A New America Series - 1952 Presidential Conventions

A New America Series - 1952 Presidential Conventions

President Bricker's election - and solid Republican gains combined with a high number of conservative Democrats extremely willing to work with him - allowed him to have a good honey moon. The first year, Bricker passed sweeping tax reform and government reform, reducing even further old New Deal provisions. Bricker effectively did in a year what Taft had wanted to do his whole term - rapidly shrink the New Deal. Bricker's administration accomplished a lot in that first year.

But after that things went downhill. President Bricker's penchant for hiring his friends and family to high level positions gave him a bad reputation as corrupt. Under investigation by Estes Kefauver, members of the Bricker administration are accused of receiving gifts from wealthy individuals in exchange for favors. Bricker and his Vice President, Wayne Morse, fought so deeply that Morse himself is running for President in 1952 under the banner of the Progressive Party (if he gains any votes, he will likely be on the ballot). And worse yet, Bricker's attempts to remove communists from the Government has thus far been met with scorn from the media, and his tactics have been unpopular with the public. "Brickerism", as it is termed, has caused Democrats to have large gains in the 1950 midterms, and he has received a few primary challenges.

First from (you guessed it) Former Governor Harold Stassen. Running as a liberal, Stassen wants a new anti-poverty program, a reform of the healthcare system, and a return of labor rights for the people. While Stassen positions himself as ethical, he doesn't disapprove as much over President Bricker's actions against communism. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge is opposing Bricker from the center, standing in favor of his fiscal reforms, but opposing Bricker's tactics and his corrpution charges. Lodge also opposes communism, but has hedged towards the center, calling Bricker a "hard-nosed idiot". While both have traction amongst their wings of the party, conservatives are gaining control of the Republicans, so we'll have to see if manage to make that into anything beyond their own sides.

Meanwhile, Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry Truman, despite both being interested, declined a run for the Presidency. Instead, they persuaded General Dwight Eisenhower, a moderate, to run for President. Eisenhower has not made much a statement on civil rights, and has pushed for action against Korea, expansion of education, and attacks on corruption. Eisenhower is challenged by a few candidates - the most serious of which is Senator Estes Kefauver, who is investigating the Bricker administration, and is positioned as a solid liberal, even as his views on segregation align with the South. Red Senator Claude Pepper is running again, on a hard left platform and the only truly anti-segregation. Senator Harry F. Byrd is running to Eisenhower's right, having endorsed Bricker in 1948, and is running on an deeply anti-communist platform. Finally, Senator Will Rogers Jr of California is running on his surprising success in a region that has gone Republican in the last three elections, but has been rather mum on policy details besides being a moderate who will "give Americans what they want!".

I'll give you all two days to vote.

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