New Hampshire Vote Boosts Ike's Kefauver's Nomination Chances

Repercussions over the somewhat surprising New Hampshire primary sounded in many quarters of the College yesterday. Big surprise was Senator Estes Kefauver's pronounced defeat of President Harry S. Truman and the state Democratic machine. General Dwight D. Eisenhower's decided sweep of the Republican delegates and his popular vote set Senator Robert A. Taft's nomination hopes back a peg or two.

Complete unofficial returns showed Kefauver over Truman, 20,147 to 16,298, and Eisenhower over Taft, 46,497 to 35,820. The Tennessean got all eight Democratic national convention votes, and Ike, all 14 G.O.P. votes.

"This shows again how shrewd a politician Harry is," said Carl J. Friedrich, professor of Government, "he didn't want to go into the New Hampshire primary at first. This vote probably does mean what Senator Douglas, Senator Kefauver, and others have long maintained, that the feeling in the electorate against corruption is very strong. The people have shown a decided interest on the side of the angels."

Charles R. Cherington '35, associate professor of Government, called Eisenhower's victory "a very helpful straw in the wind." Saying that the Taft forces spent "a great deal of money" in New Hampshire, Cherington added, "the true picture of expenses would be pretty impressive and rather embarrassing." Commenting on Ike's manager, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. '23, he ventured. "He is my candidate for president in 1960."

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. '38, associate professor of History, thought the Truman loss might cause the President either to back Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, who "appeals to the same kind of voter as Kefauver," or interpret the vote as a personal challenge and run again "to vindicate himself."

Schlesinger said that it was "inconceivable that Kefauver would get the nomination against the President's opposition," but that he would be a "strong contender" for the vice-presidential nomination.