and the Politics of American Presidential Nominations

IKUU^

s the chairman's gavel formally opened the

1996 Republican National Convention, a

curiously unremarked finalit)' settled over

the GOP. For the first time in a generation,

Harold E. Stasseir was not even a remote participant

in the nominating campaign. Ironically, Nebraska—

the final primai^ of the 1996 season—was the site of

Stassen's last electoral triumph: On , 1948

(his forty-first birthday), the fornrer gov­

ernor buried Thomas E. Dewey, Robert A. Taft, Earl

Warren, Douglas MacAiThur, and others in that

state's presidential primary. The Omaha World

Herald, attributing Stassen's \actory to the efficiency

of his organization and his "hard hand-shaking and

Alec Kirby received his Ph.D. from the George Washington University in 1992. He cur­ rently leaches American history and government at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

150 MINNESOTA HISTORY Harold Stassen, candidate for the 1948 Republican presidential nomincdion, speaking about rornmocUties

WINTER 199(i-97 151 SlASSEf^pU PHESiPEIIT

MINNESOTA DIVISION •*- 1 21 5 PIONEER BUI tDING, SAINT PAUL 1, MINN.

campaigning over a long period of time," titled leaders to voters, thus establishing the people, its editorial "A Major Contender"' rather than big business, as the center of grarity The inevitability of Senator Robert Dole in the political universe. By the close of the being the last World War 11 veteran on a presi­ Wilsonian era, the number of primaries had dential ticket has set the pundits to ruminating exploded to 26.2 about generational shifts in American politics. Yet the reform impulse was abandoned in But the disappearance of Stassen from the polit­ the post-World War I era, and the number of ical scene is particularly poignant. It is a curious primaries declined, never having noticeably fact that although his name appeared regularly achieved their purif)'ing promise. By the 1940s in the events of American politics and foreign smart presidential hopefuls were careful to affairs at midcentury, it is now mainly associated enter only those primaries they were confident vrith his many quixotic political campaigns. Yet of winning. They concentrated on meeting with the Minnesotan's pioneering career resulted in party leaders who controlled state delegates, enduring, systemic changes to American politi­ and primaries languished. Bosses, who had cal institutions. Perhaps most important, after never entirely lost their grip on power, once Stassen no successful aspirant would ever slight again ruled virtually unchallenged. In 1940 primary voters in favor of smoke-filled rooms , an ostensible newcomer to pol­ and party officials. itics, won the Republican nomination without Stassen was the first to exploit the power— competing in a single primary contest, instead then latent—of presidential primaries. In an winning over state-delegation chairmen. By eclipse taken for a permanent demise, presiden­ 1948 there were only five primaries in which tial primaries seemed in early 1948 to be little voters could directly select delegates pledged to more than quaint artifacts of the progressive support a specific candidate: New Hampshire, movement of the early twentieth century. Ac­ Wisconsin, Nebraska, Ohio, and Oregon. Pro­ cording to progressive cosmolog)', the American cedures for garnering delegates varied consider­ political universe featured big business as the ably from state to state, with Oregon the only metaphysical "first mover," yanking on strings winner-take-all primar)'.3 that directed the party bosses, who in turn pro­ duced suitably obedient candidates. Politics was n common vrisdom, George McGovern and a sordid affair progressives believed, with the were the first outsiders to do stench of smoke-filled rooms lacing candidates an end-run around party chieftains. They from both parties at all levels and branches of moved to the forefront of the Democratic government. Progressives were convinced that Party in 1972 and 1976 by vigorously campaign­ the key to a healthy change of political air was ing and doing well in primaries, thereby to transfer the power to nominate from party demonstrating strength and building enough

1 Omaha World Herald, Apr. 15, 1948, p. 10. 2 Michael D. Wormer, Election '84 (Washington, D.C: Congressional Quarterly, 1984), 27. 3 Wormer, Election '84, 29; Alec Kiiby, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: A Political Biography of Harold Stassen" (Ph.D. diss., George Washington University, 1992), 223.

152 MINNf:SOTA HISTORY momentum to make their candidacies unstop­ Minnesota's Republican Part)' and initiating lib­ pable. This is the strategy that Stassen pio­ eral reforms throughout his state, he emerged neered in 1948. as a leading spokesman for a more internation­ Forgotten today, Stassen's new approach was alist perspective in foreign policy. Credited with quite obvious to contemporarv observers. bringing labor peace to Minnesota after the tur­ ""Whether or not he finally realizes his ambition bulence of the earlier 1930s, the Stassen-crafted to be president," the Gazette editoriaf Labor Relations Act of 1939 sought to make the ized in April 1948, "Harold Stassen has already strike a tool of last resort and had the support earned a place in American political history. It of both business and labor The office of busi­ is even possible that he has brought into being a ness manager that he created to oversee all new type of political campaign as precedent- state purchasing and budgeting had brought setting in its way as William Heniy Harrison's state finances under efficient control, which portable log cabin and free-dowing cider bar­ along vrith a 7,000-persoii reduction in the state rel." Nationally syndicated columnist Thomas payroll made possible a sizable tax cut. Re­ Stokes noted that "the test by ballot . . . has signing his governorship in 1943, Stassen, \vho unveiled a new and formidable figure in Harold was in the army reserve, arranged a transfer to Stassen . . . [who] has forced a change in prima­ the U.S. Na-yy and served as an assistant to ry campaign technique." The MilivauheeJournal Admiral William F. Halsey. In 1945 President marveled, "The Stassen candidacy is beginning Franklin D. Roosevelt asked him to serve as a to assume the aspects of a true grass roots move­ member of the U.S. delegation to the San ment, the first this nation has seen for a long Francisco conference that drafted the United time." With considerable prescience, Newsweek Nations charter'^ observ-ed, "Political experts interested in long- Proving by his accomplishments to be a boy term trends say Stassen's success at the polls wonder with substance, "sudden Stassen" from may have revolutionized long-established meth­ the beginning proved irresistible to the national ods for seeking the presidential nomination. . . . media. "Even- move he made," one journalist In the future . . . candidates will frankly an­ recalled, "even' speech, was news. He was the nounce their intentions well in advance of elec­ youngest state in United States histo­ tion year and work openly for delegates to the ry, he was bold and unpredictable and coura­ conventions."-* geous and man-elotis newspaper copy."" Stassen had little choice but to seek alterna­ ^Atter his discharge from the iiav-y in 1945, tives to vrinning over the state-party bosses who Stassen began in earnest his quest of the Repub­ controlled delegates to the nominating conven­ lican nomination for president, an odyssey of tion. Out of office since 1943, he had refused to some 180,000 miles that made him, brieflv, challenge Minnesota's Republican Senator front-runner in the contest. Like the pilgrimage 's reelection bid in 1946, of Byron's Childe Harold, the journey was an instead supporting his hand-picked successor as epic of challenge and new experience. governor, Edward J. Thye, for the post. Given Stassen's later silence on the subject of revising : y arly in December 1946 election procedures, his vision of a popularly Bernhard W. Le'Vander, nominated candidate seems to reflect less a fun­ chairman of the Min­ damental belief in opening up politics than his nesota Republican Party, 41k personal faith in his potential as the choice of wrote to an associate that Stas­ the people.5 sen "has asked that we form Winning a surprise victory in Minnesota's the 'Stassen for President "Vol­ 1938 gubernatorial election, Stassen at age 31 unteers' . .. vrith Ed [Thye, U.S. had become the youngest elected governor in senator] and Luther f^'oungdabl, U.S. history. Quickly establishing control of governor] as Honoran' Chairmen."

