Adlai E. Stevenson: Last Chance by Richard L. Neuberger Reprinted from The Progressive • Madison, Wisconsin • 1960 Adlai E. Stevenson: Last Chance by RICHARD L. NEUBERGER N 1956, after his second defeat lor their lapel or bosom at the moment. doubt, he probably would be a cer- I the Presidency, Adlai E. Stevenson This was vividly demonstrated at the tainty for the nomination in 1960. made a statement regarding the high- banquet in New York honoring Elea- But Stevenson has been beaten twice. est elective office in the free world nor Roosevelt's 75th birthday. Most One defeat was by a margin of which was both renunciatory and of the Democratic White House po- 6,500,000 votes, the other by 9,500,000. philosophical. He said, "1 can con- tentials were present. Stevenson re- These were not photo-finishes. They template in tranquillity the distinct ceived by far the most vociferous ova- were landslides. Over and against this possibility that I will never he Presi- tion. Raymond P. Brandt wrote in is the dry comment of Palmer Hoyt dent of the United States." the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that only of the Denver Post: "Who could have licked George Washington? That was Because millions of his fellow Stevenson and Mrs. Roosevelt herself how General Eisenhower was pre- Americans do not share this tran- "came away with increased popular- sented to the American people." quillity, Stevenson continues to be re- ity and respect." garded as the most likely nominee of Stevenson has told me that he will his party for the third consecutive not spend a four-cent postage stamp This is the great behind-the-scenes time. Many Stevenson enthusiasts hap- to win the Democratic nomination. debate within Democratic ranks re- pen to be intellectuals, civic leaders, He is personally fond of both Hum- gar'1 iag Adlai Stevenson. Were 1952 and generous campaign contributors. phrey and Kennedy, and he has and 1956 fair tests of his national They might be called the catalytic given each of them a sort of may-the- vote-corraling ability? If they accu- agent of the Democratic Party. They best-man-win benediction. But if a rately measured his appeal, then Dem- are what make the water fizz. They stalemate should occur at the Los ocratic Party delegates will shy away create public opinion. And they feel Angeles convention, it is probable from him as the 1960 nominee. But a sense of kinship with Adlai Steven- that Stevenson will be available for if the previous two elections are writ- son that they seem to sense in no the party's nomination—even though ten off as forlorn hopes for the Dem- other Presidential hopeful in either some of his closest friends trust this ocrats, regardless of the identity of party. will not be the case, for they wish to the party's candidate, Adlai Stevenson Thus, in spite of all the zeal and see him spared the ordeal of a third could still be the overwhelming choice fervor for that brace of tireless cam- nationwide campaign. "I'd die if of those who will assemble in Los paigning Democratic Senators, John Stevenson lost again," said the attrac- Angeles next July to make a fateful F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, tive wife of a wealthy and enlightened decision. I was told by a generous many adherents of these men contin- date grower near Palm Springs. and liberal-minded California con- ually make it evident that Kennedy It is my judgment that most of the tributor to Democratic coffers: and Humphrey are their first choices leaders of the Democratic Party look "If I could appoint a President, only if Stevenson does not actively upon Stevenson as the nation's intel- I'd appoint Stevenson. He has what enter the field. At innumerable Demo- lectually best prepared man to serve it takes to be a truly illustrious Pres- cratic gatherings, I have heard people in the White House. Who can rival ident. But if Stevenson is unable to volunteer the information that their his eloquence and basic wisdom? Yet win at the polls, I would rather suc- heart belongs to Stevenson even many of these same individuals con- ceed with a Democrat of lesser stature though they happen to be wearing fess to some doubt that Stevenson can than to lose again with Stevenson." somebody else's campaign button on be elected. II it were not for this It is Hamlet's dilemma repeated, because it involves so many hypothet- the political skill of Lyndon Johnson. government in the Twentieth Cen- icals. What if the Suez crisis had not He has many more overt handicaps tury. This, in the minds of many occurred on the eve of the 1956 elec- —his divorce, for example—than people, is a welcome contrast to Pres- tions? Had