The Golden GOP: A History of the “California Liberals” and the United States

[Citizen A]

The 1950 California Senate Election or Shivering in Shasta
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“It certainly seemed odd to me at the time, I’ll admit. I’d only just recently received the request from Nixon to help him in his Senate campaign, he had plans to test the waters up north or something when I got the call. I was told by some handler of the Governor’s that he wanted to meet with me. I thought something was up, we hadn’t left on good terms to say the least but… well he made me a new offer that was really hard to pass up.”

-Murray Chotiner, former Press Secretary quoted in The Warren Era​

“NIXON UNDERPERFORMS IN NORTH, CONTINUES TO PUSH ON”

- “The Los Angeles Daily News” August 1949​

“I talked a lot to him during that time, he was angry sure, but I don’t like how often I see him labeled as bitter. And even if he was, didn’t he have a right to be? We all know by now that the Establishment of the party pushed him out into the cold, it was obvious wasn’t it? I could hardly blame him for being mad.”

-Donald Nixon quoted in a later news interview​

“Nixon was left with very little room at the table. After years of infighting in the California Republican Party between old conservative elements and the old progressive leaders, the shunning of Nixon served as a final blow. Warren had taken full control of the party from the inside, it could no longer be denied or contended, even if the Chairman changed, Warren held the reins”

-Excerpt from the popular and comprehensive biography, The Warren Era​

“Are we to trust someone tied to a body of lies? To an administration that has proved that it is utterly incapable of cleaning out the corruption? To labor movements of the most questionable repute? This of course is being generous, need I call up a certain Texan Senator to give us more details?”

-Richard Nixon on the campaign trail, 1950​

“You’re damn right it was a low blow. To attempt to call her out for something so personal and worse still to make himself out as some sort of paragon of virtue? Now, I’ve done some things in my lifetime, many of them to that man, but I’d never have swung that far below the belt, not like that”

-Dick Tuck, political strategist and staff to Fmr. Senator Douglas​

“WARREN ENDORSES DOUGLAS”

- “The San Francisco Examiner” October 1950​

“The official release stated that this was merely a meeting between the Governor and the Representative to discuss policy matters regarding labor and agriculture in California, Warren had a tendency to spin himself as nonpartisan. But, well, it wasn’t lost on either of us that a few well-placed newspapermen and a few solid photos was all it would take to give her the stamp of approval, I think even the journalists knew what we were up to”

- Murray Chotiner, former Press Secretary quoted in The Warren Era​

“He was furious. He sputtered on and on. At some point I think accusations of treason were thrown about? It really took everything I had to keep him from calling up the FBI on these people. He was real shaken up by it for quite a while too. If you’d asked him, he’d say it didn’t affect any of the stuff that happened later but… well I find that hard to believe.”

-Donald Nixon, same news interview​

“Though this campaign has seen some utterly unnecessary and truly disdainful periods, I’d like to leave Representative Nixon on a happy note tonight and thank him for the challenge.”

-Fmr. Senator Douglas’s final speech before election results were announced​

“DOUGLAS DEFEATS NIXON; Despite an overall Republican sweep in California, Republican Nixon loses to Senator-Elect Helen Gahagan Douglas”

- “The San Francisco Examiner” November 1950​

“Why Nixon lost the election is still a matter of historical debate. Some say that with margins as close as 52-48 that the election really could have gone either way. Others say that Nixon’s generally disorganized and almost paranoid campaign attacks against Douglas ended up making him look unstable. I personally think it was the Warren endorsement, as foolish as it sounds, the man carried the standard for California progressives since the mid-forties and once he was willing to met with her, so were others. It can’t be denied that the two worked together awfully well later as well. Whatever it was, Nixon was left to freeze in the cold of California’s Northern Counties, and I am sure few could have predicted his next choices”

-Historian Irwin Gellman in the book The Cynical Contender​

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Thank you for reading this first post and I am excited to announce that this will be a series that I will hopefully be uploading roughly weekly! My writing may not be the best and it certainly does not live up to the pieces that inspired this one, but I thank everyone who is willing to stick around and see where this story goes, I have a lot planned for this timeline and am absolutely energetic to get going on it!

 

[Citizen A]

A Star Shoots over Hollywood​

“Today, after numerous victory speeches and galas, Senator Douglas will embark on a journey around the state before heading to Washington in January. She is expected to stop in the Northern Counties, Sacramento, San Francisco…”

-News reel from December 1950​

“In Hollywood, the Senator-Elect was greeted and introduced by President of the Screen Actor’s Guild, Ronald Reagan, who’s speech was met with rousing applause”

- “The Los Angeles Daily News” December 1950​

“I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment. I will not be scared into submission to totalitarian communism by the rabid fears of Marxists and Bolsheviks, nor will I be scared into submission by the supposed anti-communists who use their power merely to suppress the working man. To be an American is to not let fear control you, but to grab hold of the reigns of destiny yourself and control yourself”

-Ronald Reagan’s speech to introduce Senator-Elect Douglas to Hollywood​

“I knew right then, looking at the reactions of the crowd, looking into my own heart and feeling the welling of my eyes, I knew that the man I loved was going to go on to be far more than just the President of the Actor’s Guild”

-Nancy Reagan quoted in Tinseltown and the Trade Union Disputes​

“I didn’t really want to be there at first. My wife had begged me to go though and well, ya know what they say, “Happy Wife, Happy Life”, so I figured an afternoon listening to stuffy old politicians and a chipper actress give some boring speeches wouldn’t be too bad. But man, listening to Reagan speak, I mean, I’d worked with the man before, but this was truly something else.”

-John Ford interviewed by CBS​

“I can’t say I particularly enjoyed the speech. It wasn’t anything phenomenal and the man was hardly agreeable. I had found Reagan rather a clever fellow and one of the better Silver Screen men, but this quickly revealed to me that any commitment to individual liberty or the safety of the American dream was, like it so often is for those involved in such movements, just yet another line to read.”

-Ayn Rand interviewed by CBS​

“Reagan’s role in the California labor movement cannot be undervalued. While in other cities, unions and advocacy groups were almost banned entirely for supposed ‘Communist sympathies’ this was simply not the case in Los Angeles. Reagan’s charismatic smile and willingness to work with authorities brokered an uneasy peace. Yes, many innocents were often detained on mere accusation or rumor, but the Screen Actor’s Guild and many other cinematic trades unions could continue operating. Many argued at the time and indeed some still do, that, through moderation and lawfulness, unions could gain much by being led by men like Reagan.”

-Excerpt from Tinseltown and the Trade Union Disputes ​

“ACTOR RONALD REAGAN BEGINS WORK WITH SENATOR DOUGLAS”

- “The Los Angeles Daily News” January 1950​

“It seemed natural at the time. He had seen a great deal of success already and I could see ambition in his eyes, and so when he asked me if I would follow him to Washington if he got involved there, I promised him I would. This whole time was a whirlwind for both of us as we went from actors to social celebrities to politicians. It was quite a change for both of us to say the least, but I suppose those who grab on to a shooting star have to get used to being dragged along”

-Nancy Reagan, quoted from a draft of a biography on Ronald Reagan​

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[Citizen A]

California on Fire​

“A series of devastating fires sweeps unchecked through thousands of acres of valuable woodland in Mendocino National Forest. A state of emergency has been declared by Governor Warren and equipment is being rushed into the area. Supplies are even being airlifted to account for the current state of infrastructure in the region. Truly a terrible toll on our woodlands and our natural resources.”

