The Golden GOP: A History of the “California Liberals” and the United States

[Citizen A]

The 1950 California Senate Election or Shivering in Shasta
​

“It certainly seemed odd to me at the time, I’ll admit. I’d only just recently received the request from Nixon to help him in his Senate campaign, he had plans to test the waters up north or something when I got the call. I was told by some handler of the Governor’s that he wanted to meet with me. I thought something was up, we hadn’t left on good terms to say the least but… well he made me a new offer that was really hard to pass up.”

-Murray Chotiner, former Press Secretary quoted in The Warren Era​

“NIXON UNDERPERFORMS IN NORTH, CONTINUES TO PUSH ON”

- “The Los Angeles Daily News” August 1949​

“I talked a lot to him during that time, he was angry sure, but I don’t like how often I see him labeled as bitter. And even if he was, didn’t he have a right to be? We all know by now that the Establishment of the party pushed him out into the cold, it was obvious wasn’t it? I could hardly blame him for being mad.”

-Donald Nixon quoted in a later news interview​

“Nixon was left with very little room at the table. After years of infighting in the California Republican Party between old conservative elements and the old progressive leaders, the shunning of Nixon served as a final blow. Warren had taken full control of the party from the inside, it could no longer be denied or contended, even if the Chairman changed, Warren held the reins”

-Excerpt from the popular and comprehensive biography, The Warren Era​

“Are we to trust someone tied to a body of lies? To an administration that has proved that it is utterly incapable of cleaning out the corruption? To labor movements of the most questionable repute? This of course is being generous, need I call up a certain Texan Senator to give us more details?”

-Richard Nixon on the campaign trail, 1950​

“You’re damn right it was a low blow. To attempt to call her out for something so personal and worse still to make himself out as some sort of paragon of virtue? Now, I’ve done some things in my lifetime, many of them to that man, but I’d never have swung that far below the belt, not like that”

-Dick Tuck, political strategist and staff to Fmr. Senator Douglas​

“WARREN ENDORSES DOUGLAS”

- “The San Francisco Examiner” October 1950​

“The official release stated that this was merely a meeting between the Governor and the Representative to discuss policy matters regarding labor and agriculture in California, Warren had a tendency to spin himself as nonpartisan. But, well, it wasn’t lost on either of us that a few well-placed newspapermen and a few solid photos was all it would take to give her the stamp of approval, I think even the journalists knew what we were up to”

- Murray Chotiner, former Press Secretary quoted in The Warren Era​

“He was furious. He sputtered on and on. At some point I think accusations of treason were thrown about? It really took everything I had to keep him from calling up the FBI on these people. He was real shaken up by it for quite a while too. If you’d asked him, he’d say it didn’t affect any of the stuff that happened later but… well I find that hard to believe.”

-Donald Nixon, same news interview​

“Though this campaign has seen some utterly unnecessary and truly disdainful periods, I’d like to leave Representative Nixon on a happy note tonight and thank him for the challenge.”

-Fmr. Senator Douglas’s final speech before election results were announced​

“DOUGLAS DEFEATS NIXON; Despite an overall Republican sweep in California, Republican Nixon loses to Senator-Elect Helen Gahagan Douglas”

- “The San Francisco Examiner” November 1950​

“Why Nixon lost the election is still a matter of historical debate. Some say that with margins as close as 52-48 that the election really could have gone either way. Others say that Nixon’s generally disorganized and almost paranoid campaign attacks against Douglas ended up making him look unstable. I personally think it was the Warren endorsement, as foolish as it sounds, the man carried the standard for California progressives since the mid-forties and once he was willing to met with her, so were others. It can’t be denied that the two worked together awfully well later as well. Whatever it was, Nixon was left to freeze in the cold of California’s Northern Counties, and I am sure few could have predicted his next choices”

-Historian Irwin Gellman in the book The Cynical Contender​

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Thank you for reading this first post and I am excited to announce that this will be a series that I will hopefully be uploading roughly weekly! My writing may not be the best and it certainly does not live up to the pieces that inspired this one, but I thank everyone who is willing to stick around and see where this story goes, I have a lot planned for this timeline and am absolutely energetic to get going on it!

 

[BP Booker]

So a Warren led ticket for 1952? Sweet!

 

[Citizen A]

I didn't think it was so obvious in the first chapter but I will say an interesting 1950's is ahead

 

[Citizen A]

So even though I said that this was going to be a weekly post, during these early phases (and since I already have the writing done), I'll be posting a little more frequently than weekly

 

[Citizen A]

A Star Shoots over Hollywood​

“Today, after numerous victory speeches and galas, Senator Douglas will embark on a journey around the state before heading to Washington in January. She is expected to stop in the Northern Counties, Sacramento, San Francisco…”

-News reel from December 1950​

“In Hollywood, the Senator-Elect was greeted and introduced by President of the Screen Actor’s Guild, Ronald Reagan, who’s speech was met with rousing applause”

- “The Los Angeles Daily News” December 1950​

“I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment. I will not be scared into submission to totalitarian communism by the rabid fears of Marxists and Bolsheviks, nor will I be scared into submission by the supposed anti-communists who use their power merely to suppress the working man. To be an American is to not let fear control you, but to grab hold of the reigns of destiny yourself and control yourself”

-Ronald Reagan’s speech to introduce Senator-Elect Douglas to Hollywood​

“I knew right then, looking at the reactions of the crowd, looking into my own heart and feeling the welling of my eyes, I knew that the man I loved was going to go on to be far more than just the President of the Actor’s Guild”

-Nancy Reagan quoted in Tinseltown and the Trade Union Disputes​

“I didn’t really want to be there at first. My wife had begged me to go though and well, ya know what they say, “Happy Wife, Happy Life”, so I figured an afternoon listening to stuffy old politicians and a chipper actress give some boring speeches wouldn’t be too bad. But man, listening to Reagan speak, I mean, I’d worked with the man before, but this was truly something else.”