* Arkansas Gazette, Apr. 9, 1948, p. 4; Oregon Daily Journal, May 11, 1948, sec. 2, p. 2; Milwaukee Jounrcd. quoted in Lincoln Journal, Apr. 15, 1948, p. 10; Newsweek, May 3, 1948, p. 11. 5 Thye later remarked that Stassen's decision to forgo the Senate led to talk about his lack of good judgment. Particularly bitter was , a member of Congress from Minnesota who tried to persuade him to run: "Stassen said, 'Oh, I'm not interested in tbe Senate. 1 want to go oul and talk about national affaiis and debate the issues'"; Walter Judd, interview by author, Washington, D.C, Aug. 3, 1989. 6 Time, Apr. 26, 1948, p. 22; Stassen, personal communication, Oct. 24, 1996. ' Bernard Weinraub, "The 1968 Nomination)'" Esquire, Aug. 1967, p. 99.

WINTER 1996-97 153 LeVander and Rose L. Spencer the state GOP versial issues of the day should be avoided and cochair, would serve as directors. The public the people should not be told our views upon "coming out" took place on December 17 at the them. . . . These riders of regal reaction hold Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. An­ that a position of photogenic availability nouncing that he was opening an office in the should be maintained until such time as a key nation's capital, Stassen told reporters, "I do group of their men, with delegates in their intend to be a candidate for the Republican pockets, make . . . secret deals for a nomina­ nomination in 1948. ... I intend to develop and tion.'^ present a definite, constructive and progressive "While the Stassen campaign's fundamental program to our Republican Party and on that strength lay in the grass roots, it was directed by basis 1 intend to permit my supporters to pre­ a closely knit organization involving prominent sent my name in Republican primaries and figures from business and government. The Republican conventions in 1948." Asked if he staffer destined for the greatest prominence was were truly a candidate, since he put the matter "Warren E. Burger, appointed chief justice of the in the future, the Minnesotan laughed, "Yes; U.S. Supreme Court in 1969. The same age as well, of course 1 am if you want to put it that Stassen, Burger was a St. Paul lawyer who had way. I am veiy frank and direct about it."''^ been active in Stassen's gubernatorial cam­ A year later in December 1947, Stassen, still paigns. He joined the presidential effort in the only candidate openly seeking the nomina­ January 1948 as chief of staff in charge of the tion, began emphasizing a major theme in his Minnesota campaign office. Later he was also campaign; the power to decide the nomination responsible for recruiting delegates at the vari­ should belong to the voters, not hand-picked ous state conventions and caucuses before lead­ delegates. Inveighing against the "presidential ing the effort to enlist new delegates at the pickers," he charged that it was national convention.'^ their riew that the correct thing to do is to go Although Burger assumed responsibility for through vei7 elaborate operations of looking a great deal of the campaign, his management the other way; that the difficult, hard contro- skills left something to be desired. Bernhard Le'Vander found it necessary to send several memos, respecdul but chiding in tone, remind­ ing the future chief justice of needed tasks. In Harold Stassen, about 1950, with subsequent Rejniblican governors February 1948, for example, LeVander com­ Edward J. Thye (center) and Luther W Youngdahl (right), the hon­ plained: "Just a reminder about posters of Stas­ orary chairs of his first presidentiaTnomination campaign sen. They vrill do us no good sitting in the store-

8 Bernhard W. LeVander to Ben Heinzen, Dec. 5, 1946, and Neighbor for Stassen, text of Stassen's press conference, box 97, Minnesota Republican State Central Committee Records (MRSCC), Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. Stassen's approach stood in sharp relief to the more conventional strateg)' of Senator Robert Taft, who 24 hours earlier sidestepped a question about his intentions; Washington Post, Dec. 17, 1946, p. 3; Dec. 18, 1946, p. 1. 9 Time, Dec. 1, 1947, p. 26. 1" For example, Alfred Eindley, a Minneapolis attorney of the Pillsbui7 family, oversaw the Minnesota Fund, which financed Stassen's travels. Amos Peaslee of New Jersey, an ambassador in the Eisenhower administration, ran Stassen's eastern headquarters in . Other active individuals included Jay Cooke, great-grandson of the Civil War financier, for­ mer EIndersecretary of tbe Navy Ralph Bard, and United Airlines president W^illiam Patterson; Time, Apr. 26, 1946, p. 23-24; Harold Stassen, telephone interviews by author, Jan. 30, 1988, Aug. 9, 1989; James T. Patterson, iMr Republican (Boston; Houghton Mifflin Co., 1972), 511; Bernhard LeVander, interview by author, St. Paul, July 19, 1988.

