Tag: dwight eisenhower
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Hoosier Candidate?
A sample ballot from the 1956 Indiana primary offers a snapshot of state’s political scene… and a handful of fascinating stories.
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Lights, Camera, Action!
If you think the first presidential debate on TV was between Nixon and JFK, you’re off by four years. It was Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver who first took their case to the airwaves. Find out what they discussed – and how it showed the real differences between the candidates.
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The Speech Kefauver Never Gave
Kefauver’s advisors wrote an acceptance speech in case he won the Presidential nomination in ’52. It’s not as pretty as the one Adlai Stevenson gave… but it might have been more effective.
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Electoral College Dropout, Part 2: How to Steal an Election
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.
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He Wrote Bills for Kefauver As A Teen: Interview with Fred Strong
A comment on one of my posts led me to an interview with a man who volunteered for Kefauver… while still in high school! This was just one chapter of his remarkable life.
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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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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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A Complicated but Courageous Legacy: Kefauver and Civil Rights
Estes Kefauver was one of the few Southern Senators who didn’t take the segregationist line on civil rights. A closer look at his record shows a man who evolved over time… but remained consistent in his belief in moderate progress and equal application of the law.
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Campaign 1956, Part 2: “He Just Can’t Stop”
Kefauver lost the nomination, but he won a consolation prize: Stevenson’s VP nomination. Their campaign started with a ray of hope… that turned out to be the headlight of Ike’s oncoming train.
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Campaign 1956, Part 1: If At First You Don’t Succeed…
Undaunted by his loss in 1952, Kefauver tried for the Presidency a second time. This time, though, he’d have company in the primaries. Adlai Stevenson was taking it to the streets.
Estes Kefauver for President 