-John Ford interviewed by CBS​

“I can’t say I particularly enjoyed the speech. It wasn’t anything phenomenal and the man was hardly agreeable. I had found Reagan rather a clever fellow and one of the better Silver Screen men, but this quickly revealed to me that any commitment to individual liberty or the safety of the American dream was, like it so often is for those involved in such movements, just yet another line to read.”

-Ayn Rand interviewed by CBS​

“Reagan’s role in the California labor movement cannot be undervalued. While in other cities, unions and advocacy groups were almost banned entirely for supposed ‘Communist sympathies’ this was simply not the case in Los Angeles. Reagan’s charismatic smile and willingness to work with authorities brokered an uneasy peace. Yes, many innocents were often detained on mere accusation or rumor, but the Screen Actor’s Guild and many other cinematic trades unions could continue operating. Many argued at the time and indeed some still do, that, through moderation and lawfulness, unions could gain much by being led by men like Reagan.”

-Excerpt from Tinseltown and the Trade Union Disputes ​

“ACTOR RONALD REAGAN BEGINS WORK WITH SENATOR DOUGLAS”

- “The Los Angeles Daily News” January 1950​

“It seemed natural at the time. He had seen a great deal of success already and I could see ambition in his eyes, and so when he asked me if I would follow him to Washington if he got involved there, I promised him I would. This whole time was a whirlwind for both of us as we went from actors to social celebrities to politicians. It was quite a change for both of us to say the least, but I suppose those who grab on to a shooting star have to get used to being dragged along”

-Nancy Reagan, quoted from a draft of a biography on Ronald Reagan​

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[Citizen A]

Thanks for all the likes I have received as well! More updates are definitely on the way

 

[Citizen A]

California on Fire​

“A series of devastating fires sweeps unchecked through thousands of acres of valuable woodland in Mendocino National Forest. A state of emergency has been declared by Governor Warren and equipment is being rushed into the area. Supplies are even being airlifted to account for the current state of infrastructure in the region. Truly a terrible toll on our woodlands and our natural resources.”

-Newsreel from Universal News (Summer of 1951)​

“It was awful no doubt. The toughest part was that just getting the supplies and men needed up to those parts was difficult in those days. What roads were drivable didn’t go deep enough and the roads we really needed didn’t exist. Something of the scale of the ’51 fires could happen today, hell it does happen today, but at the time it was still a big deal. I guess that’s why the Governor decided to get a ton of volunteers on it and show up all fancy for some journalists, it was good talk and people were going to talk about it. Not that the extra help didn’t help…”

-Volunteer Firefighter present in Mendocino during the 1951 Forest Fires​

“CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD REPORT TO MENDOCINO”

- “The Sacramento Bee” headline (June 1951)​

“As much as you hear about the whole fiasco from historians and political junkies, at the time it just wasn’t that big a deal in California. The whole damn state knew that this level of stuff wasn’t required! The fires were bad, but California had seen and will far worse I am sure of it, the reason he called the National Guard out that day was to get press attention on him and seem like a crisis solver. I have nothing against the guy, but you can’t expect me not to say the truth.”

-Fmr. Representative Clair Engle from the California 2nd District quoted in The Smoke in the Hills​

“Despite these popular claims, the California Wildfires of 1951 have little to do with the election of 1952 nor Warren’s policy. The wildfires hardly came up in the ’52 Campaign Season and indeed wasn’t much of a talking point, all that could be said was that the Governor dealt with the disaster effectively and quickly, hardly a speaking point on the national stage. As well, some claim that this is when the idea for national highways and a better road network came into the head of Warren, but this merely isn’t the case as previous actions in the late 1940’s showed he had already had similar plans in mind”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“The year 1951 had to be the most demanding and intensive year of Governor Warren’s service to the state. Not only was the Northern portion of the state caught in yet another seasonal wildfire but then came the events now known as ‘Bloody Christmas’”

-California State History Textbook for the 11th Grade​

“On December 25, 1951, approximately fifty Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers brutally beat seven young men in their custody, including five Mexican Americans. The ensuing controversy became known as Bloody Christmas. Mexican American activists demanded investigations into allegations of police brutality and LAPD accountability to civilian control. The LAPD's new chief, William Parker, however, had just launched a reform campaign based on the police professionalism model, which stressed police autonomy, particularly about internal discipline”

-American Historical Association Report on the events of December 1951​

“Of course, upon hearing what happened I immediately contacted my friends and associates in the State Government of California and the City of Los Angeles, but I knew this was going to be bad, and I knew it was going to be very much out of my control. I clung to this case though and immediately began calling the Governor’s office to get the state involved.”