154 MINNESOTA HISTORY room and should be allocated for use in the pri­ he would be an mary' states." Another memo that month report­ effective means to ed: "In checking up I find that some of our that end.'3 State Managers bav-e not as vet gotten the list of While Stassen managers in other states. ... I thought we had it took pride in the understood nvo weeks ago that such a list would grass-roots nature be sent to all men in the field." A letter from of his effort, his one campaign official, Robert Herberger, to opponents held another, Daniel C. Gaiiiev, grumbled, "Several the more tradi­ people here in Chicago gave me the same stoi7 tional perspective I have heard frequently in Minnesota—namely, that party leaders that it was next to impossible to get an answer should choose the to any letters sent to Harold's St. Paul office . . . nominee. A memo it does make it difficult for enthusiastic Stassen prepared for can­ workers to be constantly reminded of the fact didate Robert Taft that letters to Stassen go unanswered."" of Ohio analyzing Stassen's campaign techniques paint­ lanagerial shortcomings aside, the ed his efforts in Stassen organization was an efficient somewhat sinis­ team. In 1948, as from the start of his ter colors: "The MI career , the candidate's true electoral modus operandi steel was an alloy of young people new to poli­ of Harold E. Stas­ tics, forged to strength in the heat of a frenzied sen and his co­ Warren E. Burger, luho directed Stassen 's crusade. In 1938 the Young Republican League, horts is by this Minnesota campaign office, about 1944 which Stassen had organized, served as a font of time pretty well eager volunteers, augmented by what Timehilled known in political as a "rowdy, pistol-shooting horse-riding organi­ circles: the thor­ zation from the Sotith St. Paul Stockyards, called ough tactics of infiltration into a contested area, the 'Hook-em cow's.'"i'2 Actually consisting of of bringing in outside ^vorkers, of the 'Paul genteel Republican activists, this group distrib­ Revere Riders' etc."!-* uted literature and urged voters to the polls. By The Paul Revere Riders stood at the apex of 1948 Stassen oversaw a massive successor organi­ the Stassen for President Volunteers. The larg­ zation with the more dignified name, Paul est component of this organization, however Revere Riders. The Riders stimulated and chan­ was the mighty Neighbors for Stassen, formed neled activist energy for Stassen and became a in late 1946 and chaired by Daniel Gaiiiey of force in the prinian states. Owatonna and Isabel Gale of Mound. Its princi­ Like Stassen himself, the enthusiastic youth pal task was promotional—reaching the friends, that galvanized his campaigns were educated relatives, and acquaintances of Stassen support­ and upwardly mobile; the Riders represented ers bv letter and personal contact. This was a less prairie populism than urban pioneering concept, a campaign structure creat­ professionalism. The Stassen- ed not to round up delegates and official party ites considered themselves backing but instead to create a blaze of grass­ reasonable, sophisticated, roots support—with the hope that the restilting and progressive voters. They heat would warm party leaders to Stassen. sought honest, efficient gov­ LeVander, the director of the Stassen for ernment as well as growing President Volunteers, noted that the Neiehbors national and international "has no direct relationship to the political oper­ markets, and Stassen's guber­ ation of seeking delegates [handled by the natorial record indicated that Volunteers], but can have a substantial bearing

" LeVander to Burger, Feb. 19, Feb. 20, 1948; G. R. Herberger to Daniel Gaiiun-, Oct. 4, 1947—all box 97, MRSCC Records. 12 Time, Apr. 29. 1940, p. 16. '3 Dale Ki-amer, "Progress of a Prodigy," Neio Rejmblic, Apr. 19, 1948, p. 13. '•* Unsigned, undated "Memo on Stassen," box 1288, Papers of Robert T;ift, Manuscript Di\isi(in, Eibiaiy of Congress, Washington, D.C.

WINTER 199li-97 155 Young Stassen supporters, who campaigned hard for their candidate in gubernatorial and presidential elections

156 MINNESOTA HISTORY on that subject by influencing public support throughout the couiitry."'^ Financed by the Volunteers, the Neighbors charged no dues, raised no money and sought no endorsements. Each Neighbor was to locate people eager to participate, keep them in­ formed of Stassen's activities, and convince them to make their own contacts. The names of all individuals reached were sent to the group's Minneapolis office where a central file was com­ piled. The office supplied kits containing infor­ mation about Stassen and a model letter to use when wTiting to acquaintances."^ By June 1947, according to an internal memo, there were 4,100 Minnesota and 9,000 out-of-state Neighbors, representing every state in the union. The memo noted, moreover that these were recorded, minimum figures. By Jan­ uary 1948 the enrollment list had mushroomed to nearly 30,000—twice the number of GOP workers on the national Republican mailing list—before peaking at 49,000 in April 1948.i^ During the summer of 1947, Mark A. Forgette, executive director of the Neighbors, began organizing voter-specific subsidiaries of the organization, such as Secretaries for Stassen and Students for Stassen. For almost a year he dashed around the counti")', leaving in his wake teachers, insurance salesmen, veterans, and oth­ ers in pro-Stassen groups. The specialization sometimes reached unusual extremes. For example, a man from Pipestone, Minnesota, organized a Former F.B.I. Agents for Stassen club that eventually sent literature to more than 100 members.'''^ Its very success rendered the Neighbors ob­ solete, as the Minneapolis office could no longer effectively coordinate the local contacts burgeoning across the countr)'. In March 1948 the group was replaced with a new organiza­ tion. Citizens for Stassen, which still served as a branch of the Stassen for President Volunteers.