-Newsreel from Universal News (Summer of 1951)​

“It was awful no doubt. The toughest part was that just getting the supplies and men needed up to those parts was difficult in those days. What roads were drivable didn’t go deep enough and the roads we really needed didn’t exist. Something of the scale of the ’51 fires could happen today, hell it does happen today, but at the time it was still a big deal. I guess that’s why the Governor decided to get a ton of volunteers on it and show up all fancy for some journalists, it was good talk and people were going to talk about it. Not that the extra help didn’t help…”

-Volunteer Firefighter present in Mendocino during the 1951 Forest Fires​

“CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD REPORT TO MENDOCINO”

- “The Sacramento Bee” headline (June 1951)​

“As much as you hear about the whole fiasco from historians and political junkies, at the time it just wasn’t that big a deal in California. The whole damn state knew that this level of stuff wasn’t required! The fires were bad, but California had seen and will far worse I am sure of it, the reason he called the National Guard out that day was to get press attention on him and seem like a crisis solver. I have nothing against the guy, but you can’t expect me not to say the truth.”

-Fmr. Representative Clair Engle from the California 2nd District quoted in The Smoke in the Hills​

“Despite these popular claims, the California Wildfires of 1951 have little to do with the election of 1952 nor Warren’s policy. The wildfires hardly came up in the ’52 Campaign Season and indeed wasn’t much of a talking point, all that could be said was that the Governor dealt with the disaster effectively and quickly, hardly a speaking point on the national stage. As well, some claim that this is when the idea for national highways and a better road network came into the head of Warren, but this merely isn’t the case as previous actions in the late 1940’s showed he had already had similar plans in mind”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“The year 1951 had to be the most demanding and intensive year of Governor Warren’s service to the state. Not only was the Northern portion of the state caught in yet another seasonal wildfire but then came the events now known as ‘Bloody Christmas’”

-California State History Textbook for the 11th Grade​

“On December 25, 1951, approximately fifty Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers brutally beat seven young men in their custody, including five Mexican Americans. The ensuing controversy became known as Bloody Christmas. Mexican American activists demanded investigations into allegations of police brutality and LAPD accountability to civilian control. The LAPD's new chief, William Parker, however, had just launched a reform campaign based on the police professionalism model, which stressed police autonomy, particularly about internal discipline”

-American Historical Association Report on the events of December 1951​

“Of course, upon hearing what happened I immediately contacted my friends and associates in the State Government of California and the City of Los Angeles, but I knew this was going to be bad, and I knew it was going to be very much out of my control. I clung to this case though and immediately began calling the Governor’s office to get the state involved.”

-Quote from then Senator Douglas from The Confidential Crisis of the LAPD​

“GOVERNOR ORDERS ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE LAPD AND ENSURE ORDER”

- “The Los Angeles Daily News” January 1952​

“Attorney General Pat Brown’s role in the scandal became one of heated controversy. His report eventually found that while a select group of officers had committed offenses and would face trial that no institutional problem existed within the police force. Police Chief Parker and his force also worked quite closely with the office of the Attorney General and often police testimony was downright preferred to witness testimony. While Brown could claim he had brought order and security to Los Angeles, he had merely covered a steaming pot.”

-Excerpt from The Confidential Crisis of the LAPD​

“Governor Warren had, by this point, set his sights on the 1952 Primaries, and while he recognized the volatility of the Los Angeles situation did not see what he could, from his office, do to help. Many in his confidence assert that he truly believed the Attorney General could handle it, while others have argued that he was merely looking to cover up any issue which may hurt him in the coming election.”

-Excerpt from Governor Warren: 1942-1952​

“LIBERTY FILMS RELEASES LOCAL HIT, “ALL THE GOVERNOR’S MEN”

- “The Los Angeles Daily News” December 1951​

“I will admit the Liberty Films deal was one I didn’t crack myself. One of my friends in the movie business cracked a joke about how Liberty Films was going under and how at this point they’d film anything given the money. Well, the joke stuck with me and I figured a nice little film about a hardworking and loyal man who worked to fix his state and then his country, set in the 1800s of course, would be a fine picture to hit the box office for the Christmas runs. Sure, it wasn’t a great financial success, but it certainly didn’t make bad campaigning and the message was lost on no one.”

- Murray Chotiner, former Press Secretary quoted in Campaign Strategies and Primary Wars: A Look into Politics​

“Governor Warren certainly did not get to leave his office filled with only success. In 1951, the state of California was lit aflame with both the fires of the North and the racial disputes of the South. But by 1952 the flames had either been put out or had smoldered, and so the stage was set for the Presidential Election of 1952.

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

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[Citizen A]

The Heart of the Republican Party​

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

- “NBC News” report, December 1951​

“COLLAPSE OF SUPPORT FOR THE DRAFT EISENHOWER MOVEMENT”

- “The Boston Globe” January 1951​

“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.”

-Excerpt from Eisenhower: The American Scipio​

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

- “CBS News”, March 1952​

“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.”

-Fmr. Senator and Warren Campaign Advisor Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in The History of the Grand Old Party​

“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.”

-Excerpt from Cold War Politics​

“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.”

-Anonymous Aid to RNC Chairman Arthur Summerfield in The History of the Grand Old Party​

“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”

- “ABC News” Report in July 1952​

“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.”

-Quincy Howe, journalist and political analyst at the Convention quoted in a later interview​

“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.”

- Fmr. Senator and Warren Campaign Advisor Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in The History of the Grand Old Party​

“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”

-Senator Everett Dirksen in an interview in 1960
​

“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!”

-Senator Everett Dirksen filmed live by the ABC News Coverage Team​

“STASSEN CHOSEN FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION”

- “Minneapolis Tribune” July 1952​

“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”

-Naval veteran and Governor of Minnesota, Harold Stassen’s acceptance speech as captured by ABC News​

“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”

- Quincy Howe, journalist and political analyst at the Convention quoted in a later interview​

“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.”

- Fmr. Senator and Warren Campaign Advisor Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in Politics from the Pulpit: The Life and Times of Harold Stassen​

“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.”

-Excerpt from The History of the Grand Old Party​

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[Citizen A]

The Guts of the Democratic Party
​

“It was chaos. It was a battle. And yet, you almost instinctively knew none of it mattered at all did it?”

-Staffer to Fmr. Senator Kefauver quoted in The Politics of National Party Conventions​

“DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION OPENS STRONG”

- “Chicago Tribune” headline, June 1952​

“Stevenson’s opening speech is what really secured his nomination, I think. He was witty, he cracked like a whip, which is exactly what we needed to keep the Democratic coalition alive.”

-Jacob Arvey, head of the Illinois delegation for the convention quoted in “The Politics of National Party Conventions​

“With the refusal of Eisenhower and the battle-scarred and contentious scenes of the Republican Convention, many Democrats came to Chicago thinking of 1952 as a won year. Yes, Truman’s policies weren’t all too popular anymore. And no, the Korean War was yet to be won. But surely the country wouldn’t abandon the coalition that had led them since the 1930’s. Surely it wouldn’t pick two no name governors over the most organized and powerful incumbent party. And in a way, that is what made this convention the battleground. Much like the Republican Convention, the Presidential candidate was an easy choice with Governor Stevenson of Illinois all but drafted to win. But the Vice-Presidential candidate gained new importance as many politicians saw this as the chance to build political success and acumen ahead of their own campaigns in 1956 or 1960.”

-Professor Broadwater in a lecture on the 1950’s Democratic Party​

“Let me say, too, that I have been heartened by the conduct of this convention. You have argued and disagreed, because as Democrats you care, and you cared deeply. But you have disagreed and argued without calling each other liars and thieves, without despoiling our best traditions --you have not spoiled our best traditions in any naked struggles for power.”

-Governor Stevenson’s nomination acceptance speech, transcript taken from ABC Broadcasting​

“What more can one ask for? Intellect, the man is a Rhodes Scholar and Oxford Graduate and has pushed for the expansion of education more than any other man in this room. Experience, he has plenty as a Representative, Senator, and Chairman. I am for Fulbright for a bright future.”

-Senator Kefauver advocating for the acceptance of Senator Fulbright as the VP Candidate​

“She has shown her ability to win an election. She has shown a loyalty to progress. She has shown that she can capture the public eye. Now I believe it is time for her to show us her ability to capture the highest public office.”