-Quote from then Senator Douglas from The Confidential Crisis of the LAPD​

“GOVERNOR ORDERS ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE LAPD AND ENSURE ORDER”

- “The Los Angeles Daily News” January 1952​

“Attorney General Pat Brown’s role in the scandal became one of heated controversy. His report eventually found that while a select group of officers had committed offenses and would face trial that no institutional problem existed within the police force. Police Chief Parker and his force also worked quite closely with the office of the Attorney General and often police testimony was downright preferred to witness testimony. While Brown could claim he had brought order and security to Los Angeles, he had merely covered a steaming pot.”

-Excerpt from The Confidential Crisis of the LAPD​

“Governor Warren had, by this point, set his sights on the 1952 Primaries, and while he recognized the volatility of the Los Angeles situation did not see what he could, from his office, do to help. Many in his confidence assert that he truly believed the Attorney General could handle it, while others have argued that he was merely looking to cover up any issue which may hurt him in the coming election.”

-Excerpt from Governor Warren: 1942-1952​

“LIBERTY FILMS RELEASES LOCAL HIT, “ALL THE GOVERNOR’S MEN”

- “The Los Angeles Daily News” December 1951​

“I will admit the Liberty Films deal was one I didn’t crack myself. One of my friends in the movie business cracked a joke about how Liberty Films was going under and how at this point they’d film anything given the money. Well, the joke stuck with me and I figured a nice little film about a hardworking and loyal man who worked to fix his state and then his country, set in the 1800s of course, would be a fine picture to hit the box office for the Christmas runs. Sure, it wasn’t a great financial success, but it certainly didn’t make bad campaigning and the message was lost on no one.”

- Murray Chotiner, former Press Secretary quoted in Campaign Strategies and Primary Wars: A Look into Politics​

“Governor Warren certainly did not get to leave his office filled with only success. In 1951, the state of California was lit aflame with both the fires of the North and the racial disputes of the South. But by 1952 the flames had either been put out or had smoldered, and so the stage was set for the Presidential Election of 1952.

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

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[Citizen A]

The Heart of the Republican Party​

“Just this week, popular and veteran general of the war, General Eisenhower, suffered a heart attack while in his home”

- “NBC News” report, December 1951​

“COLLAPSE OF SUPPORT FOR THE DRAFT EISENHOWER MOVEMENT”

- “The Boston Globe” January 1951​

“The General’s heart attack brought back up health issues that were almost certainly going to resurface and struck a nerve with the man himself, as he almost immediately began withdrawing from public life. It was not a shock that by spring of 1952, the movement to make the man President was almost entirely in shambles.”

-Excerpt from Eisenhower: The American Scipio​

“’I WILL NOT RUN’- EISENHOWER DECLINES THE NOMINATION”

- “CBS News”, March 1952​

“It must have been February or so when I began looking for a new candidate. I, of course, knew that someone would have to be found fast, someone who could be sold to both wings of the party in a hurry and yet had a real shot at the Presidency. Pretty soon I was in contact with the California division of the Republican Party and was in discussions with Governor Warren. I knew who he was of course, what he stood for, what he’d done. I knew he’d be my man.”

-Fmr. Senator and Warren Campaign Advisor Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in The History of the Grand Old Party​

“Warren was shockingly well liked by both the Old Guard of Senator Taft and the New Progressives of Dewey’s Faction. He showed the strong anti-communist and law and order tendencies that Taft’s quarter desired, whilst endorsing enough of the New Deal policies and liberal platforms to coax Dewey into throwing his support behind him.”

-Excerpt from Cold War Politics​

“It was a shock to few at the convention how quickly the nomination for Presidential candidate went through. It certainly didn’t surprise me, though I was often in the interparty meetings. That’s where the shouting went on, the underhanded deals, and the downright horse-trading. I don’t think it would be right for me to discuss that now but, well I can’t say it was the most in the light thing I’ve done, though I don’t regret it and am proud to say I was in the room that it happened.”

-Anonymous Aid to RNC Chairman Arthur Summerfield in The History of the Grand Old Party​

“And rather bemusing footage here tonight of the March of the MacArthurites, as various delegates to the Republican National Convention march about the Amphitheatre demanding that among other things, General Douglass MacArthur be given the Vice-Presidential Nomination”

- “ABC News” Report in July 1952​

“At the time, the whole thing was just quite odd. The marching about, the shouting, it took a while to piece together but if this whole thing hadn’t panned out just right, the whole party could have fallen apart. This wasn’t about MacArthur at all my partner told me, it was about McCarthy.”

-Quincy Howe, journalist and political analyst at the Convention quoted in a later interview​

“So here I was, wrangling and herding delegates again. I figured at first that Warren would simply choose a running mate and we’d be done, but due to the rush of his own nomination and commitment to the party, he refused to act before a consensus had formed, and oh did that make it hell. I think I even told him that he made my life hell those days. The Conservatives urged me to put Taft on the ticket arguing “He has the experience” “It will keep the unity” and all that crap. The Progressives tried to grab Dewey of course, but when he refused, they just began choosing their local state favorites and peddling him as the most liberal fellow you’d ever met. Oh, and of course you had Tailgunner Joe’s Little Battalion who bandied about and shouted down anyone who wouldn’t support “America’s military and the good general MacArthur!”. It was worse than herding cats. We found our man eventually, but it took a lot of handshaking and a lot of throwing around the rulebook to get it all done.”

