Corporations, Antitrust, and Monopoly

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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?
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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?
  • Kefauver and Discount Stores: The Forgotten Story
    Like shopping at stores like Walmart and Target? In a way, you have Estes Kefauver to thank for it.
  • Kefauver’s Crowning Achievement: The Prescription Drug Hearings
    Estes Kefauver’s decades-long fight against corporate power culminated in a bill to mandate prescription drug safety and efficacy. It was his signature legislative accomplishment – but in his mind, it was a half-measure at best.
  • The People’s Champion: Kefauver vs. Corporate Monopoly
    Perhaps no political was dearer to Estes Kefauver’s heart than antitrust and opposing corporate monopolies. To Kefauver, political power was tied to economic power… and the people couldn’t be truly free if big business had too much sway.