Nixon's "Checkers Speech" - Eisenhower acceptance speech - Eisenhower visit Korea speech - Stevenson acceptance speech - Eisenhower presidential ad - Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember This week in our series, we look at the presidential election campaign of nineteen fifty-two. President Harry Truman decided not to seek re-election. The continuing war in Korea and economic problems at home had cost him the support of many Americans. His Democratic Party needed a new candidate for president. In the spring of nineteen fifty-two, Harry Truman offered his support to Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson, however, said he was not interested in any job except the one he had as governor of Illinois. Someone asked what he would do if the Democratic Party chose him anyway as its presidential candidate. Stevenson jokingly answered that he would have to shoot himself. So, President Truman and other party leaders discussed different candidates. Each one, however, seemed to have some political weakness. The Republican Party was also discussing possible candidates. It was much easier for the Republicans to choose. Earlier, General Dwight Eisenhower had said he would be interested in running for president. Eisenhower chose Senator Richard Nixon of California as his running mate for vice president. Nixon was known for strongly opposing communism. "I am holding in my hand a microfilm of very highly confidential secret State Department documents. These documents were fed out of the State Department, over ten years ago, by communists who were employees of that department and who were interested in seeing if these documents were sent to the Soviet Union, where the interests of the Soviet Union happened to be in conflict with those of the United States." Democrats opened their presidential nominating convention in Chicago, Illinois, ten days after the Republicans closed theirs in the same city. Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson welcomed the delegates, but still seemed like he did not want to run for president. That only made the delegates want him even more. A political observer described the differences between Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower this way: Stevenson was a man of thought. Eisenhower was a man of action. The Republican Party hired an advertising agency to design a campaign to "sell" Eisenhower and Nixon to the American public. "The man from Abilene. Out of the heartland of America, out of this small frame house in Abilene, Kansas, came a man, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Through the crucial hour of historic D-Day, he brought us to the triumph and peace of V-E [Victory in Europe] Day. Now, another crucial hour in our history. The big question..." "General, if war comes, is this country really ready?" "It is not. We haven't enough tanks for the fighting in Korea. It is time for a change." "The nation, haunted by the stalemate in Korea, looks to Eisenhower. Eisenhower knows how to deal with the Russians. He has met Europe's leaders, has got them working with us. Elect the Number One Man for the Number One Job of our time. November fourth, vote for peace. Vote for Eisenhower." The speech was a major success. Many Republicans voiced support for Nixon to stay on as Eisenhower's running mate. And Eisenhower agreed. Americans voted in November. Eisenhower won almost thirty-four million votes. That was more than any other presidential candidate had ever received. Stevenson won about twenty-seven million votes. Dwight Eisenhower was sworn in as America's thirty-fourth president in January of nineteen fifty-three. He was sixty-two years old. Many problems awaited the new Republican president. Republicans had only a small majority in Congress. Many of them were very conservative and unlikely to support many of Eisenhower's programs. The cost of living in America was rising. Senator Joseph McCarthy was still hunting communists. And the war was still being fought in Korea. But Ike had a lot of experience serving his country. Dwight Eisenhower came from a large family in Abilene, Kansas. They did not have much money. He received a free university education when he was appointed to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, in New York state. He remained in military service for many years. He was a top Army officer by the time the United States entered World War Two in nineteen forty-one. In June of nineteen forty-four, he led the Allied D-Day invasion of Europe. In nineteen fifty, President Truman named him supreme commander of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "I Like Ike" campaign song When Dwight Eisenhower ran for president, supporters shouted "I like Ike!" People like him because he always seemed calm under pressure. As president, one of the first pressures he would have to deal with was the continuing war in Korea. That will be our story next week

• published: 04 Sep 2013
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