WI: VP Margaret Chase Smith in 1952

Senator Margaret Chase Smith, elected in 1948, first rose to prominence when she attacked Joseph McCarthy in her 1950 "A Declaration of Conscience" speech. Soon after, Newsweek published an article titled “Senator Smith: A Woman Vice President?” and McCarthy apparently threatened her by touting his control over the Wisconsin delegation in the RNC. Obviously, nothing came of this, but what if Ike or an alternate Republican nominee had chosen her as his running mate in 1952? Her rise to fame is tied to her opposition to McCarthyism, so one way to boost her chances could be to have McCarthy fall from grace in 1951 or early 1952 instead of 1954.

Smith would be a ballsy choice (when Gallup asked if voters were willing to vote for a female presidential candidate in 1949, they were split 48-48; in 1955, it had risen to 52-44 in favor), but with 1952 being such a heavily Republican year, I doubt it would significantly hurt the ticket's chances. If Smith became VP, how would this affect her political career and the general perception of women in politics? Would she have a shot in 1960 or a later year? Most interestingly, what if Ike had died in office and thrusted her into the Oval Office?
 
Senator Margaret Chase Smith, elected in 1948, first rose to prominence when she attacked Joseph McCarthy in her 1950 "A Declaration of Conscience" speech. Soon after, Newsweek published an article titled “Senator Smith: A Woman Vice President?” and McCarthy apparently threatened her by touting his control over the Wisconsin delegation in the RNC. Obviously, nothing came of this, but what if Ike or an alternate Republican nominee had chosen her as his running mate in 1952? Her rise to fame is tied to her opposition to McCarthyism, so one way to boost her chances could be to have McCarthy fall from grace in 1951 or early 1952 instead of 1954.

Smith would be a ballsy choice (when Gallup asked if voters were willing to vote for a female presidential candidate in 1949, they were split 48-48; in 1955, it had risen to 52-44 in favor), but with 1952 being such a heavily Republican year, I doubt it would significantly hurt the ticket's chances. If Smith became VP, how would this affect her political career and the general perception of women in politics? Would she have a shot in 1960 or a later year? Most interestingly, what if Ike had died in office and thrusted her into the Oval Office?


I like this idea but I'm afraid there was no way it could have happened. Eisenhower
IOTL felt he had to concilate tail-gunner Joe
(witness his famous deletion from a speech
of lines praising his old boss George Marshall,
a bit of knuckling-under Ike did because
McCarthy had attacked Marshall & thus
would be riled if Ike complimented him). So
he would not have picked someone who
had actually been critical of Joe(though I,
like you Heliogabalus, say good for her!!)
As for Taft- he DEFENDED McCarthy.
Again, this is too bad- I think the worst you
could say about picking Ms. Smith is that it
most likely would have completely butterflied
away one Richard Nixon's subsequent career...
 
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I like this idea but I'm afraid there was no way it could have happened. Eisenhower
IOTL felt he had to concilate tail-gunner Joe
(witness his famous deletion from a speech
of lines praising his old boss George Marshall
a bit of knuckling-under Ike did because
McCarthy had attacked Marshall & thus
would be riled if Ike complimented him). So
he would not have picked someone who
had actually been critical of Joe(though I,
like you Heliogabalus, say good for her!!)
As for Taft- he DEFENDED McCarthy.
Again, this is too bad- I think the worst you
could say about picking Ms. Smith is that it
most likely would have completely butterflied
away one Richard Nixon's subsequent career...
That's why I brought up the possibility of McCarthy falling from grace before the election. If he had been discredited by 1952, Smith's opposition to him wouldn't be an obstacle. In fact it would probably be an asset.

On the general theme of the question, I think that if she had become VP, it would eat away at the perception that America "isn't ready" for a female president. I'm not sure if this would be enough to make her a serious candidate in the 60s, but it would definitely help female politicians in lower levels of government be taken seriously and pave the way for future decades. She was also pretty liberal on domestic issues, though I doubt this would be too much of an obstacle in the 50s/60s GOP.
 
As a POD, a possibility McCarthy turns to alcoholism earlier and dies before 1952.

I’d only see her as POTUS if Ike’s heart attack in 1955 is fatal. Despite sexism, the sympathy vote and the popular Republican administration should allow her to beat Stevenson or Harriman (although nowhere near what Ike did).
 

bguy

Donor
Again, this is too bad- I think the worst you could say about picking Ms. Smith is that it most likely would have completely butterflied away one Richard Nixon's subsequent career...

Senator Nixon would still likely be a very powerful figure in the Republican party. Indeed he's likely to end up as the leader of the right wing of the party ITL as there's a good chance Goldwater doesn't even get elected to the Senate ITTL (Goldwater's OTL 1952 victory was pretty narrow, so if the Republican presidential ticket is even a little weaker then it's very likely Goldwater loses), and William Knowland will still eventually self-destruct trying to become the Governor of California (Knowland thought being Governor was the best way to catapult himself into the presidency, so he is still likely to attempt something like "the Big Switch" ITTL.) And as a leading figure in the Senate, Nixon is likely to eventually end up as the Republican presidential candidate, as he is a logical consensus candidate being conservative enough to satisfy the right wing of the party, but not so conservative as to be toxic to the moderate wing.

Maybe Nixon isn't the candidate in 1960, losing the nomination to Rockefeller or Everett Dirksen, but even if 1960 isn't his year Nixon's young enough that he could easily come back and be the Republican candidate in 1964 or 1968.
 