- Fmr. Senator and Warren Campaign Advisor Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in The History of the Grand Old Party​

“The boys were alright, I found their little protest, if one could call it that, a sign of the discontent about how Dewey and Cabot had basically choked through their choice and, at least to my knowledge at the time, forced Taft to rubber stamp the candidate. I wasn’t with them but well… I certainly knew I was speaking to their sentiments when I spoke that day”

-Senator Everett Dirksen in an interview in 1960
​

“I will not stand by and watch as the gang from New England grabs the reigns of this party and drags us down the road of defeat! The nation yearns for change and freedom, and you are all too happy to provide them with more of the same! I will not contend with Warren, he is a good man with a good mind, but I will gladly go toe to toe with Cabot if he is daring enough to step out of his closed meeting rooms for just five seconds!”

-Senator Everett Dirksen filmed live by the ABC News Coverage Team​

“STASSEN CHOSEN FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION”

- “Minneapolis Tribune” July 1952​

“God as my witness, I will ensure the security of our nation, of our armed forces, and of the dreams and ideals that built America. I thank Governor Warren for the nomination and bless you all for being here tonight”

-Naval veteran and Governor of Minnesota, Harold Stassen’s acceptance speech as captured by ABC News​

“I remember the odd silence as Stassen spoke, it was if I was watching an old respected country preacher take the pulpit, it wasn’t anything amazing, but it got reverence in you”

- Quincy Howe, journalist and political analyst at the Convention quoted in a later interview​

“It was an odd choice, choosing some favorite son candidate who’d barely received 20 delegates. I’d initially supported General Clay, but Stassen was more available and could really settle down everyone I thought. I didn’t realize at the time what exactly I had done. He was supposed to just be a solid ticket builder but well, I suppose we all got more than we bargained for there.”

- Fmr. Senator and Warren Campaign Advisor Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in Politics from the Pulpit: The Life and Times of Harold Stassen​

“And so, the 1952 Republican Convention stands to us today as a keystone. After the heart attack of the supposed savior Eisenhower, it took much fighting and much searching before a new foundation was found. The party also began a decisive turn towards its more progressive wings, even if it didn’t know that at the time. It soon went from a small faction, to the majority of the party to the heart of the Republican Party as we know it today.”

-Excerpt from The History of the Grand Old Party​

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[Citizen A]

The Guts of the Democratic Party
​

“It was chaos. It was a battle. And yet, you almost instinctively knew none of it mattered at all did it?”

-Staffer to Fmr. Senator Kefauver quoted in The Politics of National Party Conventions​

“DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION OPENS STRONG”

- “Chicago Tribune” headline, June 1952​

“Stevenson’s opening speech is what really secured his nomination, I think. He was witty, he cracked like a whip, which is exactly what we needed to keep the Democratic coalition alive.”

-Jacob Arvey, head of the Illinois delegation for the convention quoted in “The Politics of National Party Conventions​

“With the refusal of Eisenhower and the battle-scarred and contentious scenes of the Republican Convention, many Democrats came to Chicago thinking of 1952 as a won year. Yes, Truman’s policies weren’t all too popular anymore. And no, the Korean War was yet to be won. But surely the country wouldn’t abandon the coalition that had led them since the 1930’s. Surely it wouldn’t pick two no name governors over the most organized and powerful incumbent party. And in a way, that is what made this convention the battleground. Much like the Republican Convention, the Presidential candidate was an easy choice with Governor Stevenson of Illinois all but drafted to win. But the Vice-Presidential candidate gained new importance as many politicians saw this as the chance to build political success and acumen ahead of their own campaigns in 1956 or 1960.”

-Professor Broadwater in a lecture on the 1950’s Democratic Party​

“Let me say, too, that I have been heartened by the conduct of this convention. You have argued and disagreed, because as Democrats you care, and you cared deeply. But you have disagreed and argued without calling each other liars and thieves, without despoiling our best traditions --you have not spoiled our best traditions in any naked struggles for power.”

-Governor Stevenson’s nomination acceptance speech, transcript taken from ABC Broadcasting​

“What more can one ask for? Intellect, the man is a Rhodes Scholar and Oxford Graduate and has pushed for the expansion of education more than any other man in this room. Experience, he has plenty as a Representative, Senator, and Chairman. I am for Fulbright for a bright future.”

-Senator Kefauver advocating for the acceptance of Senator Fulbright as the VP Candidate​

“She has shown her ability to win an election. She has shown a loyalty to progress. She has shown that she can capture the public eye. Now I believe it is time for her to show us her ability to capture the highest public office.”