-Vice Chairwoman India Edwards pushing to draft Senator Douglas for the 1952 ticket​

“Of course, it didn’t really matter what happened on the floor. President Truman and a few others had already secluded with Stevenson to decide the fate of the party. Truman would have his day though, as Stevenson took very little activity and the other politicians deferred to him out of deference to the party. Truman pushed hard for Secretary of Commerce William Harriman and argued that a VP spot today would secure Harriman experience he would need to run in 1960. “

- Professor Broadwater in a lecture on the 1950’s Democratic Party​

“I have in him my full confidence and I have seen him serve under me well. Now I wish to bid him to go on and carry the banner I once carried, and stand boldly for America”

-President Truman’s speech congratulating VP nominee William Harriman recorded by ABC​

“I’d been there for both conventions. I saw a battle for the core of the Republican Party, a fight to determine the future of the whole thing. And then I watched the Democratic Convention. Though it was plenty formal and the whole thing was filled with great speeches and fine cigars, the underbelly of it was far more obvious. The Republicans fought for the heart and soul of their party, the Democrats were stuck over the guts and the entrails of what they thought would be easy pickings.”

-Journalist and TV executive, John Daly who was interviewed about his experience covering both conventions by and for ABC.​

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[Citizen A]

The Shield and Sword​

“The campaign strategy had been drawn up long in advance of election and was really finalized in Chicago. The whole campaign staff just didn’t realize quite how easy it was going to be”

-Murray Chotiner quoted in Cold War Politics​

“Campaign on the Issues, Focus on the Economy, Sell to the American Working Man”

-Internal Democratic campaign memo​

“Both campaigns thought they could win if they merely focused on the policy issues and stayed on the defensive, or what was called the ‘shield tactic’ but rather quickly the whole election season became submerged in scandals and scathing remarks that strayed so far from the supposed ‘shield’ that it became known as the season of the sword.”

-Graduate level paper on the 1952 Presidential Election​

“Stevenson’s initial attempt to focus on the issues was quickly blocked by Warren’s ability to hold up his banner as a bipartisan solution builder, someone who had both worked with Roosevelt and yet had his own plans. It was clear that the defense of the New Deal and of the Democratic successes was intended to be the key card of the Stevenson campaign, but with Warren’s vigorous speaking tour putting heavy emphasis on his time as Governor and his own mini ‘California Deal’, this card was dead in the water”

-Excerpt from The Fifties in Focus​

“In my state, we took up what Roosevelt asked of us with pride. We built new highways, expanded our jobs, and gave to the public. We went further too, as I and many other Republicans pushed to make healthcare a right of the people of California. It cannot be said that I did not ensure that the people in my state were not provided for.”

-Excerpt from various speeches Warren gave throughout the country​

“Despite the almost populist, Roosevelt style of policy brought forward by Warren, his party was always careful in the background to moderate the tone, to cater to business interests, and to keep the base in line. This was difficult though, as Warren often spoke on very specific proposals and very specific plans, which would often be hard to sell to bigger interests. A good example being his oft mentioned healthcare plans which, by the latter end of the campaign season had been cut to keep corporate interests happier.”

-Excerpt from Cold War Politics​

“WARREN REFUSES TO MEET WITH MCCARTHY”

- “The Milwaukee Journal” headline, September 1952​

“Looking back on it, the reporting on Warren and McCarthy was definitely played up by The Journal and by the press corps in general. We’d been looking to see McCarthy finally be put down but…well it is hard to say that is what happened, they didn’t meet but was it a refusal? I don’t know, the reporting was done though, and I stand by the facts.”

-Reporter for the Milwaukee Tribune in a later interview​

“Warren was very clear to all of us here that he would not be meeting with the Senator, he’d be stopping in various locations and would be speaking and that was it, no big dinners and no massive photo-ops. When we were contacted by the Senator’s staff, we were told to say that no time had been scheduled and while the Governor would appreciate the attendance and support of the Senator, there was little time put in place for a long photo session or proper joint meeting. That was that.”

-Former staffer for the Warren campaign quoted in The 1952 Election and the Republican Party​

“Of course, the Senator was incensed. But the entire party apparatus was there to quell his anger, and while he didn’t campaign as actively as anyone would have wanted, he was quiet for a while, when the Soviet rumor came out though, well he came right back onto the stage to attack Harriman with all his might, that whole thing was a blessing for our campaign.”

-Aide to Warren Campaign Advisor Henry Cabot Lodge Jr quoted in The 1952 Election and the Republican Party​

“HARRIMAN ACCUSED OF BEING SOVIET SPY”

-CBS News, October 1952​

“Leaked reports from the State Department indicate that ‘Harriman, during his tenue as Ambassador to the Soviet Union was given a bugged device that remained in his office for over 5 years’ and that ‘Harriman showed a gross negligence to the handling of information when dealing with the Soviets or in diplomatic affairs in general’. Though the leaks contents have not been checked against the State Department’s records nor confirmed by the Department, the contents have also not yet been denied and have raised a storm in the campaign as we are a mere three weeks from voting.”

-Excerpt from “The New York Times”, October 1952​

“In today’s war against Communistic atheism, as you know, there is no choice but utter destruction of the enemy. And we have rooted one of their compatriots out. The inexperienced and reckless boy from New York, Averell Harriman, has sold himself to the enemy and has thrown away our secrets. To allow him anywhere near the White House is near traitorous in itself.”

-Speech by Senator McCarthy given in Green Bay, WI, October 1952​

“Yet but another attack against any opposition, any word of critique is met by McCarthy and his cronies by virulent attack, no more, it is time for the Senate to censor the Senator for his indecent conduct and down right partisan participation in this election.”

-Liberal student newspaper out of Michigan, October 1952​

“I have long worked to oppose Soviet expansionism. I spent my waking hours in Moscow considering what policy line would be best to take to address the problem of Russian aggression. To now be called a fellow traveler does not just dishearten me, it disappoints me, as Americans we need to stand together unified against the Communist threat instead of falling into infighting.”

-Defensive speech given by Vice Presidential Candidate W.A Harriman in November 1952​

“Regardless of what was said, how it was said, by who it was said, the Communist spy attack stuck. Just a few weeks before the election and our campaign was struck. Stevenson did his best, going around to swingstates hitting the big points, his pro-labor speeches worked out well in some, I think. But Harriman went from our star on foreign policy who could dissuade any questions on diplomacy and world affairs, to a man we hid from cameras and secluded to speaking in his home state of New York.”

-Aide to Democratic Campaign Manager, James Finnegan, in a later biographical work on Stevenson.​

“By September of 1952, both sides had dropped their ‘shield’ plans and moved onto the proper field of battle. Stevenson’s campaign wisely moved onto attacking disunity in the Republican Party, silently praying that the split between old and new, McCarthy-ite and Progressive, would kill the GOP for them. But soon, the ‘sword’ was facing the other way, as Republicans railed against the Truman administration, against the corruption of the Democratic Party, against internal communist plots. The Democrats had come into 1952 expecting a landslide victory for the New Deal coalition and by November of that year had realized just how much they’d fallen.”

-Quote from the University of Kansas and Missouri Southern State University Press book The Collapse of the New Deal Coalition and Building Anew​

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[Citizen A]

The 1952 Election and the Slow Collapse of the 5th Party System​

“WARREN WINS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE 355-176”

- “The New York Times”, November 1952​

“Votes are still being tabulated but it appears as though, despite the landslide victory, Warren’s margin of victory is far lower than originally stated on this program, closer to a 52-48 split than a 55-45 split as earlier reported”

-CBS News report from Election Day, November 1952​

“The final major battleground for Democrats in the 1952 Election was Pennsylvania. A state that had historically voted for the New Deal Coalition and for Democrats, losing it would represent a killing blow from the labor end of the Democratic Party.”

