WI: Robert Taft 1956

What if Robert Taft had not died in 1953 and had remained healthy and decided in 1956 to quit the republican party and run as an independent candidate for president? How much support would he get? Would he make a big impact on the election?
 
He would do very poorly. Taft's only real shot was in 1952 as a Republican, and even that would be close. If he goes independent, he loses very badly to Eisenhower (everybody likes Ike) and Stevenson (Solid South is Solid).
 
There is no way Taft would do this. He was too much of a party loyalist, and in any event would hardly want to give up his post as Senate Majority Leader (OK, after 1954 it would be Minority Leader but he would hope the GOP would regain its Senate majority in 1956) for the sake of such a futile candidacy. It's not even as though his differences with the Eisenhower administration were *that*great--unlike some of his followers, Taft was hardly a dogmatic opponent of all federal initiatives in areas like housing, health care, and education.

The one Eisenhower appointment Taft had really objected to was that of Martin Durkin as Secretary of Labor, but Durkin would resign after eight months in office anyway, having failed to convince Eisenhower to support major revisions of the Taft-Hartley Act.
 
David, how would you rate Taft in 1960, as either against Nixon, or as Nixon's VP candidate? Thinking if Eisenhower isn't too keen on Nixon, and a potential heir is in the wings. And I'm sure he'd be better than Lodge.
 
David, how would you rate Taft in 1960, as either against Nixon, or as Nixon's VP candidate? Thinking if Eisenhower isn't too keen on Nixon, and a potential heir is in the wings. And I'm sure he'd be better than Lodge.

Keep in mind Taft was a year older then Eisenhower, and he would have been 70 in the 1960 election. Age alone would have kept Taft away from the nomination, never mind potential conflicts with the Eisenhower Administration over the years.
 
I'd agree with much of the above comments - though an interesting idea would be how would an incumbent Taft fare in 1956?
 
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