'-'' LeVander, Stassen for President Volunteers, Minnesota Division, newsletter, Feb. 11, 1947, and Mark Forgette to Daniel C Gainey, Jan. 3, 1948, both box 97, MRSCC Records. 16 Mark Forgette to Dear Sir, May 9, 1947, box 97, MRSCC Records. '^ Mark Forgette, "Report to Liaison Men on Neighbors for Stassen," June 25, 1947; Forgette to Gainey, Jan. 3, 1948, both box 97, MRSCC Records. I''* See, for example, Morris B. Mitchell, Minnesota Ea\'vyers for Stassen Committee newsletter, Aug. 19, 1947; LeVander to Forgette, May 23, June 18, 1947: Marshall W. Houts to LeVander, Mar. 20, 1947—all box 97, MRSCC Records.

WINTER 199(i-97 157 tain prominent roles for individuals, each group was to enroll no more than 25 members. 10 reasons why I am for Chapters were advised to undertake activities they could most effectively can^ out, for exam­ ple, sponsoring the formation of at least four other chapters, promoting special groups such HAROLD STASSEN as Students or Veterans for Stassen, concentrat­ ing on fund raising for the national campaign, FOR PRESIDENT or forming a contact committee to visit local Republican leaders and urge them to support Harold Stassen.'-' Citizens for Stassen represented an evolu­ tion in the campaign, yet the outside-party- channels philosophy remained the core feature. "By showing great popular support for Harold ]|, He is forthright, courageous and con­ Stassen, delegates will be induenced to support structive ... qualities of leadership which him at the convention," a Citizens dyer noted. •we need. The crux of demonstrating popular support, 2. He is an exceptional administrator . . . however, was defeating his rivals in the pri­ has proved he can make government maries, especially those in which a rival was •work. favored to win. It was this strategy that turned 3. He is a recognized authority on foreign Stassen from a dark horse to a temporaiv' front- affairs . . . knows how to deal with Rus­ sia and other world problems. runner

4. He is humanitarian . . . with deep under­ standing of problems of average citizens. n "Wednesday morning, April 14, 1948, Robert Taft stood in the Senate cloak­ 5. He is independent . . . blends construc­ room glumly watching the returns from tively conserv'ative and liberal views. n the Nebraska primary come through a 6. He has vision and foresight . . . with im­ news ticker. A colleague asked, "Is Stassen still agination to think ahead. winning?" "Yes," Taft replied, adding hopefully, 7. He understands American problems . . . "But Dewey and I together have more votes His book "Where I Stand" has a positive than he has." The senator was correct, but just program for America. barely; in the final returns Stassen received 43 8. He is an able speaker . . . knows cam­ percent of the vote, while Dewey followed with paigning, knows how to reach the people. 35 percent and Taft placed third with 11 per­ 9. He is a veteran ... understands the prob­ cent. Six days earlier a Stassen supporter, excit­ lems of veterans and youth. ed by the candidate's stunning Wisconsin tri­ 10. He con win . . . attracts support of all umph, exclaimed, "The prairies are on fire and groups; has tremendous personal and getting hotter for Stassen all the time."2" They political appeal. would never be hotter than in the aftermath of these two back-to-back wins, following an impressive showing in New Hampshire. 'He is a potent contender increasingly likely to win While publicly inveighing against the sys­ WITH OUR HELP! "proclaims the inside of this tem, Stassen was practical enough to work assid- Neighbors fcrr Stassen brochure, 1947-48. tioush' to court party leaders. This was particu­ larly true in WTsconsin, where he won over Thomas E. Coleman, the former state GOP chairman who still serx'ed on the parts- commit­ Now, however, coordination was decentralized tee and reputedly controlled a vast political through a nationwide network of volunteer machine. Through Coleman, Stassen secured groups chartered by the Minneapolis headquar­ the support of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, ters. Seeking to preserve local davor and main­ whom Victor Johnston, Stassen's publicit)' direc-

19 Here and below. Citizens for Stassen, "How to Organize a Chapter of Citizens for Stassen," n. d., box 97, MRSCC Records. -" Time, Apr. 19, 1948, p. 20, Apr. 26, 1948, p. 23.

158 MINNESOTA HfSTORY tor had served as a campaign aide and adminis­ taken in the form of acti\-e support for Taft.'-'' In trative assistant. Johnston was convinced that each primary- state, then, Stassen clearh- had to Willkie's 1944 drubbing in the Wisconsin presi­ look for support in some other place than the dential primary could be ascribed to his effron­ part}' liierarch\-. tery to party leaders, a mistake Stassen should Stassen's strategy, beginning with New not repeat. "Care should be taken," he ad\ised, Hampshire, tvas to run a highly personal cam­ "not to . . . antagonize the regular Republican paign at the grass-roots le^-el. As a niidwesterner organization" by endorsing delegate candidates he never developed in the Granite State the not acceptable to the partv leadership. "This large, devoted following that would appear for does not mean," he continued, "that hide­ him elsewhere. Indeed, as supporters of Dwight bound reactionaries should be selected but it D. Eisenhower began organizing a campaign must be remembered at all times that these deb before the general's disavowal in late Jantiarv, egates are running as Republicans."^i Stassen sought to duck a contest in the state Indeed, the Stassen campaign had launched entirely. He urged the Dewey-for-President a frenzied effort to court party leaders at the forces to join him in con\incing New Wisconsin Republican state convention in the Hampshire Senator Styles Bridges summer of 1947. Success was limited, and to become a favorite-son candi­ prominent officials planted themselves in his date, hoping that a Bridges opponents' corners, particularly that of Douglas slate of delegates would defer MaCi'^rthur who enjoyed the support of former any show of strength by Progressive Governor Philip F. La Follette and Eisenhower until the campaign Secretaiv' of State Fred R. Zimmerman. ^^Tlile it moved to Wisconsin, where was unclear to what extent Republican regulars Stassen faced better odds. would be able to reconcile themselves to work­ Preferring for the same reason ing with La Follette, Zimmerman's activism to make his stand in the East, seemed a dangerous threat to Stassen. The sec­ Dewey, governor of New York, retaiv of state employed his office as a veritable refused the gambit.'--* campaign headquarters, sending out Mac- So Stassen plowed ahead, running as if for Arthur literature—apparently at state expense. sheriff, shaking hands and kissing babies. The McCarthy promptly one-upped him, mailing a Concord Daily Mondor called it the "most unusual pro-Stassen letter on officialTooking stationary Presidential priniar)' campaign in New Hamp­ •with U.S. Senate letterhead.22 shire history'," noting the candidates' different Official support was lukewarm in Wisconsin, methods: the Dewev campaign "prepared an but Stassen faced a down-right hostile GOP avalanche of 10,000 pieces of mailed literature," structure in Nebraska. Two years earlier he had while Stassen embarked on a "whirlwind" tour, supported then-Governor Dwight Griswold's bid including speeches and receptions. Similarly, to wrest the Republican senatorial nomination the Portsmouth Herald observed, "Mr. Stassen from the isolationist incumbent Hugh Butler approaches the presidency with no sign of old- and received a stinging rebuke in Butler's two- line party affiliation. . . . He was frank in his to-one victory. With some glee the Chicago opinions, engaging in his manner and he made Tribune asserted its belief that the defeat ren­ no abject bows to the powerful state Republican dered Stassen "as dead politically as Willkie machine. . . . Dewey, on the other hand, rode after the Wisconsin primary in 1944." Stassen into our state on a well-oiled machine created now faced a senator in control of a powerful to grind out votes and pass out political statewide machine and hankering for revenge. appointments."2:"^

