Tag: hubert humphrey
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How Do You Solve A Problem Like Kefauver?

Kefauver’s Senate colleagues famously disliked him. But it wasn’t really personal – their dislike came from a deeper source.
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How Adlai Really Won

Stevenson is remembered as the man who practiced a nobler brand of politics. A forgotten incident from the 1956 campaign tells a different story.
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He Never Fixed the Washing Machine

In Kefauver’s home life and his political life, he often started projects he couldn’t finish. Why was that?
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Commies for Kefauver?

During the 1956 campaign, the Communists published a report that appeared to endorse the Democrats, and Kefauver in particular. it caused a stir… but why didn’t it dominate the campaign?
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Gene McCarthy: Kefauver’s Kind of Candidate?

In 1968, Kefauver’s daughters backed the Minnesota Senator’s insurgent bid for the White House. Would their father have done the same?
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Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Kefauver Visits the LBJ Ranch

Just before Thanksgiving 1955, Estes Kefauver paid a visit to Lyndon Johnson at home. Johnson wanted to show that he still ruled the Democratic Party, while Kefauver sought a Presidential endorsement. Only one of them got his wish.
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Electoral College Dropout, Part 5: Kefauver’s Southern Strategy

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.
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Picking a President: Kefauver’s Push for a National Primary

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?
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Anatomy of a Controversy: The Great Swimsuit Scandal of 1958

When a Senator’s wife was photographed wearing a bathing suit at a fundraiser, constituents and columnists went crazy. But she wound up making a splash for much more than her body.
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I’m 18 and I Like It: Kefauver and Youth Voting

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.