In the official history classes, most people are given the story that Eisenhower was nearly unbeatable: War hero, statesman, dignified. The democrats had been in power so long they were stale, and Truman was very unpopular, so much that he decided against running as an incumbent.
And we all know the end of the story: Stevenson was blown out both times as an almost sacrificial lamb, and ‘egghead’ candidate against a ‘war hero’.
So my question is: Could the democrats ever have realistically had a good chance of winning in 52 or 56? What could they have done? Or was the GOP comeback nearly inevitable?
Looking (for the moment) solely at 1952, assuming that the Republicans don’t do anything different, and taking a gander at the major candidates for the Democratic nomination, I don’t really see it as likely. In 1952, Stevenson had actually been drafted as a candidate, and the other serious contenders for the nomination that year all seem to have major problems, be it political abilities (W. Averill Harriman), personal issues (Robert Kerr), or lack of appeal in the party as a whole (Richard Russell, Alben Barkley). The only candidate that ran for the post that I can’t immediately think of a personally crippling flaw for is Estes Kefauver, and, given how Dems were performing across the board (in the 1950 and 1952 elections, the Dems lost 50 House seats, 7 Senate seats, and 8 Governorships), I can’t (at this moment) imagine any way for Kefauver to negate that.
So you are saying the ‘fix was in’ and nothing could really be done outside of hoping Eisenhower self-destructed? – It seems strange that the Democrats were helpless for nearly the entire 1950’s at the presidential election level.
Well, not only don’t I see the country as ready to elect Stevenson in the fifties, I don’t regard him as particularly well-suited for the job. But that’s another story.
The situation might have been different had Taft been nominated on the Republican side - Eisenhower just squeaked by as it was in 1952. And it could have been different had Kefauver been nominated by Democrats - he was a popular anti-corruption candidate and in no way was identified with the Truman machine.
Of course you don"t.think he was suited Stevenson was very bright. He was in politics for a long time and knew a lot about how the country should be run. Definitely not your kind of candidate. We need more Bushes.
I’m sorry - in that sentence I was talking about the nomination, which Taft came very close to winning - it went to the convention and Ike did heave duty maneuvering over delegate votes. Taft would spend the rest of his life (not long, sadly) thinking he was robbed of the nomination.
I don’t think Stevenson would have had an easy time in any case, but a Taft-Kefauver race would have been fascinating to watch.
The only way the Demos could have won is if they had nominated - Dwight Eisenhower. In point of fact, before Ike finally figured out that he was a Republican, Harry Truman made an earnest attempt to get him to run as a Democrat.
He was a decent man but I recall reading in one of Mike Royko’s older books that Illinois politicians (even the honest ones) weren’t crazy about Stevenson as governor. He overanalyzed everything, had a tendency to dither when faced with hard choices and sometimes wound up agreeing with the last person he talked to.
Exactly the qualities that lead me to believe he would have made a poor president.
Mind, I admire the man’s intelligence greatly, and I think he did a lot of good for our country. I just think we are fortunate he didn’t get the top job.
I can’t help but be amused at the idea of finding fault with a habit of thorough analysis and cautious decision.
I can understand why some Illinois politicans might have been a little sore at Governor Adlai Stevenson, however. He was known for working late, reorganizing the state police and cutting way back on illegal gambling. In the 1940’s that would have made some very powerful men very unhappy. He also built some pretty fine highways.
He became well known as a public speaker because of his wit. That and his dedication and long working hours drew national attention. Truman wanted him to run for President. Stevenson didn’t want to. He wanted to run for another term as governor of Illinois. But the Convention wanted him anyway.
He ran more willingly the second time, but running with Kefauver didn’t seem to do him much good.
I think he spent some of his finest hours as U.S. Ambassador to the organization that he helped to negotiate – the United Nations.
I was introduced to him once when I was invited to a meeting that had to do with the U.N. when I was in college. He was incredibly charming, but his eyes were so sad. He died not too long after that on my birthday.
I would loved to have seen what this country would have become if he had been President – especially if John Kennedy had been his Vice President instead of Kefauver.
Some were, yes. But Truman himself courted Ike soon after the war ended. I recently read quite a bit about their relationship (re: a question raised in another SDMB thread, as it happens). Truman liked and respected Ike very much, early on, and offered to support him for the Presidency when they met at Potsdam in 1945, even saying he (Truman) would return to the Vice Presidency if that’s what Ike wanted. Eisenhower said no, and meant it, at least at the time. He didn’t announce he was a Republican until several years later.