ABSTRACT
In retrospect, the certainty of the Dwight D. Eisenhower victory undoubtedly made the election a pro forma exercise. The Truman proposal invited Eisenhower to a luncheon with the President and his cabinet. The Eisenhower pre-convention drive had also been propelled throughout the country by political amateurs working at the grass-roots level. The nation’s press, both Democratic and Republican papers, embraced the Eisenhower candidacy as the palliative for the postwar troubles of America. The Eisenhower campaign strategy began to take shape. Sherman Adams, who had managed the General’s forces on the floor of the International Amphitheater, was called to Colorado and induced to become his “chief of staff.” One of the tritest observations about the 1952 campaign involves the contrast between Stevenson’s witty, urbane speeches and Eisenhower’s style. The Scripps-Howard papers had spoken for a wide segment of the party that feared the possibility of throwing away still another chance to defeat the Democrats.
