In 1948, disaffected Southerners tried to hijack the Electoral College because they felt that their region was getting ignored by the national parties. Kefauver sympathized with their complaints… but he felt there was a better way.
We’ve all heard about the South’s third-party effort in the 1948. But did you know that they plotted to subvert the Electoral College four years earlier?
The atomic bomb ushered in a frightening new world with unexpected risks. Kefauver tried to fix the Constitution to safeguard Congress in the event of a disaster. Why didn’t it work?
After getting his Presidential hopes crushed at the 1952 convention, Kefauver tried for a Constitution amendment mandating national primaries. Was he the biggest obstacle to his amendment’s success?
At the height of his fame from the organized crime hearings, Kefauver gave a speech laying out a rigorous vision of active citizenship. Was America up to the challenge? Are we still?
The national voting age was lowered to 18 by the 26th Amendment in 1971. But that amendment would never have come to pass without decades of work by Kefauver – and a forgotten Senator from West By-God Virginia.
Kefauver used congressional investigations as a route to fame. But he also understood how they could be abused. And he tried to do something about it. But as usual, Congress couldn’t be bothered to act.
After the Great Depression and WWII, the federal government was bigger and more complex than ever. And Congress, wedded to archaic and inefficient traditions, was struggling to cope. Kefauver offered a way out of the wilderness. If only Congress had listened.
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.
The Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957 set off a panic that America was losing the race for space. Kefauver thought that a federal Department of Science would help America catch up. Why wasn’t the idea adopted?
Estes Kefauver frequently wrote articles and books urging people to support bills he created. But on at least one occasion, Kefauver was inspired to propose a bill based on a book he read.
For 180 years after the Constitution, we had no idea what happened when the President was too sick to do the job. Kefauver tried to fix the problem… but it took a tragedy to get his colleagues to listen.
In 1960, Hubert Humphrey held a hearing of Kefauver’s Department of Consumers proposal. He used the hearing to…. complain about cramped airline seats and and the lack of radar of planes.
In 1960, Kefauver introduced a bill to create a federal Department of Consumers. The bill never passed, but the idea of protecting consumers – and giving them a voice – would outlive his proposal.
In 1950, Kefauver suggested that reforming the Electoral College might fix the political problems facing the South. Why did he think so? And did his predictions for the future come to pass?
Estes Kefauver’s campaigning failed to win the Presidency. But even as he lost, he pioneered a new form of Presidential campaigning… and he started the momentum to let the voters decide the nominee.
The forgotten story of how an Alabama attorney and an Oklahoma elected tried to throw the 1960 election to someone who wasn’t a candidate… and how it could happen again.
In 1948, disaffected Southerners tried to hijack the Electoral College because they felt that their region was getting ignored by the national parties. Kefauver sympathized with their complaints… but he felt there was a better way.
We’ve all heard about the South’s third-party effort in the 1948. But did you know that they plotted to subvert the Electoral College four years earlier?
The atomic bomb ushered in a frightening new world with unexpected risks. Kefauver tried to fix the Constitution to safeguard Congress in the event of a disaster. Why didn’t it work?
After getting his Presidential hopes crushed at the 1952 convention, Kefauver tried for a Constitution amendment mandating national primaries. Was he the biggest obstacle to his amendment’s success?
At the height of his fame from the organized crime hearings, Kefauver gave a speech laying out a rigorous vision of active citizenship. Was America up to the challenge? Are we still?
The national voting age was lowered to 18 by the 26th Amendment in 1971. But that amendment would never have come to pass without decades of work by Kefauver – and a forgotten Senator from West By-God Virginia.
Kefauver used congressional investigations as a route to fame. But he also understood how they could be abused. And he tried to do something about it. But as usual, Congress couldn’t be bothered to act.
After the Great Depression and WWII, the federal government was bigger and more complex than ever. And Congress, wedded to archaic and inefficient traditions, was struggling to cope. Kefauver offered a way out of the wilderness. If only Congress had listened.
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.
The Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957 set off a panic that America was losing the race for space. Kefauver thought that a federal Department of Science would help America catch up. Why wasn’t the idea adopted?
Estes Kefauver frequently wrote articles and books urging people to support bills he created. But on at least one occasion, Kefauver was inspired to propose a bill based on a book he read.
For 180 years after the Constitution, we had no idea what happened when the President was too sick to do the job. Kefauver tried to fix the problem… but it took a tragedy to get his colleagues to listen.
In 1960, Hubert Humphrey held a hearing of Kefauver’s Department of Consumers proposal. He used the hearing to…. complain about cramped airline seats and and the lack of radar of planes.
In 1960, Kefauver introduced a bill to create a federal Department of Consumers. The bill never passed, but the idea of protecting consumers – and giving them a voice – would outlive his proposal.
In 1950, Kefauver suggested that reforming the Electoral College might fix the political problems facing the South. Why did he think so? And did his predictions for the future come to pass?
In 1952, Kefauver wrote a scholarly article surveying the history of political ethics in America. How would he feel about where we are today?
Estes Kefauver’s campaigning failed to win the Presidency. But even as he lost, he pioneered a new form of Presidential campaigning… and he started the momentum to let the voters decide the nominee.
The forgotten story of how an Alabama attorney and an Oklahoma elected tried to throw the 1960 election to someone who wasn’t a candidate… and how it could happen again.
In 1962, Kefauver wrote an article calling for electoral college reform. His call went unheeded… and we’re still paying the price for it today.
Estes Kefauver for President 