1952 United States Presidential Election (Stars and Stripes Forever)

The 1952 United States Presidential Election was the 42nd Quadrennial Presidential Election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 1952. Incumbent Republican President Douglas MacArthur successfully secured another term against Democratic Governor Aldai Stevenson.

MacArthur managed to secure the renomination from the Republicans with the only opposition coming from Thomas Dewey. Meanwhile, Stevenson faced a tough challenge from Senator Hubert Humphrey. However, by a slim majority, Stevenson secured the Democratic nomination.

Stevenson attacked MacArthur's handling of the Korean War, despite the successful defeat of North Korea. The Democrats also stoked fears of a second great depression under a continued Republican administration. President MacArthur and the Republicans, meanwhile, focused on the improving economy and success abroad.

MacArthur retained his enormous popularity from his first term, and ended up carrying every state outside of the south, and also won his home state of Arkansas. Republicans also maintained control of both chambers of Congress.

Republican Party Nomination
In the 1952 Primaries there was little doubt that MacArthur and Taft would be easily renominated. However, in early 1952, Taft began to feel pain in his hips while golfing with MacArthur. After collapsing, he was taken to Walter Reed Hospital where initial tests showed that it was likely either a tumor or arthritis. As his condition worsened, further testing revealed it to be terminal pancreatic cancer. Taft, understand he could not finish another term as Vice President, told MacArthur he couldn't be in the race anymore. As he wrote in his autobiography published shortly before his death in 1953, "It was one of the saddest days in my life. After I told him, he looked shocked. Then he said 'I understand, Robert. God bless you.'" MacArthur would continue to visit Taft until his death.

With Taft no-longer able to run as Vice President, the nominating convention suggested a number of candidates, and MacArthur settled on the young California Senator Richard M. Nixon. Nixon later wrote in his memoirs "I felt that running as Vice President was silly. Then they walked up to me and said 'He chose you.'" Despite the huge support MacArthur had, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York seemed determined to usurp MacArthur's place. He, along with former Governor Harold Stassen, campaigned extensively against MacArthur, however, all to no avail.

Republican Convention
MacArthur and Nixon were nominated near-unanimously by the convention, with only three delegates voting for Dewey, and one for Stassen.

Democratic Party
The expected candidate for the nomination was Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. Kefauver was ahead in early primaries, and was popular with many Democrats. Kefauver chaired a nationally televised investigation of organized crime in 1951 and was known as a crusader against crime and corruption. Kefauver soon became the front runner for the nomination, winning most states. Other early primary leaders included Senator (and future vice president) Hubert J. Humphrey, Senator Richard Russel Jr., and US diplomat W. Averell Harriman. However, most states still chose their delegates to the Democratic Convention via state conventions, which meant that the party bosses – especially the mayors and governors of large Northern and Midwestern states and cities – were able to choose the Democratic nominee. These bosses (including former president Harry S. Truman) strongly disliked Kefauver; his investigations of organized crime had revealed connections between Mafia figures and many of the big-city Democratic political organizations. The party bosses thus viewed Kefauver as a maverick who could not be trusted, and they refused to support him for the nomination.

Instead, with Truman taking the lead, they began to search for a more "acceptable" candidate.

Campaign Issues
The MacArthur re-election campaign made a serious effort to win the female vote, at the suggestion of MacArthur's re-election advisors. MacArthur also campaign heavily off the successful uniting of Korea and the purge of communists from the US Government. MacArthur's choice of Senator Nixon helped bring more moderate Republicans to his side.

Campaign
MacArthur retained his enormous popularity from his first term, and huge crowds came to see him around the nation. His campaign slogan of "I back Mac" was one of the most popular in American history. Stevenson attracted the support of the young, emergent postwar intellectual class; however, MacArthur was seen as more appealing to Main Street. Stevenson was ridiculed in some quarters as too effeminate to be president, the staunchly conservative New York Daily News called him "Adelaide" Stevenson, even though he had a reputation as a ladies' man and several mistresses.

A notable event of the 1952 campaign concerned a scandal that emerged when Richard Nixon, MacArthur's running mate, was accused by several newspapers of receiving $18,000 in undeclared "gifts" from wealthy donors. In reality, contributions were by design only from early supporters and limited to $1,000, with full accountability. Nixon, who had been accusing the Democrats of hiding crooks, suddenly found himself on the defensive. MacArthur and his aides considered dropping Nixon from the ticket and picking another running mate.

MacArthur, who barely knew Nixon, waffled and refused to comment on the incident. Nixon saved his political career, however, with a dramatic half-hour speech, the "Checkers speech," on live television. In this speech, Nixon denied the charges against him, gave a detailed account of his modest financial assets, and offered a glowing assessment of MacArthur's presidency and candidacy. The highlight of the speech came when Nixon stated that a supporter had given his daughters a gift – a dog named "Checkers" – and that he would not return it, because his daughters loved it. The "Checkers speech" led hundreds of thousands of citizens nationwide to wire the Republican National Committee urging the Republican Party to keep Nixon on the ticket, and MacArthur stayed with him.

Results
On election day, MacArthur won a decisive victory, winning over 68% of the popular vote and carrying thirty-nine of the forty-eight states. He also won hugely in the popular vote, and encouraged the high turnout of women on election day.