-Vice Chairwoman India Edwards pushing to draft Senator Douglas for the 1952 ticket​

“Of course, it didn’t really matter what happened on the floor. President Truman and a few others had already secluded with Stevenson to decide the fate of the party. Truman would have his day though, as Stevenson took very little activity and the other politicians deferred to him out of deference to the party. Truman pushed hard for Secretary of Commerce William Harriman and argued that a VP spot today would secure Harriman experience he would need to run in 1960. “

- Professor Broadwater in a lecture on the 1950’s Democratic Party​

“I have in him my full confidence and I have seen him serve under me well. Now I wish to bid him to go on and carry the banner I once carried, and stand boldly for America”

-President Truman’s speech congratulating VP nominee William Harriman recorded by ABC​

“I’d been there for both conventions. I saw a battle for the core of the Republican Party, a fight to determine the future of the whole thing. And then I watched the Democratic Convention. Though it was plenty formal and the whole thing was filled with great speeches and fine cigars, the underbelly of it was far more obvious. The Republicans fought for the heart and soul of their party, the Democrats were stuck over the guts and the entrails of what they thought would be easy pickings.”

-Journalist and TV executive, John Daly who was interviewed about his experience covering both conventions by and for ABC.​

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[BP Booker]

Uh. So the Democrats nominate Adlai Stevenson still. Not a bad candidate, nor would he have been a bad President (Estes Kefauver would have been their strongest choice, but Truman didnt want him anywhere near the ticket) W. Averell Harriman for no. 2 is... interesting, again not a bad candidate but curious why they didnt go with Sparkman. Are the segregationists getting marginalized earlier than OTL? (Although even by OTL '52 they had been shut out from the presidency since 1940) Fullbright, althou still a segregationist himself, would have "balanced" the ticket. But even then, there was no risk of the Old South flipping, not before the AIP or the Southern Strategy

 

[Citizen A]

Harriman is chosen because the Democratic Party sincerely believes they have a real solid chance of winning and Truman (who's word is almost law in the party) really pushes to get Harriman (who he strongly supported) the position to basically polish him up for a presidential run in 1960. As well, like you said, they don't fear the South flipping especially not with a progressive like Warren leading the other party.

Edit: As well, the Southerners are kind of being ignored at this convention due to the assumption they'd stay with the party and because the Democrats wanted to see if moving towards liberalism could keep the New Deal Coalition strong and alive despite Truman

 

[Citizen A]

The Shield and Sword​

“The campaign strategy had been drawn up long in advance of election and was really finalized in Chicago. The whole campaign staff just didn’t realize quite how easy it was going to be”

-Murray Chotiner quoted in Cold War Politics​

“Campaign on the Issues, Focus on the Economy, Sell to the American Working Man”

-Internal Democratic campaign memo​

“Both campaigns thought they could win if they merely focused on the policy issues and stayed on the defensive, or what was called the ‘shield tactic’ but rather quickly the whole election season became submerged in scandals and scathing remarks that strayed so far from the supposed ‘shield’ that it became known as the season of the sword.”

-Graduate level paper on the 1952 Presidential Election​

“Stevenson’s initial attempt to focus on the issues was quickly blocked by Warren’s ability to hold up his banner as a bipartisan solution builder, someone who had both worked with Roosevelt and yet had his own plans. It was clear that the defense of the New Deal and of the Democratic successes was intended to be the key card of the Stevenson campaign, but with Warren’s vigorous speaking tour putting heavy emphasis on his time as Governor and his own mini ‘California Deal’, this card was dead in the water”

-Excerpt from The Fifties in Focus​

“In my state, we took up what Roosevelt asked of us with pride. We built new highways, expanded our jobs, and gave to the public. We went further too, as I and many other Republicans pushed to make healthcare a right of the people of California. It cannot be said that I did not ensure that the people in my state were not provided for.”

-Excerpt from various speeches Warren gave throughout the country​

“Despite the almost populist, Roosevelt style of policy brought forward by Warren, his party was always careful in the background to moderate the tone, to cater to business interests, and to keep the base in line. This was difficult though, as Warren often spoke on very specific proposals and very specific plans, which would often be hard to sell to bigger interests. A good example being his oft mentioned healthcare plans which, by the latter end of the campaign season had been cut to keep corporate interests happier.”

-Excerpt from Cold War Politics​

“WARREN REFUSES TO MEET WITH MCCARTHY”

- “The Milwaukee Journal” headline, September 1952​

“Looking back on it, the reporting on Warren and McCarthy was definitely played up by The Journal and by the press corps in general. We’d been looking to see McCarthy finally be put down but…well it is hard to say that is what happened, they didn’t meet but was it a refusal? I don’t know, the reporting was done though, and I stand by the facts.”

-Reporter for the Milwaukee Tribune in a later interview​

“Warren was very clear to all of us here that he would not be meeting with the Senator, he’d be stopping in various locations and would be speaking and that was it, no big dinners and no massive photo-ops. When we were contacted by the Senator’s staff, we were told to say that no time had been scheduled and while the Governor would appreciate the attendance and support of the Senator, there was little time put in place for a long photo session or proper joint meeting. That was that.”

-Former staffer for the Warren campaign quoted in The 1952 Election and the Republican Party​

“Of course, the Senator was incensed. But the entire party apparatus was there to quell his anger, and while he didn’t campaign as actively as anyone would have wanted, he was quiet for a while, when the Soviet rumor came out though, well he came right back onto the stage to attack Harriman with all his might, that whole thing was a blessing for our campaign.”