- Quote from the University of Kansas and Missouri Southern State University Press book The Collapse of the New Deal Coalition and Building Anew​

“Republicans rejoiced as they made gains in all directions, and internally the Progressive wing of the party felt emboldened by what they saw as electoral success. Old Republican vanguards saw success as well though, and the election should not be misread as an endorsement purely of the left wing of the party.”

-Excerpt from The 1952 Election and the Republican Party​

“Coming into a now Republican dominated Congress, the Warren administration must have seen bright years ahead. After decades of Democratic domination, the Republican had returned in strength.”

-Excerpt from Cold War Politics​

“When looking at the ’52 Election, despite the Republican sweep, all anyone discusses is Pennsylvania and what it meant. See some people believe that’s when you could see the start of the new Democratic coalition that would rise in the later years, but I don’t necessarily buy it. From my reading of it, the 1952 Election in Pennsylvania was no more than a Democratic hold, not a new shift in focus.”

- Professor Broadwater in a lecture on the 1950’s Democratic Party​

“I will cite in this work the 1952 Election as the very beginning of the new shift in the Democratic Party. Stevenson toured the state, speaking heavily on manufacturing and labor rights and the job that the Republican Party had done to essentially criminalize good labor practices. It was from these roots that the full tilt toward labor began for the Democratic Party.”

-Excerpt from Labor and Liberalism​

“It was in this election that the Democrats began to see the collapse of the New Deal coalition’s hold on middle class urban progressives as well as the shift away of many minority groups who were soon fully lost to the Republican Party.”

- Quote from the University of Kansas and Missouri Southern State University Press book The Collapse of the New Deal Coalition and Building Anew​

“I do not wish to hold this office as Republican, I will hold this office as a Representative of the American People”

-President-Elect Warren in an unscripted acceptance speech, November 1952​

“Now is the time to close ranks, as the people of America have spoken and have chosen Governor Warren and the Republican Party to lead us through these next four years, I know I will pledge my support to the administration and wish the Governor the best of luck.”

-Stevenson’s concession speech, November 1952​

“With the election of the party of Taft, the party of the boss, the party of the corporation, the party of the petty bourgeoise, it is time to take action and make this decade a decade of levels of action unseen and unheard of in this United States”

-Anonymous American Socialist quoted in American Socialism and Revolutionary Tendencies​

“STRIKE NOW! KILL THE LABOR BILL! DEMAND YOUR RIGHTS!”

-Socialist pamphlet handed out in various Midwestern factories in December 1952​

“Stevenson had managed to salvage one part of the party from the unpopularity of Truman and that is the labor wing, which remained solidly in the Democratic camp despite Truman’s questionable support of the labor movement. Stevenson’s support from labor activists was so strong that in December of 1952, various minor groups went on strike, though hardly enough to be noticeable or even earn much local state attention. But the growing intensity of labor’s political participation particularly in the Democratic Party, can be traced here.”

-Excerpt from Labor and the New Deal Coalition​

“Many political scholars focus on how this election empowered Republican progressives and liberals but fail to mention how it did the same for Southern democrats. Southern conservatives soon saw themselves as the primary base of the party, the center of the party that would have to be catered to going forward to ensure any electoral success.”

-Excerpt from Big Mules and Big Tents: The Southern Democrats​

“If the Democrats want to see electoral victory they must be built for the average American. For the Southern farmer, the Midwestern laborer, the Western worker, and all in between. There can be no question, the Democrats must become the party of the American people if they wish again to serve as the representatives of the people.”

-Letter from Henry Wallace published in “The New Republic”, December 1952​

“Though historians disagree, the 1952 Election is widely accepted as the beginning of the slow collapse of the Fifth Party System as the now defeated Democratic Party, after years of victory, were defeated by a fresh and new Earl Warren. Both parties began to immediately shift in nature after this election.”

-Excerpt from American Electoral Systems and Elections​

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[Citizen A]

Attached Supplementary Image:Electoral Map for the 1952 Election

 

[Citizen A]

The Compromise Cabinet​

“Originally believed to be little more than an electoral ploy, Warren’s bipartisanship soon came out as the time came for building a cabinet.”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“Chosen as Chief of Staff for Warren was fellow Californian and fellow moderate, Thomas Kuchel. It was hoped that Kuchel’s ability to play the moderate centrist would be helpful in balancing the different wings of the party and for pushing through the President’s goals.”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“It is widely believed that the announcement of Kuchel as Chief of Staff was taken as a personal snub by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. who had, many assert, believed that he would be transitioned from managing the campaign to managing the White House.”

-Excerpt from The Boston Brahmins​

“Chosen for Secretary of State was the man at the head of Republican foreign policy and the advisor of both Dewey and Warren on foreign policy issues, John Foster Dulles. Dulles was a response to the failures of Truman’s foreign policy and a commitment to push back against Communism rather than merely contain it.”

-Excerpt from John Foster Dulles: Piety, Pragmatism, and Power in U.S. Foreign Policy​

“Warren was also forced to make drastic compromises regarding the Secretary of Defense. The MacArthur-ites, who had still not resigned to defeat, demanded various radical choices from MacArthur himself to another man they thought would be their ally General Curtis LeMay. On the other hand, business interests wanted one of their own in the office and pushed various officials from a handful of companies to hold the position.”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“Supposedly the decision occurred sometime in late January of 1953, the two men [Warren and Eisenhower] were to discuss the military, foreign policy, and more specifically the war in Korea. It is said that the President asked Eisenhower what to do regarding the Secretary of Defense issue, and the General apparently considered it for a while before choosing his old friend and previous deputy, General Lucius Clay.”

-Excerpt from Eisenhower: The American Scipio​

“Warren also had in mind various reforms to the Cabinet system to reflect his devotion to the New Deal policies and to technocratic policy expansion in general, more specifically, splitting the Department of Commerce’s transportation and urban development portions into the Department of Public Works, as well as developing the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.”

-Excerpt from Bureaucracy in the United States: 1920-2000​

“The new Department of Public Works as it was now known, soon encompassed various old New Deal programs and agencies such as the Federal Housing Administration, a mixture of old policies from the Federal Works Agency, and the Bureau of Public Roads. The Department was a leviathan of infrastructure, development, and urban planning, and choosing who was to run it and how it was to be run would make or break the department. It is then quite odd that the choice went to an unelected and local level official, even if it was someone with the record and now legacy of Robert Moses.”

-Excerpt from The History of American Urbanism​

“The appointment of Robert Moses showed a sort of blithe ignorance on the part of the Warren White House, a belief in progress and development that was deeply blind to the faults of the man and the faults of his philosophy. It was a blindness indicative to an era of pushing growth and success at all costs.”

-Historian Robert Caro in a speech about the 1950’s and urban policy​

“The most controversial and directly opposed appointment was that of Truman and Roosevelt healthcare and Social Security advisor, Isidore Sydney Falk, to be Secretary of the newly created Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. This quickly raised fears in the business community that Warren would bring back his universal state healthcare plans from California and try to implement them on a nationwide level. This not only caused panic amongst the party, but also caused the American Medical Association to begin publishing a litany of pamphlets and expand their lobbying funding”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“Mr. Falk has shown himself to be deeply submerged in the highly partisan politics and pure propaganda of the National Health Assembly and the rabid ‘reformers’ of the Truman age. With such a bias leading head, the Department has fallen from what it could have been. What should have been a leading table of healthcare leaders and officials has become the meeting room of the radical and the misguided.”

-Excerpt from an Editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, May 1953​

“The days after the announcement of the choice of the President of Mr.Falk were hectic ones. Conservative Republicans came in asking to see the President with a clear amount of anger and frustration, I remember one Congressman in particular came in and almost barked at me to see the President. I was told to redirect such men to the Chief of Staff, and I imagine he would smooth talk many of them. To make matters worse, you had well meaning but oblivious progressives coming in to talk policy, whenever they came in the AMA and all would start roaring about healthcare again.”