2' Stassen, telephone interview by author, Aug. 7, 1988; Vic Johnston, "Plan for Wisconsin," box 97, MRSCC Records. -'-' Forgette to Gainey, June 19, 1947, box 97, MRSCC; Recotds; Nnv Ymk Times, Apr. 4, 1948, sec. 6. p. 12: Wisconsin State Joimral, Mar. 10, 1948, p. 6, Mar. 215, 1948, p. 13. A stiaw poll taken at tbe convention showed De\s'e\ with 321 votes to Stassen's 286; Joseph McCarthy to "Dear Folks," Mar. 31, 1948, box 1288, Taft papers. -'•'• Chicago Tribune, quoted in Time, Mar. 25, 1946, p. 22-23; J.A.W. to Robert Taft, June 3. 1948, box 1288, Taft papers. 2-* Concord Daily Monitor, ]3.n. 19, 1948, p. 1, 8. 25 Concord Daily Monitor, Feb. 28, 1948, p. 1; Portsmouth Herald, quoted in Cnncord Daily Mondor; Feb. 28, 1948, p. 4.

WINTER 1996-97 159 nation, had used a caravan of cars, which proved awkward. Trains and airplanes had obvi­ ous drawbacks in a rural state. With the rear seats of the bus removed, reporters (usually four or five, although in the final week this number jumped to more than a dozen) were provided with a work table for their tj'pewriters and a mimeograph machine. Between towns Stassen typically held impromptu press confer­ ences; when the bus arrived at its destination, a messenger from Western Union collected and filed the news stories recorded on the road.2'? Stassen's initial prospects did not look good. A straw poll conducted by a Green Bay radio sta­ tion in mid-March showed MacArthur the clear favorite, with Stassen placing a distant third behind Dewey. Moreover, Stassen was being heavily outspent. According to reports filed with the Wisconsin secretary of state on March 30, Dewey had used $23,854 up to that point—a considerable sum, though less than the $29,671 spent by MacArthur Stassen's energetic grass­ roots campaign had expended a mere $14,861. Undaunted, the Minnesotan stepped up his "The Republicans could win with Stassen." campaign, attracting respect and attention. A dynamic, lorward-looking Republican party can win in 1948, and the country "Here is Mr. Stassen," observed one editorial will benefit. echoing an increasingly typical sentiment, Its candidate must be a nian who can furnish winning leadership, and do a good job when elected. "touting the hamlets of the state, volunteering his views on the most explosive issues. . . . Contrast that formula with those of Gov. Dewey Page from a campaign booklet circulated in Oregon, 1948 out in Albany. He hasn't said six words on a national or international problem. And he gives no one a chance to ask him."28 In the March 9 primal^, six Dewey delegate On a Saturday afternoon in early April, 150 candidates were elected, against two for Stassen. Universit)' of Wisconsin students, calling them­ Reaction to the vote was mixed, ranging from selves the Stassen Minutemen, went door to the Wisconsin State Journals view that it was a set­ door in Madison, dispensing campaign litera­ back for Stassen to the Associated Press report ture and urging voters to the polls. Already at that the Minnesotan had "kept himself in the work were the Paul Revere Riders, who drove thick of the race." Joseph McCarthy -went so far around leadeting doorways and parking lots. In as to predict that Dewey would withdraw from the week before the election, 340 carloads of the rest of the primaries after the "squeaker in Riders had blanketed 1,000 towns and villages. his own backyard."2fi Meanwiiile, Stassen supporters were celebrating Hunting to Wisconsin, Stassen began what mud. Recent rains had soaked farmland, which would be his standard mode of travel while Wilbur Renk, a farmer and Stassen-delegate campaigning in the primaries—a chartered bus hopeful, saw as a good sign; "Farmers won't be that took the candidate and attending reporters in their fields by election day. . . . And that's wherever a crowd might be gathered. The bus good for Stassen, who is strong on the farms." was somewhat of an innovative idea. In 1944 in The weather forecast for election day called for Wisconsin, Willkie, hoping for a second nomi­ partly cloudy skies with scattered showers.29

26 Wisconsin State Journal, Mar. 10, 1948, p. 1, p. 10 (Associated Press quote). 27 Wisconsin Slate Journal, Mar. 7, 1948, p. 10. 28 Wisconsin State Journal, Mar. 17, 1948, p. 21, Mar. 26, 1948, p. 6; Milwaukee Journal, Mar. 30, 1948, p. 6. 29 Wisconsin State Journal, Apr. 4, 1948, p. 1; Richard Norton Smith, Thomas E. Dewey and His Times (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982), 485; Milwaukee Journal, Apr. 1, 1948, p. 28.