-Aide to Warren Campaign Advisor Henry Cabot Lodge Jr quoted in The 1952 Election and the Republican Party​

“HARRIMAN ACCUSED OF BEING SOVIET SPY”

-CBS News, October 1952​

“Leaked reports from the State Department indicate that ‘Harriman, during his tenue as Ambassador to the Soviet Union was given a bugged device that remained in his office for over 5 years’ and that ‘Harriman showed a gross negligence to the handling of information when dealing with the Soviets or in diplomatic affairs in general’. Though the leaks contents have not been checked against the State Department’s records nor confirmed by the Department, the contents have also not yet been denied and have raised a storm in the campaign as we are a mere three weeks from voting.”

-Excerpt from “The New York Times”, October 1952​

“In today’s war against Communistic atheism, as you know, there is no choice but utter destruction of the enemy. And we have rooted one of their compatriots out. The inexperienced and reckless boy from New York, Averell Harriman, has sold himself to the enemy and has thrown away our secrets. To allow him anywhere near the White House is near traitorous in itself.”

-Speech by Senator McCarthy given in Green Bay, WI, October 1952​

“Yet but another attack against any opposition, any word of critique is met by McCarthy and his cronies by virulent attack, no more, it is time for the Senate to censor the Senator for his indecent conduct and down right partisan participation in this election.”

-Liberal student newspaper out of Michigan, October 1952​

“I have long worked to oppose Soviet expansionism. I spent my waking hours in Moscow considering what policy line would be best to take to address the problem of Russian aggression. To now be called a fellow traveler does not just dishearten me, it disappoints me, as Americans we need to stand together unified against the Communist threat instead of falling into infighting.”

-Defensive speech given by Vice Presidential Candidate W.A Harriman in November 1952​

“Regardless of what was said, how it was said, by who it was said, the Communist spy attack stuck. Just a few weeks before the election and our campaign was struck. Stevenson did his best, going around to swingstates hitting the big points, his pro-labor speeches worked out well in some, I think. But Harriman went from our star on foreign policy who could dissuade any questions on diplomacy and world affairs, to a man we hid from cameras and secluded to speaking in his home state of New York.”

-Aide to Democratic Campaign Manager, James Finnegan, in a later biographical work on Stevenson.​

“By September of 1952, both sides had dropped their ‘shield’ plans and moved onto the proper field of battle. Stevenson’s campaign wisely moved onto attacking disunity in the Republican Party, silently praying that the split between old and new, McCarthy-ite and Progressive, would kill the GOP for them. But soon, the ‘sword’ was facing the other way, as Republicans railed against the Truman administration, against the corruption of the Democratic Party, against internal communist plots. The Democrats had come into 1952 expecting a landslide victory for the New Deal coalition and by November of that year had realized just how much they’d fallen.”

-Quote from the University of Kansas and Missouri Southern State University Press book The Collapse of the New Deal Coalition and Building Anew​

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[Citizen A]

The 1952 Election and the Slow Collapse of the 5th Party System​

“WARREN WINS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE 355-176”

- “The New York Times”, November 1952​

“Votes are still being tabulated but it appears as though, despite the landslide victory, Warren’s margin of victory is far lower than originally stated on this program, closer to a 52-48 split than a 55-45 split as earlier reported”

-CBS News report from Election Day, November 1952​

“The final major battleground for Democrats in the 1952 Election was Pennsylvania. A state that had historically voted for the New Deal Coalition and for Democrats, losing it would represent a killing blow from the labor end of the Democratic Party.”

- Quote from the University of Kansas and Missouri Southern State University Press book The Collapse of the New Deal Coalition and Building Anew​

“Republicans rejoiced as they made gains in all directions, and internally the Progressive wing of the party felt emboldened by what they saw as electoral success. Old Republican vanguards saw success as well though, and the election should not be misread as an endorsement purely of the left wing of the party.”

-Excerpt from The 1952 Election and the Republican Party​

“Coming into a now Republican dominated Congress, the Warren administration must have seen bright years ahead. After decades of Democratic domination, the Republican had returned in strength.”

-Excerpt from Cold War Politics​

“When looking at the ’52 Election, despite the Republican sweep, all anyone discusses is Pennsylvania and what it meant. See some people believe that’s when you could see the start of the new Democratic coalition that would rise in the later years, but I don’t necessarily buy it. From my reading of it, the 1952 Election in Pennsylvania was no more than a Democratic hold, not a new shift in focus.”

- Professor Broadwater in a lecture on the 1950’s Democratic Party​

“I will cite in this work the 1952 Election as the very beginning of the new shift in the Democratic Party. Stevenson toured the state, speaking heavily on manufacturing and labor rights and the job that the Republican Party had done to essentially criminalize good labor practices. It was from these roots that the full tilt toward labor began for the Democratic Party.”

-Excerpt from Labor and Liberalism​

“It was in this election that the Democrats began to see the collapse of the New Deal coalition’s hold on middle class urban progressives as well as the shift away of many minority groups who were soon fully lost to the Republican Party.”

- Quote from the University of Kansas and Missouri Southern State University Press book The Collapse of the New Deal Coalition and Building Anew​

“I do not wish to hold this office as Republican, I will hold this office as a Representative of the American People”

-President-Elect Warren in an unscripted acceptance speech, November 1952​

“Now is the time to close ranks, as the people of America have spoken and have chosen Governor Warren and the Republican Party to lead us through these next four years, I know I will pledge my support to the administration and wish the Governor the best of luck.”