-Anonymous secretary quoted in Inside the Warren White House​

“It is time for American business and the American employer to come back to the fore and take up responsibility. For too many years, the government in Washington has told us what to do, and we will not allow that to expand to healthcare. After many years of promised ‘Deals’, the American people now want a chance to run their affairs themselves.”

-Quote from Senator Bricker given in the Congress, May 1953​

“Pushing labor further into the Democratic Party was Earl Warren’s nomination of Fred Hartley Jr, of Taft-Hartley Act fame, to be the Secretary of Labor. This showed, quite early on, that the Warren administration had little intent to ‘compromise’ on labor as it had with healthcare and other old Fair Deal programs.”

-Excerpt from Labor and Liberalism​

“Repeal of Taft-Hartley went from an idea of only the few devotees of the Fair Deal to the core of the Democratic Party when it became obvious based on union and worker reactions to the appointment of Secretary of Labor Hartley that the assault on labor rights was something that Democrats could finally use to differentiate themselves from the Progressive Republicans.”

-Excerpt from Labor in the Democratic Party​

“The appointment of Hartley has been explained through various means, which will be quickly explored here. The first was that this was a very political move to satisfy the Taft Conservative wing of the party and that Warren had no hostile intent toward labor but was willing to sacrifice it. Another view is that Representative Hartley seemed to have some expertise on labor and that Warren truly believed that the Taft-Hartley Act was not anti-labor as much as a bill well designed to address past issues. The final view, which was espoused at the time, was that Warren had always been an opponent of labor, looking all the way back to the 1920’s when he had taken a heavy hand to fight back a general strike in San Francisco. This also raised old leftist fears that he was secretly a McCarthy in disguise, fears grown from his role in Whitney v California”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“JUSTICE FOR WHITNEY, JUSTICE FOR LABOR, JUSTICE FOR AMERICA”

-Socialist pamphlet distributed across California during the Summer of 1953​

“From the very beginning, the Warren administration was built on the value of the man himself, compromise. Compromise between progressive and conservative, Republican and Democrat, business interests and the working American. But often this compromise only made matters worse. Warren would assuage American corporate interests while enraging the left on labor matters but then immediately lose business support due to fears of his healthcare plans. What was meant to be a compromise cabinet became a compromised cabinet to many.”

-Excerpt from Inside the Warren White House​

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[Citizen A]

Cities and Corruption​

“CITY CLOSES STATEN ISLAND RAPID TRANSIT LINES DUE TO LACK OF FINANCES”

-Headline from the New York Daily News, March 1953​

“It is simply unacceptable that the government has let issues as important as infrastructure and transportation fall to the hands of incompetent city governments and poorly run state boards, it is time for the federal government to use its power for the national good.”

-Quote from Secretary of Public Works, Robert Moses, to the press​

“The Secretary or one of his aids was soon a main stay of my office. He was constantly pushing for a larger budget, expanded jurisdiction, or most importantly the passage of one of his pet bills. I suppose I wasn’t alone though as these plans soon came up on the Congress floor and with a large amount of support.”

-Excerpt from the autobiography of House Speaker Joseph Martin Jr​

“The American City is the hub of enterprise and the center of American business. I stand before you representing the shining city on the hill, the City of Boston and I wish to ensure that these benefits only grow and expand, to the benefit of all Americans. To the benefit of the worker who must get to the city center to work each morning, to the businessman who commutes to his office building, to the farmer whose wares are ferried from the city harbor, it is to the benefit of all that the American city grow, and that is why I have presented this bill.”

-Quote from Representative Angier Goodwin on the Goodwin-Stuyvesant Bill also known as the Urban Infrastructure Renewal Act of 1953 or the Moses Act​

“-What can possibly justify the massive cost of renewal? [At the time the bill cost 15 million or about 142 million in 2018 dollars]

--America must accept we either pay the costs now or lose much more later.

-What do you mean by that?

--Without this bill, the American city will lose millions due to a slow and aging system, a slow and aging system someone will have to keep paying thousands to continually patch.”

-White House Press Reporter questioning Secretary of Public Works Robert Moses on Urban Infrastructure Renewal Act​

“The bill earmarked the money to be used to: help metropolitan commissions maintain and expand current networks, help finance and offer loans to city and state corporations for infrastructure and help offer planning and assistance for development. Ignored at the time was the federal takeover, called a conservatorship, of the two Staten Island lines which set the precedent for the Department of Public Works to incorporate other state-run boards when they saw them as ‘failing’ or in ‘financial danger’. This precedent was rarely pressed during the Moses era though as the department kept steady financial control of any corporation they had given a loan to.”

-Excerpt from Bureaucracy in the United States: 1920-2000​

“The Urban Infrastructure Renewal Act had a stringent application process and the Department of Public Works openly said that not all applications would get the funding requested. It was soon accused of favoring cities that followed Moses’s model for city planning, accused of favoring Republican run cities, and accused of denying much needed funding to African American neighborhoods. The whole system was decried as an example of a poorly run administration, but Moses was quick to reply that he personally oversaw the majority of projects and ran a tight ship. But it may be telling that it was Moses and not Warren who oversaw the Department’s projects.”

-Excerpt from Big City Machines and Federal Puppetry: Corruption in the Inner City​

“Moses fought tooth and nail to keep his Department independent of much oversight or investigation. Every committee hearing on his funding was met by heavy lobbying on his part and the part of urban planners who flourished under his watch. Every press question was met with a lofty response on the importance of efficiency and meeting tomorrow’s problems today. In short, the Department of Public Works became the private domain of Robert Moses and he continued to lobby and push to see it grow.”

-Excerpt from The Power Broker in Washington​

“The slow expansion of the Department of Public Works also saw the expansion of the Moses plan for urban planning. The, now notorious in some circles, ‘wheel and spoke’ model for freeways around cities was pushed by the Department and projects that implemented the model were far more likely to get the funded and loans they needed.”

-Excerpt from The History of American Urbanism​

“Despite the fact that the original spark for the bill had been the Staten Island Rapid Transit Line shutdown, those lines were soon shut down regardless, the Department announcing that they simply were not tenable. This soon became a trend, with the department killing many of the public transit, particularly rail, projects that came under their management.

-Excerpt from The Death of the American Tramway​

“Despite being given the power to basically play architect of any American city he so chose, Robert Moses was hardly satisfied, and soon, alongside the President, began to push for even larger projects, which would of course likely fall under his jurisdiction.”

-Excerpt from The Power Broker in Washington​

“Moses was used by the opposition Democrats in a variety of ways. Many from urban centers or those who had the backing of steel or other affiliated unions attacked him due to perceived opposition to public transit and many Democrats began to push for intraurban rail as an alternative to Moses’s highway corridor plans. Others, rural and Southern Democrats attacked him as a ‘Big Wig Yankee’ who had little quarter, or even a penny, for the interest of the Southern farmer or even for Southern cities. He was, and often is, used as a symbol of the oft broken progress offered by the Warren administration.”

-Excerpt from The Crumbling Opposition; Democrats in the 50’s​

“Robert Moses soon became a symbol of many things. To some he represented the ideals of development and rule by the technocrat that many believed Warren had come into office to assert. To others, he represented the corruption of the large cities and the misguided ideology of the progressive. No matter what he was symbolic of though, it cannot be denied that Moses was a giant that dominated not just his own Department but the 83rd Congress, cities around America, and indeed the future of the American city as a whole. While many opposed him, far more fell into line. “

-Excerpt from The Power Broker in Washtington​

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[Citizen A]

For Liberty and Justice for All​

“Earl Warren was simply not the anti-communist critics make him out to be. He played an influential role in the silencing of the McCarthy style anti-communist, and yes, he did allow party men and conservatives to run free in his administration, but this was more due to the power of his party and a lack of focus on such issues. The man was far more liberal in that era than many give him credit for.”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“The appointment of Herbert Brownell Jr. to the position of Attorney General shocked no one really, he was a strong party insider, with a progressive past, and a solid legal career. What was not know was just how much influence he would have on later, much larger events.”