Republican demagoguery Symington. He is not currently in ident Eisenhower's bland promises of over the unpopular Korean War in high elective office like Governors 100 per cent of parity, liberation of 1952 made it impossible for a Demo- Robert Meyner of New Jersey or G. the satellite nations, and the "unleash- crat to succeed? Had the Democratic Mennen (Soapy) Williams of Mich- ing" of Chiang Kai-shek. Also, these string run out after 20 years in na- igan. Yet mere mention of Stevenson's Democrats occasionally recall that cer- tional office? Many of Harry Tru- name can inspire and thrill many a tain prominent members of their own man's intimates believe that Steven- gathering of Democrats. party have heralded, with much fan- son was too indecisive, that he did not I have tried to locate the secret of fare, the unveiling of a marvelous conduct "fighting" campaigns, that he Stevenson's appeal to intellectual and new farm program—a program which equivocated on issues of vast potential thoughtful voters. I think one of his they have not yet produced. appeal for the Democrats. But one of strengths is a trait which most ortho- Stevenson's faithful has replied wryly, dox politicians regard as virtually his Stevenson Weakest When He "Don't ever forget that Truman ran principal weakness—what they de- Listens to Campaign Strategists against Dewey. That's a whole scribe as his indecisiveness, his tend- lot different from running against ency to see both sides of a difficult To extreme Democratic partisans, Eisenhower." question, his melancholy and pro- Stevenson at times can be somewhat longed grappling with highly com- less than satisfying. This is probably The Lingering Doubt of plex issues. true of any political figure who Of some of these things there can broods extensively and who often ap- Whether He Can Be Elected be no doubt. In 1952 Stevenson pears indecisive. Lincoln, also a mel- The debate is endless, but it also thrashed about like a salmon in a fish ancholy brooder, was not sufficiently narrows down to another question. ladder, trying to make up his mind hard toward the South to please the How much have the two defeats by whether to run for the Presidency Republican radicals who unsuccess- Eisenhower hurt Stevenson's political or for reelection as governor of Ill- fully plotted his defeat for reelection prestige, no matter how blameless he inois. His attitude on farm price sup- in 1864. Indeed, Judge Samuel I. may be for what happened? One ports has never quite satisfied those Rosenman of New York, former con- theory holds that too many voters who favor a continuation of big ag- fidant of Franklin D. Roosevelt and among the present electorate cast ricultural subsidies; nor are public- an intimate of President Truman, their ballots against Stevenson for power groups content that he is 100 has said somewhat disparagingly of him ever to be able to reverse the per cent committed to their side. I Stevenson: verdict. Would millions of voters con- have heard criticisms from certain "I don't think his views are those of fess, even to themselves, that they labor leaders that Stevenson has a liberal, but more of a middle-of-the- could have been wrong twice before? seemed to encounter "difficulty" mak- roader. On domestic issues, there's Yet, arrayed against this is the fact ing up his mind about amendments not much difference between Steven- that many political figures in America to the Taft-Hartley Act. son's ideas and those of President have won major offices after numer- Yet these very qualities, so disturb- Eisenhower." ous defeats—Senators John Carroll of ing to some groups, are a factor in This is undoubtedly an over-simpli- Colorado, William E. Proxmire of endearing Stevenson to the intellec- fication of Stevenson's reluctance to Wisconsin, and Ralph W. Yarbor- tuals, teachers, ami writers who pre- accept felicitous answers merely be- ough of Texas, to mention only a dominate in quite a few Democratic cause they have voter appeal. Any conspicuous few on the contemporary circles. Here is a man who does not person who has read his book What scene. And if the British people had pose as having a pat solution for every I Think will know there is a gulf, permitted earlier political failures to problem of these troubled times. He vast and wide, between Stevenson's shape their attitude perpetually, they rarely indulges in the glib slogans ideas and those of the war hero who might have been denied the gifted which pretend to offer such easy rem- has twice conquered him for the Pres- leadership of Winston Churchill dur- edies for grim maladies. He reserves idency. There also have been the ing World War II.