alternatehistory.com

Of all the Republican senators elected in the 1946 GOP sweep, few were so vulnerable in 1952 as James P. Kern of Missouri. It was essentially a Democratic state (though it did go narrowly for Ike in 1952 [1]), and Kern was easily defeated by the Democratic candidate Stuart Symington, 54-46. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=261573

Question: What if Kern had faced Harry Truman instead?

"As Truman had confided to Eisenhower, he was interested in running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri. Republican incumbent James P. Kem was up for reelection in 1952 and if Truman had taken him on it would have been no contest. But on April 3, Truman took himself out of the running. 'I shall not be a candidate for the United States Senate from Missouri', he said at a White House press conference. 'That satisfies you, doesn't it?'

"'President Truman would have liked very much to have been returned to the Senate of the United States, [Truman's Kansas City friend Tom L.] Evans recalled, 'because that's where he enjoyed himself and enjoyed the work more than anything that he had ever done. It's my personal opinion that Mrs. Truman was opposed to it and that is probably why he didn't'...." https://books.google.com/books?id=AbcQpkhgvFIC&pg=PA238

So suppose Truman does run and defeats Kern? What are the consequences of having Truman back in the Senate? (Is Symington's Senate career aborted--or merely delayed for six years?)

[1] It would narrowly go for Stevenson in 1956.
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