-Excerpt from Inside the Warren White House​

“Many acolytes of President Warren quickly forget his administrations blatant attacks on labor, quickly discourage discussion of the FBI run amuck, and shy away from discussions of what the CIA was doing abroad. These things will not be forgotten in this book though, no, they will be thoroughly examined and prodded”

-Excerpt from Reexamining the Warren Government​

“There was time for a while where I could tell me and my boys were being watched. A few close friends and associates of mine were taken in, mostly on the grounds of their former support for the Communists. I want it on the record here though, that by 1950, I had sworn of the Red Flag and sworn of Foster, I was never a Communist after Foster took over. But despite all this, allegations began stacking up, I think a few boys said they’d planned or considered or even thought the words ‘general strike’ and that was all that was needed for the FBI to rifle through my files.”

-Labor leader and head of the Transport Workers Union Mike Quill quoted in The Syndicalist Scare​

“Warren’s administration was no more particularly anti-labor than even Truman’s had been and where it was, it was more the effect of the trends of the day and the influence of the Taft-McCarthy wings of the party than of Warren himself. His administration fought for numerous causes that would have helped the working man and the fact that he is now remembered for the actions of a very independent FBI is quite a shame.”

-Excerpt from Progressives and the Worker: 1900-1980​

“Warren began to take note of the Civil Rights movement sometime in the summer of 1953. He instructed Attorney General Brownell to investigate the previous Bolling v Sharpe case and the numerous new cases that were coming up through the legal system including the now famous Brown v Board of Education. Brownell took up this responsibility and began considering active involvement of the US Department of Justice on these cases but realized this may seem to be overstepping his boundary. Instead, he began drafting legislation on the matter and contacting allies and coworkers in the Justice Department and law in general.”

-Excerpt from Justice for All: The Civil Rights Movement and the US Legal System​

“Warren pushed for the Congress to, both for the sake of the states and due to a genuine belief in the importance and out of a genuine belief it was the best policy, expand Public Law 280 by adding in additional funding for states that decided to incorporate the Indian Reservations as well as offering federal help. A campaign of governors and senators from states with significant reservations helped push this addition through. This did help soften the blow that Public Law 280 had on the Indian community.”

-Excerpt from American Indian Policy: 1950-2010​

“The era of racial progress during the 1950’s saw an odd parallel in the Native American community as Natives were now stripped of special protections and in some states, their very nationhood, under the banner of ‘racial equality’. Warren, for his part, came from a state where the Indian Reservations had caused a few issues and so he was no defender of the reservations. While the reservations were imperfect, the state funding to help the transition from reservation to equal citizens was often squandered or worse still spent on white-majority communities. The 1950s, despite attempts at improvement and a sincere spirit of goodwill, were a period of quite heavy damage for the Native American community.”

-Excerpt from The Indian School and Termination: American Indian Policy​

“The early years of the Warren administration saw little progress on the race question. Warren, as someone who was well versed in law and previously held numerous legal positions, knew his limits as executive. He set aside important resources for those looking into the early civil rights cases and pushed for expansion of important laws, but he was relatively constrained by his own belief he could not overstretch himself lest he lose the support of his party. By Fall of 1953 though, Warren had a real chance to make a lasting impact on US law and the US legal system.”

- Excerpt from Justice for All: The Civil Rights Movement and the US Legal System​

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[Citizen A]

The Health of the Nation​

“Upon my appointment I found myself constantly hounded with letters, lobbyists, and staffers. Not all negative of course, many came to support my cause and support the work of the Department, but the majority were from those who came to be my greatest opponents.”

-Excerpt from the autobiography of Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Isidore Falk​

“I was tasked with writing a series of what I would now call polemics against, well against most everything, but most particularly any snippet of proposed policy that leaked out of the Department. “

-Editor and Writer for the American Medical Association interviewed in 1982​

“Beginning in spring of 1953, there were three concurrent plans. The first, being drafted primarily by New Deal Democrats (with some of the higher-level officers of the Department of Health offering feedback), was a sweeping universal healthcare program, an attempt to revive Truman’s healthcare plan. This was officially called the Health Implementation Act though it was more often called the Fair Plan, after the former President Truman’s Fair Deal. The second, being drafted by some slightly more conservative Midwesterners and Southerners, was a plan to improve healthcare in rural regions and offer medical aid to the elderly and some poor (provided they were not ‘vagrants’) and was largely an extension of the Hill-Burton Act. The third and final plan was that being built by pro-business conservative Republicans, who were building a plan to provide a tax benefit to companies which offered health insurance to their employees as well as boosting spending towards research and development (this later became known as the drug subsidy).”

-Excerpt from The History of Health Reform in America​

“Dear Fellow Citizens and Countrymen,

It is time that great thought be given to a question that has been raised numerous times, that question being, what is the best system that we, as Americans can build to keep our nation healthy? I will continue to support, as I did as President, the implementation of a universal healthcare program. This letter will contain my final bargain and my final push for what I believe is the only fair deal for the American people…”

-Letter from Former President Truman, published in the New York Times, Summer of 1953​

“The participation of a former president in matters of national debate is not just abnormal but should be looked down upon. The people have made their decision regarding Truman, if they had wished to hear from him again, they would have elected Stevenson.”

-Anonymous Republican Congressman in 1953​

“-Will the President endorse any of the bills on the House Floor?

--The President and his staff wish to make no comment on any bill currently on the floor.

-Will the President endorse the concept of a national healthcare system?

--No, though he will say he hopes to see America get a better healthcare system during his Presidency

-Is it not true that in his time as Governor he supported such a program in the state?

--This is true.”

-White House Press Secretary Murray Chotiner responding to questions during the Healthcare Debate of 1953​

“I cannot support my fellow House Democrats in regard to the Health Implementation Act, but I wish to offer my reasons why. The first is purely cost, if the bill is accepted in its current form then the budget will be crushed under the load. Programs vital to older Americans like Social Security will likely be robbed to pay for this expensive program. The second is a lack of clarity regarding how it will help Americans in rural counties, offering them insurance that is useless without doctors and medicine to acquire with it…For all these reasons I will not be voting in favor of this bill.”

-Quote from Democratic Caucus Chairmen Wilbur Mills during the healthcare debate of 1953​

“By the end of June 1953, it was clear that in their current states, no one of the three bills would be able to pass, so a committee of Democrats and Republicans got together, along with the President and multiple officials from the Department of Health and opened a new discussion with the hopes of pinning down a real plan. Negotiations almost broke down when the American Medical Association demanded access to these meetings, but they were quickly satisfied by the addition of a few more conservative Republicans.”

-Excerpt from The History of Health Reform in America​

“Every side of course came in with demands and it didn’t appear as though any compromise would be made. The Fair Deal Democrats actually left the talks two separate times before agreeing to drop their demands for universal care. Shockingly, the strongest speakers against them was a small group of Southern Democrats who ardently pushed for the moderate Republican bill. The Republicans quickly realized that this split could be capitalized upon and out of this meeting came a sort of compromise bill. The bill would continue to expand rural hospitals, provide health insurance to the elderly and working poor, and provide a tax benefit to employers who offered their workers health insurance. It would be amended to add on tax breaks and direct government subsidies to a consortium of drug research companies while on the House floor.”

-Excerpt from Compromise, Compromise: The Warren Government​

“A deal was also made to keep Democratic support through the voting process by firing Dr. Falk. Falk had made it clear that he was an ardent supporter of universal care, and such a belief was no longer tenable. Southern Democrats offered one of their own, Lister Hill [of fame for the Hill-Burton Act] to serve as the Secretary. Few found this to be impossible, except of course the few Fair Deal Democrats still at the talks and Dr. Falk himself, though he was quickly shuttled off and closed out. “

-Excerpt from Inside the Warren White House​

“I was shocked when I arrived to one of the meetings and was informed, I was not to be allowed in, when I got back to my office a memo was waiting on my desk, after just five months of service and having barely even begun any planning, I was to be removed. I left my office and began meeting with a smaller group of Democrats in their office building.”

