Dewey Defeats Truman and Onward

[hscer]

Why wasn't Eisenhower involved in this timeline? I imagine there'd still be an effort to draft him in 1952, at least by the Democrats. Maybe even by some Republicans if Dewey were unpopular with the party.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Awesome stuff! I find it ironic that LBJ of all people is saying that the people need to know the secrets of a President, his administration, and his health.

I expect Nixon, ambitious and intelligent as he was, would be able to move the administration to the center or center-right on domestic policy as opposed to Taft, and be able to tack to the center in the national election. As well, he was good at inciting the middle class against liberal intellectuals. I think a Nixon-Stevenson fight would be one for the books and type of campaign Nixon was made to wage.

[NHI]

Illinois Primary:

Kefauver: 47%

Johnson: 45%

Other: 8%

Following a victory in Illinois Senator Kefauver claimed to have the momentum for the nomination, though Johnson persisted to continue the race.

At the same time as the nomination fight wore on between Johnson and Kefauver, some dissatisfied with the two candidates sought to draft General Dwight Eisenhower for the Democratic Nomination.

"I'm deeply flattered by this movement, but I will not be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States of America..."

With Eisenhower signaling he would never be the nominee of the Democratic Party, Kefauver consolidated his support and cruised to win enough delegates to go to the convention as the nominee of the party.

At the same time Nixon was beginning to make a cautious effort to govern as a center-right President, appealing to a broad-spectrum of Americans who had been turned off by Taft's policies.[/center]

"I look forward to my opponent whom ever he maybe. We'll have a great campaign on the future of this country. We're going to talk of big ideas and dreams for this country. The Democratic policies are hackneyed and the American people will not be duped again!"

Kefauver: 13/17 States (54.88%)

Johnson: 4/17 (38.97%)

Other: 6.15%

By the end of the primary cycle Kefauver had amassed enough delegates to go to the convention and poise himself to be the nominee of the Party.

[Paul Kemp]

Cool.

[NHI]

Gallup Presidential Tracking Poll: June 1956

Nixon: 49%

Kefauver: 40%

Undecided: 11%

[NHI]

Gallup Presidential Tracking Poll:

Nixon: 50%

Kefauver: 43%

Undecided: 7%

"A new day is on the horizon. We're going to turn the page on the last four years and start anew again. Will you help me make it possible, for America!"

Nixon campaigned fiercely on the trail, attacking Kefauver as a Democratic radical who would succeed in making America both weak at home and abroad. After the conventions and with the Democratic Ticket being Kefauver/Johnson, the campaign moved into the final stretch. Throughout the campaign Nixon maintained a healthy lead over Kefauver, but in the closing weeks of the campaign cracks began to appear in the seemingly indestructible armor that the Nixon had constructed. By Election Day Nixon and Kefauver were practically even in the polls.

Gallup Presidential Tracking Poll:

Nixon: 49%

Kefauver: 47%

Nixon Approval Rating: October 1956

Approve: 51%

Disapprove: 41%

No opinion: 7%