Tag: dwight eisenhower
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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.
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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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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?