160 MINNESOTA HISTORY The hoped-for rain did not materialize, but Ra)'niond McConnellJr Pss, editor of the Journal it hardly mattered for Stassen. The results were newspapers in Lincoln, McConnell had no not even close. Nineteen of Stassen's delegate interest in a boring primarv' and formed his candidates were elected. MacArthur finished committee to pull eveiy possible contender into second with eight. Dewey received none.^o the race. He reasoned—correctly—that no politician could afford a humiliating loss. Once he impact of the election was best put by on the ballot, a candidate would be compelled the Wisconsin State Joumcik "Wisconsin has to campaign in the state to defend his honor given the nation—and the world—some­ Vandenberg, however had no desire to get in thing startling—and refreshing—to think Stassen's way in Nebraska and bitterly resented Tabout. By lifting Harold E. Stassen to a tremen­ being placed on the ballot. Stassen cotdd only dous, phenomenal victory, it has given notice praise the senator and deny that he saw Van­ that the people demand the voice in making denberg as a threat.'^'' their president this time. It tells the anxious The Minnesotan could have pointed out kingmakers that the Republican nominee that his commitment to internationalism is not to be picked from a smoke- predated that of the Michigan sena­ filled room." Another editorial tor 'WTiile Minnesota and its GOP, noted that "Harold Stassen trav­ led by Senators Ernest Lundeen eled the highways and b)'ways, Jz^'t^ and Henrik Shipstead, had in he talked to the people, he stat­ the late 1930s been a sturdy bul- ed his views frankly." This did I wark of isolationism, by the late not impress everyone. Taft dis­ 1940s Stassen had thoroughly missed Stassen's victory- as due STASSEN refashioned the party, giving it a merely to personal campaign­ more active, eager posture ing. Also down-playing the victo­ toward foreign affairs. By his ry was Dewey, who managed to say own account, his internationalism that April 6 had been a "prett)' good was less a product of philosophical day" for him. He noted that the delega­ redection than political calculation: "I tion from New York would provide him with 90 looked at the enlistment rates in the navy," convention seats, which alone gave him a hefty- Stassen recalled many years later "I found that lead in the delegate count.^' Minnesota had the highest enlistment rate per Dewey missed the point. Unlike any GOP 100 in the countiy ... I looked at that and said, candidate in the history of the party, Stassen 'Isolationism, hell!'" By the time he served as had bypassed the leadership and propelled him­ Willkie's floor manager at the 1940 Republican self to the front of the pack in what syndicated convention, he was firmly planted in the inter­ columnist Marquis Childs called a "minor revo­ nationalist wing of the GOP.34 lution."^2 The upcoming Nebraska contest pre­ Stassen had initiated his Nebraska campaign sented the opportunit)' to strengthen his posi­ long before McConnell set about his schemes. tion, yet there seemed insuperable obstacles. In By late 1947 the Minnesotan had won the sup­ addition to the Butler machine, the liberal port of State Senator Fred A. Seaton, who internationalist vote was split by the most unwilL agreed to serve as his Nebraska campaign man­ ing placement on the ballot of Michigan ager. In January 1948, at Stassen's request, Senator , whose views were LeVander flew to Omaha to meet with Seaton. similar to Stassen's and who was not planning to In a memo to Warren Burger, LeVander related run for the presidency. that Seaton had called attention to the "utter Vandenberg's dilemma stemmed from the lack of any Stassen organization in Nebraska" machinations of the Nebraska Bi-Partisan where the state GOP "is predominantly Taft at Committee, the brainchild of 32-year-old this time."35

30 Wisconsin State Journal, Apr. 8, 1948, p. 1,2. 31 Wisconsin State Journal, Apr. 7, 1948, p. 6, 9; Milwaukee foumal. Apr. 7, 1948, p. 16. 32 Wisconsin State Journal, Apr. 9, 1948, p. 7. 33 Newsweek, Apr. 5, 1948, p. 22; Nebraska Stale Journal, Mar. 2 and 4, 1948, both p. 1; Sinclair Lewis to Arthur Vandenberg, May 2, 1948, and Vandenberg to Raymond McConnellJr., Mar. 1, 1948, both box 3, Papers of Arthur Vandenberg, Bendey Historical Eibraiy, Universit)' of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 3-* Stassen interview, Jan. 30, 1988. 35 LeVander to Burger, Jan. 17, 1948, box 97, MRSCC Records.

