ABSTRACT
The Franklin D. Roosevelt landslide and the New Deal coalition that followed would hold Republicans at bay for more than a generation. The Old Guard sought a man loyal to the Senate leadership, for example, James E. Watson of Indiana, George H. Moses of Maine, or Charles D. Hilles of New York. The 1937 Supreme Court fight gave Republicans further cause for rejoicing: Democrats were seriously divided on the issue. This battle gave John Hamilton his first real experience with the difficulties of maintaining a Loyal Opposition, in the British sense, based at an American national party headquarters during nonpresidential election years. Senate Republican leaders solicited Landon’s help in an attempt to have Hamilton abandon his radio plan. A major weakness in the document was its inadequate treatment of the spreading war in Europe; much of the Republican leadership at this time maintained a noninterventionist posture.