-Stevenson’s concession speech, November 1952​

“With the election of the party of Taft, the party of the boss, the party of the corporation, the party of the petty bourgeoise, it is time to take action and make this decade a decade of levels of action unseen and unheard of in this United States”

-Anonymous American Socialist quoted in American Socialism and Revolutionary Tendencies​

“STRIKE NOW! KILL THE LABOR BILL! DEMAND YOUR RIGHTS!”

-Socialist pamphlet handed out in various Midwestern factories in December 1952​

“Stevenson had managed to salvage one part of the party from the unpopularity of Truman and that is the labor wing, which remained solidly in the Democratic camp despite Truman’s questionable support of the labor movement. Stevenson’s support from labor activists was so strong that in December of 1952, various minor groups went on strike, though hardly enough to be noticeable or even earn much local state attention. But the growing intensity of labor’s political participation particularly in the Democratic Party, can be traced here.”

-Excerpt from Labor and the New Deal Coalition​

“Many political scholars focus on how this election empowered Republican progressives and liberals but fail to mention how it did the same for Southern democrats. Southern conservatives soon saw themselves as the primary base of the party, the center of the party that would have to be catered to going forward to ensure any electoral success.”

-Excerpt from Big Mules and Big Tents: The Southern Democrats​

“If the Democrats want to see electoral victory they must be built for the average American. For the Southern farmer, the Midwestern laborer, the Western worker, and all in between. There can be no question, the Democrats must become the party of the American people if they wish again to serve as the representatives of the people.”

-Letter from Henry Wallace published in “The New Republic”, December 1952​

“Though historians disagree, the 1952 Election is widely accepted as the beginning of the slow collapse of the Fifth Party System as the now defeated Democratic Party, after years of victory, were defeated by a fresh and new Earl Warren. Both parties began to immediately shift in nature after this election.”

-Excerpt from American Electoral Systems and Elections​

---------------------------------

 

[Citizen A]

Attached Supplementary Image:Electoral Map for the 1952 Election

 

[Wendell]

Interesting that Harriman cannot deliver NY....

 

[BP Booker]

Will Earl Warrens Republican Party see the end of segregation (rather than the northern liberals of the Democratic Party)? And its a little worrying that it seems the Democrats may move to the right. Ir rather capitulate to their own right

 

[Sombergen]

This is a very intriguing PoD for the development of a more socially progressive GOP and what I am assuming is going to be a more culturally conservative Democratic Party, right? Look forward to seeing where you take things.

 

[Citizen A]

Interesting that Harriman cannot deliver NY....

He was growing more and more unpopular with the whole Communist accusation, especially since this one seemed to have a basis. As well, New York politics was whirring in the background and on the state level Republicans were both losing ground and gaining. Plus, Trumanism is still super unpopular and no matter how much Stevenson hated this, it was still the image of the party.

This is a very intriguing PoD for the development of a more socially progressive GOP and what I am assuming is going to be a more culturally conservative Democratic Party, right? Look forward to seeing where you take things.

Will Earl Warrens Republican Party see the end of segregation (rather than the northern liberals of the Democratic Party)? And its a little worrying that it seems the Democrats may move to the right. Ir rather capitulate to their own right

The Democratic Party is at a crossroads for sure and I hope all my quotes have made it obvious just how big of a divide is growing in the party, there definitely is a question though of what is next for them.

 

[Citizen A]

The Compromise Cabinet​

“Originally believed to be little more than an electoral ploy, Warren’s bipartisanship soon came out as the time came for building a cabinet.”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“Chosen as Chief of Staff for Warren was fellow Californian and fellow moderate, Thomas Kuchel. It was hoped that Kuchel’s ability to play the moderate centrist would be helpful in balancing the different wings of the party and for pushing through the President’s goals.”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“It is widely believed that the announcement of Kuchel as Chief of Staff was taken as a personal snub by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. who had, many assert, believed that he would be transitioned from managing the campaign to managing the White House.”

-Excerpt from The Boston Brahmins​

“Chosen for Secretary of State was the man at the head of Republican foreign policy and the advisor of both Dewey and Warren on foreign policy issues, John Foster Dulles. Dulles was a response to the failures of Truman’s foreign policy and a commitment to push back against Communism rather than merely contain it.”

-Excerpt from John Foster Dulles: Piety, Pragmatism, and Power in U.S. Foreign Policy​

“Warren was also forced to make drastic compromises regarding the Secretary of Defense. The MacArthur-ites, who had still not resigned to defeat, demanded various radical choices from MacArthur himself to another man they thought would be their ally General Curtis LeMay. On the other hand, business interests wanted one of their own in the office and pushed various officials from a handful of companies to hold the position.”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“Supposedly the decision occurred sometime in late January of 1953, the two men [Warren and Eisenhower] were to discuss the military, foreign policy, and more specifically the war in Korea. It is said that the President asked Eisenhower what to do regarding the Secretary of Defense issue, and the General apparently considered it for a while before choosing his old friend and previous deputy, General Lucius Clay.”

-Excerpt from Eisenhower: The American Scipio​

“Warren also had in mind various reforms to the Cabinet system to reflect his devotion to the New Deal policies and to technocratic policy expansion in general, more specifically, splitting the Department of Commerce’s transportation and urban development portions into the Department of Public Works, as well as developing the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.”

