1952 Primaries

The election of 1948 would turn out to be among the most shocking in American history for President Upton Sinclair’s dramatic 20-point loss to Robert Taft, his predecessor, which was not reflected by public opinion polls than were taken in the months before. Many factors would be attributed to Sinclair’s abysmal showing. Sinclair’s more dedicated supporters, understanding of the need to enter World War II, felt betrayed when he condoned the use of the atomic bomb on Japan. In addition, many also lamented that Sinclair failed to pass any significant domestic legislation when he was in a position to do so. By election time, many on the left did not vote or cast a protest vote instead. Furthermore, Taft surrogates attacked the President as “taking orders from Moscow” and being a communist sympathizer—a strategy that proved effective for Henry Wallace in 1940. Rising AU star Styles Bridges notoriously referred to the President as “Stalin’s boy Sinclair,” and voters increasingly began to think of Sinclair the same way. When put together, historians claim, these factors squashed any hope that Sinclair could survive.

Robert Alphonso Taft and Douglas MacArthur II—son of a famous Confederate general and an accomplished US general himself—thus went to the White House with a mandate from the people, and Taft accomplished only what John Quincy Adams and Joseph Cannon could before and secured a non-consecutive second term. Within the first few months of the presidency, the National Housing Act was passed with bipartisan support and signed into law, which greatly expanded low-income public housing. In contrast to his first term, President Taft now adopted a less partisan tone and had somewhat softened his views on economics. This led to achieving more minor compromises with the WP in Congress, but it also earned the ire of some of the diehard conservatives in the AU, who publicly wondered whether “the socialists have gotten to Bob Taft.” For domestic affairs, however, public housing would be Taft’s only significant achievement due to the WP-controlled House, which stalled and voted down plenty of Taft’s proposals. Plans to streamline the Cabinet and to end the military draft, which Taft actively pushed for early in his term, went nowhere to his disappointment.

Ironically, it would be foreign affairs once more that Taft had to spend more time on than he wanted and face criticism from all sides, much like his first term. Under the directions of Taft, the State Department refrained from signing the North Atlantic Treaty despite being involved in earlier negotiations under the Sinclair administration. Taft believed NATO to be unnecessary and that it would only cause more instability around the world, but his decision sparked strong rebukes from internationalists in both parties. By late 1949, China’s old system completely collapsed and gave way to the incoming communist regime led by Mao Zedong, who triumphantly defeated the nationalist faction. Congress called on President Taft to intervene, but Taft refused to enter in what he saw as “Asia’s business to resolve, and theirs alone.” Because of Taft’s inaction, anti-communists blamed the President for the fall of China and increasingly saw him as aiding the Soviet Union. Taft saw the last four years as bringing the nation too close to the USSR, however, and reversed Sinclair-era policies while also maintaining that the US should not actively be hostile against the Soviets, lest a war breaks out.

President Taft’s greatest challenge during these four years arrived in 1950 with the situation in Korea. Within a few weeks after the North Korean People’s Army invaded South Korea and started a civil war, calls for American involvement amplified. Under significant public pressure, Taft declared his approval for naval and air forces in Korea, and they were brought over after an official declaration of war by Congress. Taft refused to commit boots on the ground, however, for fear of escalating the war and bringing the Soviets along in the conflict. Fighting remained in a stalemate for the next two years and Taft grew pessimistic about American involvement while his approval ratings experienced a great hit over time. As the Korean War continued abroad, at home the nation was fully immersed in a Red Scare, spearheaded by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. McCarthy and allies claimed that a large number of communists infiltrated every level of government and they advocated a great purge of public figures, holding widely sensationalized hearings on possible communist agents. One more problem that arrived at Taft’s doorstep was the death of Vice President MacArthur from pneumonia in September 1951, leading the President to select House Majority Whip Kenneth Wherry—a favorite of AU conservatives—to serve out the remainder of his term.

After holding off on making a declaration for some months, President Taft decided to seek reelection for a third term. This time, the opposition to the President is stronger and more organized than ever before, with many party insiders believing that Taft would likely be doomed in the general election. Joe McCarthy is riding on his success as a public crusader in the fight against communism and is hitting the President hard for not doing more to combat Soviet influence across the globe. He is hoping to steer the AU in a new direction and make a party full of cold warriors. Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson represents the Bull-Moose wing of the party and has accumulated a moderate record in office free of any major controversies. Stevenson could potentially make inroads in party outreach, although more conservative Unionists dismissively call him a “moderate hero.” Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon is running as the AU’s most progressive candidate this year and has sided with President Taft on many foreign policy issues, though Morse favors a much more activist federal government. General Dwight Eisenhower, a WWII hero, has been another critic of Taft’s policies and has promised to bring stability in Korea and elsewhere. Eisenhower has mostly run on his war record and he is a relative unknown politically, though he is more economically moderate than Taft or McCarthy.

After the fall of Sinclair and four years in the political wilderness, the WP has made efforts to come together and to be motivated for November. Senator Hubert Humphrey has quickly become a rising star within party ranks and has become the candidate of organized labor, championing many standard progressive causes. California Governor Earl Warren, once a member of the AU, switched to the WP following the “disgusting and undemocratic communist witch hunts” led by his former party. Although he is more moderate on economics than the other candidates, he is still very much a liberal and is one of the establishment choices. Senator Estes Kefauver stands out as being the biggest proponent of civil rights out of the crop of candidates, though he is being criticized by many in his party for his otherwise poor record on civil liberties. Senator Harry Truman is mainly running on an internationalist platform: joining NATO, being more involved in the UN, and favoring a multilateral approach to combating communism. However, he has also hit a populist tone with his advocacy of proposals such as universal healthcare. Senator William Fulbright is running as the token Southern candidate, opposing the expansion of civil rights measures. Fulbright has also been a noted critic of McCarthyism, however, and has favored a foreign policy of multilateralism. Finally, Congressman Franklin Roosevelt, Jr. is running a fairly generic campaign but has attracted reporters with the same sort of charisma that his father possessed. Time will tell if Roosevelt the Younger is able to advance further in his political career.

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