WINTER 1996-97 161 Undaunted, Stassen hurled himself at the •p^k residential aspirants rarely entered pri- contest, engaging in virtually nonstop personal " t maries in the home state of any oppo­ campaigning. On April 10 his organization nent. An outlander was not likely to vdn played its final ace, as the Paul Revere Riders against a hometown hero, and nobody took to the streets. Roughly 1,000 Stassen sup­ wanted to be tinged with defeat. Moreover, porters piled into some 250 cars, driving to opposing a candidate on his home ground nearby towns to greet people and distribute could turn a potential ally into a bitter enemy at Stassen materials. The volunteers reached more the national convention. Thus, Stassen's deci­ than 400 towns and cities in all 93 counties and sion to run against Taft in Ohio raised eyebrows. handed out 125,000 pieces of Hterature.36 The choice was not made cavalierly. In the On the morning of April 13, as Nebraskans summer of 1947 Stassen went to Columbus to were going to the polls, Stassen and his wife, deliver an address. Accompanying him was Esther, attended a breakfast hosted by the LeVander who described the trip in a memo to Nebraska campaign staff in honor of his forty- Fred J. Hughes, a St. Cloud attorney. Hughes first birthday. Then they departed for St. Paul, responded, arguing forcefully against challeng­ where they soon started receiving calls from ing Taft on his home turf. It appeared, Hughes excited supporters. From the moment returns noted, that Stassen's reception in Ohio "lacked began to be reported, Stassen never lost the the spontaneity and drive which characterizes lead. Dewey could muster victories in only 7 of our affairs." As a result, "we should stay out of the 93 counties. In the largest turnout for a pri­ Ohio. The small numerical gain, as well as the mary in Nebraska history, Stassen polled 80,522 larger psychological which would come from a votes—an amazing 43 percent of the total in a few delegates garnered in Ohio, would not justi­ seven-candidate field. Dewey trailed with 35 per­ fy' our risking the loss of a friendly disposition." cent, while Taft garnered a surprisingly dismal Persuaded, LeVander urged Stassen to pass.3'8 II percent. Far behind, with less than 5 percent Disagreeing was Earl E. Hart, a Buckeye- each, finished Vandenberg, MacArthur, Earl state native and the manager of Stassen's Wash­ Warren, and Joseph Martin in that order37 ington, D.C, headquarters. In November, at Stassen's request. Hart visited Dayton, Cleve­ land, Youngstown, Toledo, and Akron and came back enthusiastic. "I have told the governor" Hart wrote LeVander, "there are Stassen dele­ Isolationist and internationalists: Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie (center), with Stassen and Minnesota's U.S. gates in Ohio if he wanted to go in there and Senator Henrik Shipstead, 1940. get them." A distraught LeVander fired off his own memo to Stassen, in which he objected that Hart's conclusions "do not seem entirely war­ ranted by what he reports the feeling is at the meetings. If these men advise us to stay out of Ohio giving Taft the right of way, it is hard for me to conceive how they would be willing to carry on the campaign on your behalf. "39 Hart, however was determined. In January 1948, before Stassen made a final decision. Hart visited his home state to organize a slate of dele­ gate candidates. In an extraordinary memo to LeVander, he noted that Stassen would not decide until the end of the month but acted as if the matter were settled: "This was a hard deci­ sion for the governor to make and of course it is a big gamble. However . . . my judgment is we can win some delegates."*9

36 Omaha World Her-ald, Apr. 12, 1948, p. 2. 3'7 Nebraska State Journal, Apr. 14, 1948, p. 1. 38 Hughes to LeVander, Aug. 22, 1947, box 99, MRSCC Records; LeVander interview, July 19, 1988. 39 Hart to LeVander, Dec. 8, 1947, and LeVander to Stassen, Dec. 11, 1947, both box 100, MRSCC Records. 40 Hart to LeVander, Jan. 14, 1948, box 100, MRSCC Records.

162 MINNESOTA HISTORY Whatever reasoning Stassen may have employed in taking Hart's advice, a monumen­ tal miscalculation lay at its core: Stassen's con­ viction that unionized workers in industrial areas, angered by the Taft-Hartley Labor- Management Relations Act of 1947 that restrict­ ed organized labor would vent their hostilit)' by voting against its principal sponsor Yet only days after Stassen committed himself to a Buckeye State contest, a Gallup poll reported that voters were becoming less—not more— S)'mpathetic to organized labor's effort to repeal or revise Taft-Hartley.-" More important, Stasseir was trapped by his own effort to retain his support among the well- heeled while winning over workers. In 1947 his campaign organization had celebrated his influence in shaping the Taft-Hartley act. Now, seeking labor support, Stassen focused on his differences with it. In particular he criticized the section that required all union officers to sign affidavits that they were not Communists. "It is against the American grain," he charged. The Taft campaign pounced on the inconsisten­ cy of objecting to the anti-Communist provi­ sions of Taft-Hartley and Stassen's support for outlawing the Communist Party.42 Pressing his advantage, Taft marshaled all of his resources to focus on Stassen's record on labor Early in 1948 the Congressional Joint Committee on Labor-Management, chaired by Republican hopeful Robert A. Taft m Northfield, about 1945 Stassen's Minnesota nemesis. Republican Senator Joseph Ball, and having Taft as second- ranking member launched an investigation of Stassen's labor record in Minnesota "with a view Taft captured 14 of the 23 districts where to making a comparison with the restriction Stassen had competed for delegates, leaving 9 upon unions provided by the Taft-Hartley labor to the Minnesotan. While each side gamely law." Thomas Shroyer, chief counsel for the declared victory, the Oregon Daily Journal ielt committee, reported, "Generally speaking, the that the election had damaged both camps, a Minnesota law is considerably more drastic" in significant opinion since Oregon was the site of dealing with internal regulation, the right to the next—and final—piimary' on May 21, which strike, and enforcement of labor laws. Shroyer's would pit Stassen and Dewey in a one-on-one points surfaced in Taft's public remarks in the contest.-*•* closing days of the campaign.-^3 Suddenly, it was as though the identities of The result of the May 4 primaiy was mixed. the two men had been switched. Dewey began

41 Nebraska State Journal, Feb. 18, 1948, p. 3. 42 Address of Harold E. Stassen at Macomber High School, Toledo, Ohio, Apr. 22, 1948, p. 10, 11, and unsigned, undated memo to Robert Taft, both box 1288, Taft papers. LIpon passage of Taft-Hardey, the Stassen campaign reported, "It is well worth noting how much the final verdict resembles the proposals made by Stassen," who had supported, among other issues, provisions against; strikes in essential industries, jurisdictional strikes, and secondaiy boycotts; Minnesota Letler,]une 12, 1947, p. 1-2, box 97, MRSCC Records. •13 Thomas E. Shroyer to Robert A. Taft, Apr. 23, 1948, box 1288, Taft papers. Stassen had appointed Ball to the Senate in 1940 and supported him for election in 1942. The nvo had a serious falling out in 1944, \vhen the senator supported Roosevelt against Thomas Dewey. FDR carried Minnesota, and state Republicans, including Stassen, felt that Ball had "sold out"; Joseph Ball to author, June 18, 1988. ** Or~egon Daily Journal, May 5, 1948, p. 18.