-Excerpt from Bureaucracy in the United States: 1920-2000​

“The new Department of Public Works as it was now known, soon encompassed various old New Deal programs and agencies such as the Federal Housing Administration, a mixture of old policies from the Federal Works Agency, and the Bureau of Public Roads. The Department was a leviathan of infrastructure, development, and urban planning, and choosing who was to run it and how it was to be run would make or break the department. It is then quite odd that the choice went to an unelected and local level official, even if it was someone with the record and now legacy of Robert Moses.”

-Excerpt from The History of American Urbanism​

“The appointment of Robert Moses showed a sort of blithe ignorance on the part of the Warren White House, a belief in progress and development that was deeply blind to the faults of the man and the faults of his philosophy. It was a blindness indicative to an era of pushing growth and success at all costs.”

-Historian Robert Caro in a speech about the 1950’s and urban policy​

“The most controversial and directly opposed appointment was that of Truman and Roosevelt healthcare and Social Security advisor, Isidore Sydney Falk, to be Secretary of the newly created Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. This quickly raised fears in the business community that Warren would bring back his universal state healthcare plans from California and try to implement them on a nationwide level. This not only caused panic amongst the party, but also caused the American Medical Association to begin publishing a litany of pamphlets and expand their lobbying funding”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“Mr. Falk has shown himself to be deeply submerged in the highly partisan politics and pure propaganda of the National Health Assembly and the rabid ‘reformers’ of the Truman age. With such a bias leading head, the Department has fallen from what it could have been. What should have been a leading table of healthcare leaders and officials has become the meeting room of the radical and the misguided.”

-Excerpt from an Editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, May 1953​

“The days after the announcement of the choice of the President of Mr.Falk were hectic ones. Conservative Republicans came in asking to see the President with a clear amount of anger and frustration, I remember one Congressman in particular came in and almost barked at me to see the President. I was told to redirect such men to the Chief of Staff, and I imagine he would smooth talk many of them. To make matters worse, you had well meaning but oblivious progressives coming in to talk policy, whenever they came in the AMA and all would start roaring about healthcare again.”

-Anonymous secretary quoted in Inside the Warren White House​

“It is time for American business and the American employer to come back to the fore and take up responsibility. For too many years, the government in Washington has told us what to do, and we will not allow that to expand to healthcare. After many years of promised ‘Deals’, the American people now want a chance to run their affairs themselves.”

-Quote from Senator Bricker given in the Congress, May 1953​

“Pushing labor further into the Democratic Party was Earl Warren’s nomination of Fred Hartley Jr, of Taft-Hartley Act fame, to be the Secretary of Labor. This showed, quite early on, that the Warren administration had little intent to ‘compromise’ on labor as it had with healthcare and other old Fair Deal programs.”

-Excerpt from Labor and Liberalism​

“Repeal of Taft-Hartley went from an idea of only the few devotees of the Fair Deal to the core of the Democratic Party when it became obvious based on union and worker reactions to the appointment of Secretary of Labor Hartley that the assault on labor rights was something that Democrats could finally use to differentiate themselves from the Progressive Republicans.”

-Excerpt from Labor in the Democratic Party​

“The appointment of Hartley has been explained through various means, which will be quickly explored here. The first was that this was a very political move to satisfy the Taft Conservative wing of the party and that Warren had no hostile intent toward labor but was willing to sacrifice it. Another view is that Representative Hartley seemed to have some expertise on labor and that Warren truly believed that the Taft-Hartley Act was not anti-labor as much as a bill well designed to address past issues. The final view, which was espoused at the time, was that Warren had always been an opponent of labor, looking all the way back to the 1920’s when he had taken a heavy hand to fight back a general strike in San Francisco. This also raised old leftist fears that he was secretly a McCarthy in disguise, fears grown from his role in Whitney v California”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“JUSTICE FOR WHITNEY, JUSTICE FOR LABOR, JUSTICE FOR AMERICA”

-Socialist pamphlet distributed across California during the Summer of 1953​

“From the very beginning, the Warren administration was built on the value of the man himself, compromise. Compromise between progressive and conservative, Republican and Democrat, business interests and the working American. But often this compromise only made matters worse. Warren would assuage American corporate interests while enraging the left on labor matters but then immediately lose business support due to fears of his healthcare plans. What was meant to be a compromise cabinet became a compromised cabinet to many.”

-Excerpt from Inside the Warren White House​

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[TRH]

Interesting tidbit I just came across: according to John Gerring, it was actually in the 1950's when Democrats started toning back the class warfare that had been a big part of their rhetoric since the days of Jennings Bryan, in favor of more inclusive messaging that treated corporations as legitimate actors in the political system. It seems like this OTL trend is going to hit a wall ITTL, but at the same time, the reasons Gerring cites for the shift remain in place: one, the Soviet Union is still out there, and going after business too vociferously makes you look like a communist sympathizer, and two, the New Deal and its safety net reduced class resentments among the general public. Taft-Hartley was passed by veto-proof majorities, so while it, and Hartley's appointment as Secretary of Labor are certainly provocations for organized labor, this probably isn't a cause that has the general public all that invested in it. So in the short term, at least, the Democrats' attempts to differentiate themselves on labor issues may be to their detriment.