1952: Eisenhower/??? (D) vs Eisenhower/Nixon (R)

[Snazzrazz Mazzlejazz]

I've heard before that in 1952 the Democratic Party also wanted to draft Eisenhower so what if that succeeded and Eisenhower was nominated by both parties with different running mates. Does it just become a question of partisan loyalty? Who do the Democrats nominate for VP? Discuss preferably with maps.

[Alben Barkley]

I doubt Ike would have accepted the nominations of both parties, but this is certainly interesting.

As for who the VP the Democrats nominated could have been, there are a number of possibilities. In 1948, an anti-Truman wing of the party tried to draft a ticket of Eisenhower and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who incidentally was the runner-up for the VP nomination Truman got in 1944. So it might have been him if he was interested. The major candidates of 1952 — Kefauver, Stevenson, maybe Russell and Sparkman (Stevenson’s actual VP nominee) — are possibilities. I imagine the party might push for one of the Southerners. Truman’s own VP and my online namesake, Alben Barkley, is also a possibility, as is Truman himself (he offered to run as Ike’s running mate at one point in 1948, so badly did things seem to be going for him at the time).

As for the map, if it is one of the Southerners chosen as VP, presumably the Democratic ticket sweeps the South but the Republican ticket does better elsewhere. It would have really come down both to partisan loyalty and to Nixon vs. whoever the Democratic VP nominee is. So maybe the party would have been better off choosing one with more national appeal who was preferably more charismatic and experienced than Nixon (not hard), in which case the Democratic ticket would have a better chance of victory. Maybe FDR Jr., hoping to capitalize on his name recognition? Though he was not a very accomplished Congressman and was largely seen as a disappointment by the party.