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“Just this week, popular and veteran general of the war, General Eisenhower, suffered a heart attack while in his home”


“COLLAPSE OF SUPPORT FOR THE DRAFT EISENHOWER MOVEMENT”


“The General’s heart attack brought back up health issues that were almost certainly going to resurface and struck a nerve with the man himself, as he almost immediately began withdrawing from public life. It was not a shock that by spring of 1952, the movement to make the man President was almost entirely in shambles.”


“’I WILL NOT RUN’- EISENHOWER DECLINES THE NOMINATION”


“It must have been February or so when I began looking for a new candidate. I, of course, knew that someone would have to be found fast, someone who could be sold to both wings of the party in a hurry and yet had a real shot at the Presidency. Pretty soon I was in contact with the California division of the Republican Party and was in discussions with Governor Warren. I knew who he was of course, what he stood for, what he’d done. I knew he’d be my man.”


“Warren was shockingly well liked by both the Old Guard of Senator Taft and the New Progressives of Dewey’s Faction. He showed the strong anti-communist and law and order tendencies that Taft’s quarter desired, whilst endorsing enough of the New Deal policies and liberal platforms to coax Dewey into throwing his support behind him.”


“It was a shock to few at the convention how quickly the nomination for Presidential candidate went through. It certainly didn’t surprise me, though I was often in the interparty meetings. That’s where the shouting went on, the underhanded deals, and the downright horse-trading. I don’t think it would be right for me to discuss that now but, well I can’t say it was the most in the light thing I’ve done, though I don’t regret it and am proud to say I was in the room that it happened.”


“And rather bemusing footage here tonight of the March of the MacArthurites, as various delegates to the Republican National Convention march about the Amphitheatre demanding that among other things, General Douglass MacArthur be given the Vice-Presidential Nomination”


“At the time, the whole thing was just quite odd. The marching about, the shouting, it took a while to piece together but if this whole thing hadn’t panned out just right, the whole party could have fallen apart. This wasn’t about MacArthur at all my partner told me, it was about McCarthy.”


“So here I was, wrangling and herding delegates again. I figured at first that Warren would simply choose a running mate and we’d be done, but due to the rush of his own nomination and commitment to the party, he refused to act before a consensus had formed, and oh did that make it hell. I think I even told him that he made my life hell those days. The Conservatives urged me to put Taft on the ticket arguing “He has the experience” “It will keep the unity” and all that crap. The Progressives tried to grab Dewey of course, but when he refused, they just began choosing their local state favorites and peddling him as the most liberal fellow you’d ever met. Oh, and of course you had Tailgunner Joe’s Little Battalion who bandied about and shouted down anyone who wouldn’t support “America’s military and the good general MacArthur!”. It was worse than herding cats. We found our man eventually, but it took a lot of handshaking and a lot of throwing around the rulebook to get it all done.”


“The boys were alright, I found their little protest, if one could call it that, a sign of the discontent about how Dewey and Cabot had basically choked through their choice and, at least to my knowledge at the time, forced Taft to rubber stamp the candidate. I wasn’t with them but well… I certainly knew I was speaking to their sentiments when I spoke that day”

“I will not stand by and watch as the gang from New England grabs the reigns of this party and drags us down the road of defeat! The nation yearns for change and freedom, and you are all too happy to provide them with more of the same! I will not contend with Warren, he is a good man with a good mind, but I will gladly go toe to toe with Cabot if he is daring enough to step out of his closed meeting rooms for just five seconds!”

“STASSEN CHOSEN FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION”


“God as my witness, I will ensure the security of our nation, of our armed forces, and of the dreams and ideals that built America. I thank Governor Warren for the nomination and bless you all for being here tonight”


“I remember the odd silence as Stassen spoke, it was if I was watching an old respected country preacher take the pulpit, it wasn’t anything amazing, but it got reverence in you”


“It was an odd choice, choosing some favorite son candidate who’d barely received 20 delegates. I’d initially supported General Clay, but Stassen was more available and could really settle down everyone I thought. I didn’t realize at the time what exactly I had done. He was supposed to just be a solid ticket builder but well, I suppose we all got more than we bargained for there.”


“And so, the 1952 Republican Convention stands to us today as a keystone. After the heart attack of the supposed savior Eisenhower, it took much fighting and much searching before a new foundation was found. The party also began a decisive turn towards its more progressive wings, even if it didn’t know that at the time. It soon went from a small faction, to the majority of the party to the heart of the Republican Party as we know it today.”


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