July 9, 1952: Dirksen vs. Dewey at the Republican Convention

Everett McKinley Dirksen

July 9, 1952: The Republican Convention is in progress at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago. The Eastern establishment wing of the Party, led by Governor Thomas Dewey of New York, their 1944 and 1948 nominee, is angry at losing 5 straight elections, and they want to win. So they want to nominate the most popular man in the country.

Unfortunately, while he is a Republican, Bing Crosby isn't available. So they settle for former General Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom they promote as the man who beat the Nazis (as if he didn't answer to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall), and is the best man to beat both the Communists and "the mess in Washington." They run on a formula they call "K₁C₂," for "Korea, Communism, and Corruption."

The conservative wing of the Party is angry at losing 4 straight nomination fights -- to Governor Alf Landon of Kansas in 1936, to Wall Street lawyer Wendell Willkie in 1940, and then to Dewey twice -- and they want one of their own to be nominated. They want Senator Robert Taft of Ohio: The son of a President, the grandson of an Attorney General, a mover and shaker on both domestic and foreign policy, and a man known so conservative, he is known as "Mr. Republican."

Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen of Illinois, who, like Taft, will one day be named the GOP's Senate floor leader, gives Taft's nominating speech. With a voice so low and a style so florid that it earned him the nickname "The Wizard of Ooze," he points at Dewey, saying, "We followed you before, and you took us down the road to defeat!"

The conservatives had decided they would rather lose with Taft than win with a "liberal." And they launched a pro-Taft demonstration that lasted half an hour. This actually made the Delegate race close. But on the 1st ballot, Eisenhower had 595, leaving him 9 short of a majority. Taft had 500, and his team thought that, by denying Ike a majority on the 1st ballot, they had burst his bubble of invincibility.

Governor Earl Warren of California, Dewey's 1948 running mate, had 81. Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota, making the 2nd of his many runs for President, had 20. And General Douglas MacArthur, not actively running because he wanted to be seen as having been "drafted," had 10.

But Stassen, running as a "favorite son," with his own State as a Delegate base, had not received 10 percent of the Delegates. That freed Minnesota's Delegates from their pledge to support him, and, before the 1st ballot could be finalized, those Delegates changed their vote, all but 1 or them, giving Ike 614 and a majority.

There no longer were enough conservative Delegates to deny Eisenhower the nomination. But there were enough of them to stick "Ike" with one of their own as his Vice Presidential nominee. Senator Richard M. Nixon of California was only 39 years old, but already had a reputation as a Communist-hunting firebrand -- and also one as the biggest liar in either house of Congress.

Pat & Dick, Ike & Mamie, and the Chicago Tribune,

still billing itself as "The World's Greatest Newspaper,"

was, as usual, in the tank for the GOP.

Two nights later, on July 11, Ike was nominated. He had famously titled his postwar memoir Crusade in Europe. The Republicans had called their fight against Communism a "crusade." Ike told the Delegates, and told the nation, "I know something about leading a crusade. I have led one."

If the Democrats want to keep the White House for another 4 years, they will have to run against the Republicans as a whole, and against the man already known as "Tricky Dick," as much against Ike. Because running just against Ike, without the strength of the incumbent, but with the status as incumbents in an anti-incumbent year, would be a fool's errand. And, at this point, they don't even know who their nominee will be, only that it won't be outgoing President Harry Truman.

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July 9, 1952 was a Wednesday. John Tesh, former co-host of the TV show Entertainment Tonight, and composer of "Roundball Rock," the theme song to NBC's NBA broadcasts, was born on this day.

But there were no games played: The only sport in season in North America at the time was baseball, and this was during the All-Star Break. The night before, the All-Star Game was played at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. This is the only time that game has ever been shortened due to rain: The National League was leading the American League, 3-2 after 5 innings, making it official, when it was called.

Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Hank Sauer of the Chicago Cubs, who would go on to be named the NL's Most Valuable Player despite the Cubs only finishing 5th, hit home runs. Among those selected for the 1st time, but not getting into the game, were 20-year-old Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees and 46-year-old Leroy "Satchel" Paige, then with the St. Louis Browns.