Tag: robert taft
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Rage Against the Machine
Wayne Morse and Estes Kefauver were both principled liberals who took plenty of lonely stands. But their approaches to politics couldn’t have been more different.
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A Fork in the Democratic Road
After Ike’s big win in 1952, Estes Kefauver and Hubert Humphrey had ideas for what the Democrats should do. They sought the same destination, but had very different routes to get there.
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Electoral College Dropout, Part 4: The Dixiecrats’ Dress Rehearsal
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?
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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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Miami Heat: Kefauver, Russell Face Off in ’52
In 1952, Estes Kefauver and Richard Russell had a furious faceoff on a Miami TV station. Was it the first televised Presidential debate? It’s complicated.
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Courage and Cunning vs. Conservative Crackpottery: The Battle Over the Bricker Amendment
In the mid-1950s, conservative isolationists – whipped up by fears of one-world government – tried to amend the Constitution to take away the President’s authority to negotiate treaties. Kefauver stood up to stop it.
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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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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.