Ike's first task was to get a running mate acceptable to the Taftites. For many reasons, Margaret Chase Smith would have been the wrong person for that. Here's one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Conscience
I addressed the Declaration in the OP. The nomination doesn't have to occur under the same circumstances. Is there any way to mitigate Taft's influence, or to get a Republican nominee that would be willing and able to have Smith as VP?
 
She was still considered as a vice presidential candidate. All you'd need is a Republican nominee who thought it would be a good idea.

But she was not selected as vice president. We have two examples on this issue which I will cite, both from 1964. Her 1964 run for the nomination was looked on as a curiosity at best, and at worst, it was legitimately treated as a joke for men. Again, like a dog that could talk. Second is the film "Kisses For My President", where it was a subject for zany comedy. Even though the candidate was a serious, highly skilled, played straight female president, everything around her was just a giant joke about a woman being president, a man being "First Lady", and she resigned when she became pregnant to be a proper housekeeper to the family. That is how women were regarded in the pre-liberation era.

The fact is, Eisenhower could have made a giant leap forward by making the decision. At the same time, Ike is not the most likely of gender progressive people in the world. He did not come from that background, nor was Mimi Eisenhower exactly Eleanor Roosevelt. I do not see anyone in the Republican party, and very few in the Democratic party, who would make that decision in full honesty. Arguably, if she were a Democrat, I could perhaps see Adlai Stevenson or someone from that classical New Dealer intellectual background choose her or another woman. But I can't see Ike doing it, nor Nixon, nor Rockefeller. I could not see Kennedy doing it, nor Johnson. Maybe Humphrey.
 
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Ike doesn't need to appeal to moderate Republicans. They are his base. The usual point of a vice-presidential selection is to broaden your base. Or if you're going to choose a moderate, choose one from a competitive state with a lot of electoral votes (say, Earl Warren, though he had failed to carry California for Dewey in 1948), not someone from a state like Maine with five electoral votes, and which in those days was safely Republican anyway (remember Jim Farley in 1936--"as Maine goes, so goes Vermont").
 

natalieb

Banned
David: one of the biggest "crimes" of "Ger-ry!" in 1984 was that she completely failed to help the ticket. Smith would have been the same.
 
Eisenhower was not out to take unnecessary risks in his campaign. *We* know in retrospect that he was sure to win, but it hardly seemed certain at the time--after all, the Republicans had not won a presidential election since 1928, and 1948 had shown that a Democrat way behind in the polls could win. With basically half the electorate saying they wouldn't want a woman in the White House--and with no real evidence that a woman would help the ticket even with the other half of the electorate--it would just have been too risky. Even in 1984, Mondale only chose Ferraro because he was behind in the polls and felt he had to do something "unconventional" even if it was risky.

And that's not even taking into account Smith's other disadvantages (making it harder to conciliate Taftites, being from a small state and one that was heavily Republican anyway, etc.).
 
But she was not selected as vice president. We have two examples on this issue which I will cite, both from 1964. Her 1964 run for the nomination was looked on as a curiosity at best, and at worst, it was legitimately treated as a joke for men. Again, like a dog that could talk. Second is the film "Kisses For My President", where it was a subject for zany comedy. Even though the candidate was a serious, highly skilled, played straight female president, everything around her was just a giant joke about a woman being president, a man being "First Lady", and she resigned when she became pregnant to be a proper housekeeper to the family. That is how women were regarded in the pre-liberation era.

The fact is, Eisenhower could have made a giant leap forward by making the decision. At the same time, Ike is not the most likely of gender progressive people in the world. He did not come from that background, nor was Mimi Eisenhower exactly Eleanor Roosevelt. I do not see anyone in the Republican party, and very few in the Democratic party, who would make that decision in full honesty. Arguably, if she were a Democrat, I could perhaps see Adlai Stevenson or someone from that classical New Dealer intellectual background choose her or another woman. But I can't see Ike doing it, nor Nixon, nor Rockefeller. I could not see Kennedy doing it, nor Johnson. Maybe Humphrey.


I remember that film too Emperor Norton & you're absolutely right: the whole idea of a woman
actually being President was just considered one big joke. What I especially remember is KISSES'
very last scene. The female now ex-President(Polly Bergen)is leaving the White House for the
very last time, & her husband(Fred MacMurray)turns to her & says this all shows the natural
superiority of men, as it took thousands of women to put you in the White House, & only one
man to get you out.
 
David: one of the biggest "crimes" of "Ger-ry!" in 1984 was that she completely failed to help the ticket. Smith would have been the same.

All too true, even though there was no way Mondale could have beaten Reagan in 1984 IOTL.
 
Not a butterfly - a knock-on!!!!

"Knock it to me?"

nixon-feat.jpg


All too true, even though there was no way Mondale could have beaten Reagan in 1984 IOTL.

He could have if the early 80s recession dragged out another year. Keeping on the topic of film, the plot of "Mr. Mom" is based on that recession, which became a non-issue by the time the film came out. The indications from the 1982 elections were that Reagan was in a weakened position, as the Democrats gained in the House. Recovery hit just in time for the 1984 election cycle. Had it not, or had recovery only began to show later, Reagan is up for grabs. In short, another in a series on one term presidents in a long up and down, back and forth that had become the norm since Lyndon Johnson. Which would have been ok with me, since the national mood after 1984 crystallized into this Lee Greenwood saccharine body politic.
 
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