Tag: dwight eisenhower
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Anybody But Estes: Truman’s Biggest Mistake?
Harry Truman was looking for a successor… as long as it was anyone but Estes Kefauver. Did Truman let a personal grudge cost the Democrats their best shot at beating Ike and extending Truman’s legacy?
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Just Plane Crazy, Part 2: Look Out Below!
During the 1950, jet travel was a novelty. Late in the 1956 campaign, Kefauver was able to draw a big crowd in a small town… but not for the reason he expected.
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Feeling Badly About Adlai
Adlai Stevenson was one of the most admired losing candidates of all time. Here’s my hot take: He was a lousy candidate, and he encouraged the Democrats’ worst tendencies.
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Luce Likes Ike, No Time for Kefauver
Henry Luce, the publisher of Time and Life magazines, was a huge supporter of Dwight Eisenhower. No wonder his magazine was so snotty about Kefauver!
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Porcine Populism: The Presidential Campaigns of Henry Krajewski
Kefauver wasn’t the only 1950s presidential hopeful who came up short. There was also Krajewski, the New Jersey pig farmer and bar owner, whose views were a little… different.
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“A Serious and Difficult Situation”: The Integration of Clinton High
After Brown v. Board of Education, the first Southern school to integrate was in Estes Kefauver’s native Tennessee. In a difficult situation, Kefauver had the courage to stand up against segregationist violence and for rebuilding and the rule of law.
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Stevenson Toons In for ’56?
Eisenhower’s 1952 relied on the sales of Madison Avenue -and Disney – to roll to victory. After resisting those techniques the first time around, the Stevenson/Kefauver campaign gave them a try in ’56. How did it turn out? Judge for yourself.
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Forgotten History: The Great Senate Fish Battle of 1957
Here’s a story you won’t find in your history book: a tale of sectional rivalries, Presidential recreation, beauty queens, hungry reporters, and fish. So, so many fish.
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If You Go Chasing Rabbits: Solving a Photographic Mystery
Follow me as I track down the story behind a magazine photograph. I try to figure out not only where Kefauver was… but when and why
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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.
Estes Kefauver for President 