ABSTRACT
Estes Kefauver contributed as much to the efficacy of the presidential primaries as anybody, and he pointed the way for John Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, and Jimmy Carter. The Republicans in 1912 also gave an example of a convention’s disregard of the results of the primaries. Primaries were of little significance in either party in 1920, although Republicans cast over 3 million votes in twenty states. Harold Stassen believed the Republican primaries would be his most available gate to the presidential race, but he was merely testing his speed that year. Richard Nixon used the primaries to his advantage, Ronald Reagan used them like magic, and Barry Goldwater was saved by the California primary. The Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania primaries were won by Kefauver; the convention votes of those states went mostly to Stevenson, but those delegates were not selected by the primary voters.
