be responsible for the creation of four pro baseball teams? Estes Kefauver can. Find out how he, along with a New York lawyer and a longtime exec, forced MLB to expand against its will.
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Kefauver and TVA, Part 2: Ike and Dixon-Yates
Estes Kefauver successfully rescued the TVA from Kenneth McKellar’s whims. But could he save it from Ike and the threat of privatization?
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Kefauver and TVA, Part 1: Power to the People
From the very beginning of his political career, Estes Kefauver was a strong supporter of public power and the Tennessee Valley Authority. He wasn’t afraid to stand up to anyone who threatened it… even a powerful Senator from his own state.
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Kefauver on Cars, Part 2: Let’s Get Small
Estes Kefauver recognized that the Big Three was failing to respond to consumer demand for compact, efficient cars. He also recognized that if Detroit wouldn’t meet that demand, then Europe and Japan would.
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Kefauver on Cars, Part 1: Fins to the Left, Fins to the Right
Kerauver’s observations about the auto industry were prescient in many ways, and Detroit should have listened to him. In Part 1 of this series, we look at Kefauver’s remarks on the over-the-top excesses of 1950s auto styling.
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It’s Electric!
A random picture from the campaign trail inspired a trip down a rabbit hole. What was the “Live Better Electrically” camoaign, and what did it have to do with a future President?
Estes Kefauver for President 