ABSTRACT
The Dwight D. Eisenhower era began the long process of dismantling the New Deal-Fair Deal coalition. His election resulted in much more than another military hero in the White House. The Solid South was no longer to be solidly Democratic; it was populated in large and lasting measure by “Eisenhower Democrats” en route to the Republican party. Collecting a staff of some seventy persons, he undertook “one of the most extensive and highly organized preannouncement campaigns of modern times.” A further complication was the decision to employ patronage to build up the party in the South, which meant that antiquated Republican party organizations were to be circumvented. The conservatives’ objection was voiced by Representative Richard Simpson, chairman of the congressional campaign committee, who spoke on behalf of himself and Senator Barry Goldwater, chairman of the senatorial campaign committee. The midterm election results indicated that Governor Rockefeller would be the only significant threat to Vice-President Nixon’s chances for the 1960 nomination.