-Excerpt from the autobiography of Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Isidore Falk​

“I followed Senator Douglas to the meetings of the Fair Deal Democrats, and I seem to recall getting quite active in the debates there, soon a few members there took interest in me, said I was a good orator, it was one of my earliest encounters with the Democratic Party and politics proper rather than purely just organizing and community work.”

-Excerpt from the memoirs of Ronald Reagan​

“Leading the now isolated group of Democrats was House Minority Whip John McCormack. McCormack was not just a paternal figure for many in the group, he also gave their demands real weight in the party and made the group a significant force. He was also quick to try to pull together the same coalition he had pulled for the original Fair Deal votes to coalesce around writing a proper bill for a national insurance. This movement did not go far, but McCormack was still seen as a leader of this now growing bloc. By mid-July though, McCormack had sat through enough meetings with his party and with the President to realize that the only bill that would pass was the ones drawn up by the Conservative Coalition, and so he quickly pushed the Fair Deal bloc to support the bill.”

-Excerpt from The Fair Negotiator​

“Warren was shockingly active during this whole affair. Initially it seemed he was going to be pushing for the same Fair Deal style universal healthcare program that Truman was and so now historians and even analysts at the time must explain, what changed? Some say it was party pressure, others say he was just taking the best deal offered. Regardless, Warren still pushed for the new health insurance bill quite strongly and was one of its strongest advocates, a radical departure from his silence on the matter just weeks earlier.”

-Excerpt from Inside the Warren White House​

“The bipartisan National Healthcare Act has come to the House floor where it is expected to pass with a large majority.”

-Quote from a “Washington Post” article, July 1953​

“NATIONAL HEALTH BILL PASSES”

-Headline from the New York Times, July 1953​

“In the end, the bill received support from a quite large portion of the Congress. Almost all Democrats voted in favor, and the majority of Republicans did as well (though some splitters remained, primarily from the Taft/Midwestern coalition). With this, the bill was sent to the Senate, where mostly Democratic leadership on the part of Minority Leader Johnson pushed it through.”

-Excerpt from Compromise, Compromise: The Warren Government​

“I am glad to finally be able to sign into action a law that Americans have waited for many decades. A law to guarantee that those who cannot reach help themselves will always have access and that no matter where you live or at what level of society you live in this great country, you will have access to good medical care. I am glad to sign into law a bill which will finally improve the health of our nation.”

-Quote from Earl Warren as he signs the National Healthcare Act of 1953 into law
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[Citizen A]

Warren’s Court​

“CHIEF JUSTICE VINSON DIES OF HEART ATTACK”

-Headline from the New York Times, September 1953​

“ I remember the President coming to my office the day after we had learned of the Chief Justice’s heart attack, he had this odd air about him, I knew he was trying to seem saddened, and indeed I think his heart was there, but his mind was clearly ready to move forward onto the work that Justice Vinson was known to block.”

-Quote from Attorney General Hebert Brownell Jr​

“I remember quite early on realizing that Warren was focused on people he personally had worked with, even though they were almost exclusively Democrats. He suggested I begin to watch Robert Kenny, I did, and I observed the activities and policies of a typical liberal democrat. Then he moved on to Chief Justice of California, Phil S Gibson, who he thought would uphold his administration’s policies, though he quickly brushed past him as well due to more personal reasons. I tried to inform him as politely as possible that appointing any Democrat to the Supreme Court would essentially sink any confidence the party still had left in him.”

-Quote from Chief of Staff Thomas Kuchell​

“Despite the general practice, rumors and inside sources say numerous Democrats and ex-Roosevelt advisors were considered by President Warren. According to some, even Truman appointee Judge Francis Duffy was being considered. Also, heavily emphasized is his consideration of fellow Californians, to the point he returned to his home state, for the expressed purpose of visiting, but with clear intent to talk to several possible appointees.”

-Excerpt from In Pursuit of Justices​

“I remember the Senator was quite nervous about who would be chosen by the President, fearing that he’d have to either doom the country to many more years of this progressive ideological radicalism or else risk all party unity. If the President decided to make it a recess appointment, there was still the question of whether or not to speak out on the issue. I think the Senator was even more incensed because he truly loathed the man chosen by Warren.”

-Quote from the aide of an anonymous Republican senator​

“Despite claims of being controlled by the party or a leaf in the wind of party opinion, Warren proved these wrong numerous times very early on, from his arguments on healthcare to his choice of Chief Justice.”

-Excerpt from an essay on Earl Warren​

“It was a clear day and an early morning. The Governor had called his board of advisors and officials for a meeting to discuss an issue regarding infrastructure construction safety, superficially regarding multiple municipal laws he’d hoped to be able to discuss. He mulled around the house a little longer than usual that day, much to the consternation of his aides, reading up on a local legal case he had both much and little interest in. In a certain way, that is how the Governor felt about all local politics, after much time on the national stage and a grand role in his party, it was almost difficult to settle back into state politics and petty big machine feuds, though he believed he would soon fall back into step. This was not to be though, as he came to his office, he was met with various aides who let him know a call had come in for him from Washington, and within a few hours, Governor Dewey was on his way back to Washington D.C.”

-Excerpt from The Life and Times of Thomas Dewey​

“Dewey was of course, for men like Warren, the perfect candidate. A well-known legal figure, with a strong progressive background, who was well liked by enough of the party. No one then was shocked all too much when news of the consideration of Dewey spread, though many believe it did cause some heartache from the more conservative wing of the party.”

-Excerpt from Inside the Warren White House​

“DEWEY CONFIRMED TO BE SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE”

-Headline from the New York Times​

“That was the power of the recess appointment, Dewey was rushed through, without too much screaming and crying mind you, and we had the court. I remember it was a hectic few days while this was all going on but once it was done, it was done, it was Warren’s court now. And soon the entire nation would see would a Warren court would do. I’ll be honest, I was one of many disillusioned liberals who thought Dewey’s ascendance would do little to push our agenda through, I will admit now I was wrong, and if I had to tell you who was the better man, well, let’s save that for off interview eh?”

-Quote from an Aide to Chief of Staff Thomas Kuchell in Inside the Warren White House​

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[Citizen A]

Atoms for Peace​

“I appreciate the distinction of addressing you, I have a sense of exhilaration as I look upon this room. Your deliberations and decisions will shape this century possibly more than anyone else’s. But the great tests and the great accomplishments still lie ahead. I would be loath to use this great opportunity to recite, however hopefully, pious platitudes. I therefore decided that this occasion warranted my saying to you some of the things that have been on my mind as defense papers cross my desk. I know that the American people and this party share my deep belief that if a danger exists in the world, it is a danger shared by all; and equally, that if hope exists in the mind of one nation, that hope should be shared by all. I feel impelled to speak today in a language that in a sense is new, one which I, who have spent so much of my life in the military profession, both recognize and find foreign. That new language is the language of atomic warfare. With this new development, we enter a new age, not just of warfare, but of policy making. And so, if the all the members of this room are to be tasked with designing the modern statecraft and the modern strategy, they must be armed with the significant facts of today's existence. My recital of atomic power is necessarily stated in military terms, for these are the only terms that I know, I need hardly point out to this body, though,that this is not just a military issue, but a diplomatic one, and a domestic one. Today, the United States' stockpile of atomic weapons, which, of course, increases daily, exceeds by many times the total equivalent of the total of all bombs and all shells that came from every plane and every gun in every theatre of war in all the years of the Second World War. A single air group whether afloat or land based, can now deliver to any reachable target a destructive cargo exceeding in power all the bombs that fell on Britain in all the Second World War. This fact must not frighten us though, it must only serve to enlighten use to the power of this new weapon. Many in this room, many in America fear this power. We wish, desperately, to be a nation at peace, not at arms. We desire grand sweeping agreements, not wars, among nations. We want to live in freedom, and in the confidence that the people of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life. But we know that against our current enemies, we cannot guarantee that all men are free. We know that our freedom, nor the freedom of our allies cannot be guaranteed. From Korea to Germany, the rights of man are threatened by the Communist powers. It is against this foe that we cannot shrink from the deployment of our atomic power. Do not think that means war. Was it war when I deployed tanks in Berlin? Was it war as American planes flew over the city? The answer is clear, no it was not. It was confrontation, plain and simple, it was standing up to an aggressor, it was refusing to back down. If it is a nuclear deterrent that is needed to stand up against aggressors, we cannot fear it’s use there either. Though we may desire peace, we cannot flee blindly into it. I do not stand here before you to urge the use of a nuclear first option, I stand before you to urge to use this atomic power to secure peace, to secure a peace for man, for our nation, a peace that can only be secured by a stalwart defense and an iron will.

