OK ... we ended Part 2 with the election of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. We also noted that Eisenhower was a political rookie and a bit naive concerning the "behind-the-scenes" political gaming. So in spite of his principled and well-meaning conservative campaign platform, the eight years of Eisenhower's presidency resulted in the continuance of the "America Last" foreign policy, and a complete failure to enact anything from his 1952 winning platform. Taft called him out in Congressional testimony on April 30, 1953:
You're taking us right down the same road that Truman traveled. It's a repudiation of everything we promised in the (1952) campaign.
Besides failing to enact conservative principles, Eisenhower also presided over 8 years of steady decline in the Republican Party over-all. He proved incapable of helping elect a Republican Congress in 1954, 1956, or 1958. Prior to his election there were 47 Republican Senators with a total of 199 Republican Congressmen. By 1959 however, there were only 34 Senators and 153 Republican Congressmen.
Before Eisenhower's election there were 25 Republican governors holding office. In 1959, there were only 14 Republican governors. Again, prior to his election, there was a total of 754 Republican State Senators and 2,566 Republican State Representatives. By 1959 however ... the numbers shrunk to a mere 592 and 1942 respectively.
The Eisenhower Administration is a classic example of Republicans winning big on a strong conservative platform, then turning around and losing it all by governing from the "center" (read Left).
1956 Presidential Election:
President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in September 1955 which landed him in the hospital for 7 straight weeks. But this didn't stop Eisenhower from pushing forward in his second run for the presidency. His heart-attack did however, make the "kingmakers" a bit nervous. Vice President Richard Nixon was not a politico of their making, and worse, his rise to fame was as an anti-communist investigator ... So sure enough ... out of nowhere came Harold Stassen (then current Special Assistant on Disarmament Problems) holding a press conference endorsing Governor of Massachusetts Christian Herter for the vice presidential nod.
Stassen promptly took a 4-week leave of absence from the Eisenhower Administration and hit the road campaigning for Herter! Soon, the press picked-up the story and ran with it too. As Phyllis Schlafly noted:
To the general public, this appeared to be a one-man crusade that spontaneously picked up momentum as Stassen issued each new statement. To the discerning observer, however, there was more to this tactic than met the eye. There was behind-the-scenes support in very high places. There was mysterious financial support. In the background were a number of powerful but shadowy figures. One of these was identified by the Chief if the UPI Washington bureau as General Lucius Clay.
But Richard Nixon's popularity with grassroots conservatives remained strong, so the "kingmakers" became concerned about throwing him aside for Herter. It could cost them the election. They liked Herter's support of the Marshall Plan (foreign aid) when he was in Congress. Herter also helped them organize the Council on Foreign Relations, and supported the New Deal. But his lack of appeal remained a serious hurdle. They decided to drop their attacks on Nixon, and the Republican Party went on to win another election!
1960 Presidential Election:
Vice President Richard Nixon was the obvious front-runner in the race, but the "kingmakers"were determined to nominate Nelson Rockefeller. A crafty politician indeed, Rockfeller carefully built his image over the years, employing his own 70-person public relations organization. Rockefeller campaigned hard and aggressively too. Most significant in the race, Rockefeller's campaign took sides with the Democrats against Ike/Nixon regarding the "missile gap" fallacy, the U-2 incident, and on Medicare.
Nixon was a formidable opponent of his own though, and he had spent years building strong political ties within the Republican Party. Rockefeller and the "kingmakers" had an uphill battle in front of them, and as the convention in Chicago drew closer, Rockefeller's chances kept fading.
On the Saturday before the start of the convention, Nixon traveled by invite to New York City to meet with the "kingmakers" at Rockefeller's Fifth Avenue apartment. About 8 hours later ... Nixon left the meeting in complete agreement with every change in the Republican Platform that Rockefeller demanded.
Republican activists everywhere understood what this sudden Nixon/Rockefeller alliance meant - Nixon had paid the price Taft refused! The rank-and-file Republicans became increasingly disgruntled with the new "me-too" platform, and this brought Senator Goldwater out swinging! He told the New York Times that Nixon's alliance with Rockefeller was a "surrender to Rockefeller," and an "unprecedented last-minute attempt" to enact the platform of "a spokesman for the ultra-liberals."
Goldwater proclaimed that the meeting in New York was nothing but "a bid to appease the Republican Left," that he "believe[s] this to be immoral politics," and "self-defeating." Goldwater predicted the Nixon/Rockefeller alliance would guarantee "a Republican defeat in November," and would "live in history as the Munich of the Republican Party."
theCL: Note that the "secret meeting" wasn't relegated to the "conspiracy theorists" then, was in fact, an open and prominent campaign issue.
Nixon chose "kingmaker" favorite Henry Cabot Lodge to be his running mate. Lodge was known already as an "internationalist." He also played key role in the smearing of both Senator Robert Taft and Senator Joseph McCarthy. Nixon/Lodge went on to drop the conservative and anti-communist rhetoric (which would win any election at the time) from the campaign, running another "me-too" platform, and pulling all their punches. The result was another loss. This time losing to Democrat John F. Kennedy.
Goldwater went after the Republican Party again! He stated the Nixon/Lodge ticket lost "not because we were Republican enough." In analyses of the rank-and-file discontent, Goldwater declared:
Eighty per cent of the delegates to the Republican National Convention in 1960 were Conservatives. They felt let down by the platform ... In the campaign, they became disenchanted; Nixon appeared to be just another me-too candidate ... These people do not feel that their concept of Republicanism is being reflected at the leadership level.
If this sounds all too familiar, that's because it is ... the same as it ever was ...
Even though they lost the election, the "kingmakers" were satisfied. They were leery of Nixon to begin with, yet confident that the Kennedy/Johnson Administration would continue their "America Last" foreign policy and New Deal (with the help of "their coterie of ADA advisors").
1964 Presidential Election:
1964 was a big year for grassroots conservatives! When Senator Barry Goldwater announced that he would seek the presidential nomination (responding to overwhelming grassroots support), conservative Americans were confident they had a genuine candidate who had not only the integrity of Robert Taft, but glamor of Eisenhower, and huge appeal to young Americans too ... in other words, a winner!
Goldwater didn't pull punches, campaigned squarely on the issues, and was the man most feared by the Left.
Finally ... a Republican candidate who offered "A Choice Not an Echo!"
We'll continue with the 1964 election in Part Four.