WINTER 199li-97 163 as a seedbed of communism and called for a bipartisan program to root out the party, developed and implemented "through the cooperation of the President and the Attor­ ney General of the United States, the Governor and the Attorney General of the State of New York, the Mayor and the Prosecutor of the Citv' of New York." If the point was too subtle, Stassen closed by noting that before his election as governor, Minnesota, like New York, had been "one of the centers of Communist activi­ ty." He had rid the state of the scourge, and now "for years Minnesota has had less than her share of national Communist difficulties." Finally, he demanded that the Communist Party be banned.46 Tom Swafford, a young program director at radio station KPOJ in Portland, seized on the Thomas E. Dewey campaigning in Alinneapolis, probably 1944 idea of a debate between the two Republican candidates, focusing on the issue. Quickly orga­ nized, the debate was scheduled for May 17. Stassen, who had only recently appeared in the appearing at local barbecues and state fairs, state, arrived in Pendleton the day before, smiling benignly at small children and hanging already behind schedule. After hastily greeting ribbons around prize hogs before showing his 600 people at the airport, he launched a furious teeth to shocked reporters. Stassen, meanwhile, day of personal campaigning, with no time for was . . . where? In Ohio? Virginia? rest and study. Lariy Howes, a reporter for the Arkansas? With a breathtakingly overcrowded Oregon State Journal, observed, "Although still schedule, he was fiddling in relatively unimpor­ energetic, Stassen was beginning to show the tant places while his chances in crucial Oregon strain of . . . campaigning." Weary and ill, Stas­ burned to the ground. "We kept telling him, sen met Dewey for the pivotal debate.4'' screaming at him, to come out there," LeVan­ The contest focused on the question "Shall der recalled. "WTien he finally came, he was in the Communist Party in the United States be bad shape physically. ... he was a sick man, run­ outlawed?" and was carried by 900 radio stations ning a 102 degree temperature." Suffering from nationwide. Millions of listeners tuned in; when the flu and wearied by a grueling schedule, the debate began, telephone operators reported Stassen could not make up the ground he had that long-distance calls dropped by 25 percent.48 lost to Dewey, territory Stassen had commanded Those who listened heard Stassen self- only weeks before the primar)'. Indeed, the New destruct. Swafford recalled that the Minnesotan, Yorker had considered abandoning the Oregon responding to Dewey's opening statement, "was contest, thinking it hopeless."i^ wearing the kind of half smile a boxer puts on Poor scheduling was only part of the prob­ after taking a damaging blow when he wants the lem. More serious was a major tactical error judges to think it didn't hurt. The radio audi­ Stassen had made almost one year before: to tar ence couldn't see that, of course, but it could Dewey with the brush of Communist s)'mpathy. hear the uncertain, diffident deliver)' that had In June 1947, in a nationally broadcast radio replaced the earlier booming confidence." The address, Stassen had recited conventional wis­ one-hour debate was a disaster dom that labor disputes could be traced to Outcampaigned, outspent, and outdebated, Communists. He then specifically identified Stassen was stopped in his tracks. In a heavy

45 LeVander intertiew, July 19, 1988; Smith, Dewey and His Times, 26. 46 Harold Stassen, "Address of Harold E. Stassen over the National Broadcasting System," June 14, 1947, EIPA 6, University Archives and Records Center, University of Pennsylvania, . •17 Oregon Daily Jounial, May 16, 1948, p. 2. 48 Here and below, Tom Swafford, telephone inteniew by author, Aug. 28, 1988; Swafford, "The East Real Presidential Debate," American Heritage?,! (Feb.-Mar. 1986): 69, 71; Oregon Daily Journal, May 18, 1948, p. 1.

164 MINNESOTA HISTORY turnout on May 21, Dewey garnered 113,350 votes to Stassen's 104,211 in the winner-take-all race. The next morning Stassen, at his home in yWtlieMeW^^atki^tumefooic St. Paul, conceded the election to Dewey. Staffer Warren Burger blamed the defeat on "the most monumental campaign we have yet been up against. "49

fter the end of the primaiy season, the candidates and their supporters headed toward Philadelphia for the national A convention in late June. The Stassen forces could not dispel the notion that their baL loon had been punctured. Still, they gamely tried to revive enthusiasm. According to News­ week, "For sheer noise and circus tactics the Stas­ sen demonstration outdid all others," going so „ , . , , 346W57-C0lumbs5-S544 far as to parade a young girl through the hall in Brodenck Jos H Democratic Asm !S7SBwa,-RIvrs(le 9-9H2 Carver Democratic Club Inc a boat while demonstrators screamed, "Man the 1723AmstrdmAi/-EDgecomb 4-7293 Century Republican Club Ific oars, ride the crest, Harold Stassen, he's the ,-,..,• t,. . 309W23-CHelsa3-92'13 Calunrblan Republican League Inc 88Mad-BEekmn 3-9749 best!" But on the first ballot Stassen could only Communist Party Of The U S A Natl Office 35E12 ALgn

49 R. -W. Hitchcock to Fellow Delegates, June 3, 1948, box 1288, Taft papers; Oregcm Daily Journal, May 23, 1948, p. 1. 59 Newsweek,]u\y 5, 1948, p. 16. SI In contrast to this popular support, only 77 of tbe 1,094 delegates to the Republican national convention had been chosen by primary voters to support specific candidates: 45 for Stassen, 18 for Dewey, and 14 for Taft; Hitchcock to Fellow Delegates, June 3, 1948.

All imciges are in the Minnesota Historical Society collections, including p. 152, 158, 160, 165, and the campaign bullous, all from the Minnesota Republican State Central Committee Records.

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