It is our job to stand up to the powers that threaten us, under the circumstances of today, only we have that power. Only we have the strength, the power, to halt and meet the aggression of our foes. To the making of these fateful decisions, I pledge, as a politician and countryman, before you—and therefore before the nation- my determination to protect the peace, even if that means the use of the atomic power or any other power at my disposal. Because I will not shrink from the ability to use atoms for peace."

-Excerpt from a speech by Secretary of Defense Lucius Clay to a dinner hall of Republican policy makers on December 10, 1953. This speech is often cited as the start of the era of “atomic brinkmanship” as well as the most clear and early direct committals of the United States to protecting the world peace and world freedom during the Cold War. It is now frequently referred to as the “Atoms for Peace” speech, in contrast to the far less remembered address to the United Nations given by various US civil servants regarding civilian uses of nuclear energy.​

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[Citizen A]

Pistol Shots Ring Out​

“I am Joaquín, lost in a world of confusion, caught up in the whirl of a gringo society,”

-Excerpt from the Chicano Poem “I Am Joaquin”​

“This morning, just a few blocks from this station, gunfire was reported at the Spring Street Courthouse, during the scheduled visit of the State Attorney General, we will keep you updated”

-The beginning of the days events as reported by one California radio station on February 9th, 1954​

“Though shrouded in the fog of time as well as the blankets of hearsay and rumors that of course took place after the event, it is not too hard to piece together the events of that morning. The State Attorney General, Edmund “Pat” Brown, came under fire as he exited the Spring Street Courthouse. The assailant supposedly shouted some words in Spanish prior to firing upwards of 3 rounds at the Attorney General, none of which hit the target, though one round did hit a legal clerk exiting the building behind him. Though law enforcement was quick to act and protect the Attorney General, the perpetrator was not caught, at least not immediately.”

- American Historical Association Report on the events of February 9th​

“I distinctly remember the day, I’m pretty sure I could even tell you the color tie that Mr. Brown was wearing. I was exiting the building just behind the Attorney General when I heard shouting and noticed a man, more a boy than a man but you get my meaning, running towards the Attorney General. He then revealed an old service revolver and began firing. Me and the other officers weren’t slow to act but our first instinct really wasn’t to go after the man but to protect the Attorney General.

[He was then asked by the interviewer: “At the time, you said the man was Hispanic, will you repeat that for me?”]

The court did in fact find one Joaquin Navarro guilty yes.”

-Excerpt from the dissertation Racial and Socioeconomic Justice in Southern California ​

“-Do you remember where you were that day?

--Me and Joaquin were trying to fix an old bike that we’d been working on in the shop for quite a while.

-So, you still claim to have been with him at the time of the shooting?

--I know where my brother was”

-Interview with Elías Navarro, brother of Joaquin Navarro, done as research and included as a citation in the previously cited dissertation in 1975​

“What happened after the shooting is where events grow more questionable. Most agree that a few hours later, around 5 PM, typical after work hours, a small group of white men, mostly members of the local Native Sons of the Golden West organization, met at the home of former City Councilman Earl C. Gay. Some authors stop here to note that the group was unarmed and merely agreed to drive to East Los Angeles to see if they could help police in that neighborhood in anyway, whilst other authors observe that the men were likely armed and were likely unaffiliated with police. Regardless, the group of men arrived in the City Terrace community by 6:30 PM”

- American Historical Association Report on the events of February 9th​

“I remember my Mom crying as the men came into our home, she tried to send me into the other room but they insisted I stay, I now understand they thought I very well could have been the shooter, despite being no more than 12 at the time. They searched through our home and I think one of them hit my Mom, they passed over our house quickly. Luckily for us we lived two blocks away from where most of the real action would take place.”

-Interview with a resident of East Los Angeles done in 1976​

“-And do you remember why you had the revolver?

--It wasn’t uncommon for a shop owner to own a gun in Los Angeles at the time, not in East Los Angeles

-It was a service revolver no?

--It was, they were the easiest to come by and the cheapest to buy too, lots of veterans pawned off their old equipment to pay some lost debts.”

- Interview with Elías Navarro​

“suppressed by manipulation and destroyed by modern society.”


“When the band of men arrived in the neighborhood of Joaquin Navarro, they entered his home and found what they suspected to be the murder weapon. Again, reports diverge at this point. Many of the earlier reports claimed that the men took Navarro immediately to the police and that the events that followed were unrelated to the men or the arrest. Later reports, often updated to include the accounts of those living in the neighborhood, reported that the men dragged Joaquin out to the car, but were not yet finished, as they took out their anger on the neighborhood.”

- American Historical Association Report on the events of February 9th​

“Before the fire, this is where the garage of the Navarro brothers once stood. Most of the old equipment and the husk of the building remained out here till the early 1960’s when the equipment had mostly been sold off. Joaquin’s brother, Elías tried to sell the building throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s but ultimately just had to get the lot leveled, selling it in 1971. It passed through multiple hands until eventually it came under the ownership of this Beauty Salon.”

-Excerpt from the transcript of a documentary on the East Los Angeles Fire done in 2018​

“What sparked the fires is not known. The police reports at the time concluded that it had been an unnaturally dry period and that electrical issues on account of poor wiring started the fire. Some eyewitnesses report that the garage had been purposefully targeted by white militias. When asked about his role, former City Councilman Earl Gay claimed that the fire was unconnected with his group’s arrest of Joaquin Navarro. Regardless of the spark, every news report and account agree that the fires spread far past the neighborhood of the Navarro garage, quickly engulfing much of the City Terrace community and spreading into the rest of Eastern Los Angeles. “

- American Historical Association Report on the events of February 9th​

“You can actually see on the maps of the time just the sheer amount of buildings lost in the fires, over 20% of the Eastern Los Angeles community saw some damage, most of it irredeemable. It is actually what laid the groundwork for the overpasses in the area, as the land was amazingly cheap for the federal government to seize for infrastructure projects.”

-Interview with a member of the local planning board, 2015​

“The scale of human lives lost is disputed. Police records claim that no more than 10 people died whilst the highest estimates (those done by one UCLA student in 1968) claim that over 30 may have died. Both estimates agree that property damage was well into the tens of thousands. “

- Excerpt from the dissertation Racial and Socioeconomic Justice in Southern California ​

“I look at myself. I watch my brother. I shed tears of sorrow. I sow seeds of hate.”


“-Do you think what happened was an injustice?

--Yes

-And why do you think that?

--You could look at the jury and tell what their ruling was going to be.”

- Interview with Elías Navarro​

“After being driven to the police station, Joaquin Navarro was held and interrogated for multiple days. The trial saw multiple pushbacks that led to Navarro sitting in a jailcell for three weeks prior to his trial. When the trial did commence, it was relatively quick. He was tried in front of an all-white jury in a segregated courthouse, two practices that would be declared unconstitutional in just a few months in the case of Hernandez v Texas. His sentencing was swift, and no appeals were made."

- Excerpt from the dissertation Racial and Socioeconomic Justice in Southern California ​

“I have been killed.”

- Excerpt from the Chicano Poem “I Am Joaquin”​