K1c2 formula

The K1C2 formula (sometimes stylized as K₁C₂),[1] was a campaign platform and strategy used by Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower during the 1952 United States presidential election. K1C2 stands for 'Korea, Communism, and Corruption',[2] representing Eisenhower's key attacks on the Democrats throughout the election: the stalemate in the Korean War, the growing fear of Communism, and the allegations of corruption within the Truman administration.[3][4]

The idea was ultimately successful, with Eisenhower winning the presidency against Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson and Republicans securing control of both houses of Congress, leading the election to be described as a 'deviating' one against the backdrop of Democratic dominance through the middle of the century.[5]

Korea

After United Nations forces retook "Line Kansas" in May 1951,[6] the Korean War was at a stalemate; the conflict continued, but little territory changed hands.

Communism

The election came in the middle of the McCarthy era when the US was undergoing the second red scare over supposed undercover Communists in American public life.[7] Eisenhower reluctantly supported Joseph McCarthy in his attacks on Democrats, with Republicans believing him to be a "necessary weapon", despite the fact McCarthy had also started attacking Eisenhower's military mentor George Marshall.[8]

Corruption

Truman himself was not linked to any corruption,[9] but his connections to the Pendergast machine were scrutinized.[10][11] Several members of the Truman administration had conflicts of interest or were involved in corrupt activities:

• In 1946, Truman attempted to appoint Edwin W. Pauley, a businessman and Democratic donor, to the post of United States Under Secretary of the Navy. Pauley was seen as unsuited to the post due to his close ties to the oil industry and Truman's continued support for his nomination led to the resignation of Harold Ickes as Secretary of the Interior.[11][12]
• Matthew J. Connelly (Truman's Appointments Secretary) and T. Lamar Caudle (the head of the tax division at the Department of Justice) were found guilty in 1956 of having accepted oil royalty interests in exchange for allegedly giving lenient treatment to a St Louis shoe salesman charged with tax fraud.[13] It was later suggested that Caudle was made a scapegoat by Republican lawmakers in order to secure convictions after their election, so as to look tough on corruption.[14]
• Major General Harry H. Vaughan (Truman's friend and military aide) accepted seven home freezers for himself and friends in return for using his influence to fix government contracts.[15][16][17]
• E. Merl Young, an official in the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, was found guilty of accepting a gift of a mink coat for his wife from a Washington lawyer in return for favourable loans to certain companies.[18][19]

To try to stem the corruption, in February 1952, Truman appointed Newbold Morris to head an independent investigation as special counsel.[20] He also signed an executive order compelling members of the executive branch to co-operate with Morris' inquiry.[21] Truman's Attorney General J. Howard McGrath objected to Morris' line of investigation (believing the salary surveys Morris was giving out were a "violation of personal rights") and, on 3 April, he fired Morris.[22][23] Hours later, Truman called McGrath and forced him to resign.[22] This high-profile scandal made sure that corruption would be a major part of the election campaign.[9]

Though Truman may not have condoned the corruption within his administration, "he behaved so willfully as to seem almost a conscious co-conspirator".[12] The extent of the problem was such that Richard Nixon, who ran with Eisenhower as Vice President, dubbed it the 'scandal-a-day administration'.[14]

References

1. Kevin M. Kruse (2015). "9 - "Why Don't You Just Get an Actor?": The Advent of Television in the 1952 Campaign". In Davies, Gareth; Zelizer, Julian E. (eds.). America at the Ballot Box: Elections and Political History. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 167–183. doi:10.9783/9780812291360-010. ISBN 9780812291360. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
2. Robert Dallek (March 2010). "Presidential Fitness and Presidential Lies: The Historical Record and a Proposal for Reform". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 40 (1): 9–22. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5705.2009.03751.x.
3. Alonzo L. Hamby (4 October 2016). "Harry S. Truman: Impact and Legacy". Miller Center. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
4. Chester J. Pach Jr. (4 October 2016). "Dwight D. Eisenhower: Campaigns and Elections". Miller Center. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
5. Sean J. Savage (May 2018). "Review: I Like Ike: The Presidential Election of 1952". Journal of Southern History. 84 (2): 509–510. doi:10.1353/soh.2018.0157. S2CID 159801478.
6. James L. Stokesbury (1990), A Short History of the Korean War, New York: Harper, pp. 136-137, ISBN 0-688-09513-5 .
7. Brown, Garrett W.; McLean, Iain; McMillan, Alistair, eds. (2018). A Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics and International Relations (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199670840.
8. Larry Blomstedt (2016). "6 - The Fall of the Trumanites". Truman, Congress, and Korea : The Politics of America's First Undeclared War. University Press of Kentucky. p. 211. ISBN 9780813166117.
9. Sean J. Savage (2012). "Truman in Historical, Popular and Political Memory". In Margolies, Daniel S. (ed.). A Companion to Harry S. Truman. Blackwell Publishing. p. 12. doi:10.1002/9781118300718.ch1. ISBN 978-1118300756. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
10. Jon Taylor (16 June 2017). "Harry Truman and the Pendergast Political Machine". The Pendergast Years. Kansas City Public Library. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
11. James Boylan (February–March 2021). "Truman Dogged by Charges of "Favoritism and Influence"". American Heritage. 66 (2). Retrieved 26 September 2021.
12. Irwin F. Gellman (2017). The Contender: Richard Nixon, The Congress Years 1946-1952. Yale University Press. p. 372. doi:10.12987/9780300228137-021. ISBN 9780300220209. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
13. Robert Hanley (12 July 1976). "Matthew J. Connelly Dies; Served as Aide to Truman". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
14. Jack Anderson (3 February 1974). "The President and the Caudle Precedent" (PDF). The Washington Post. United Feature Syndicate. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
15. "HARRY H. VAUGHAN, MAJOR GENERAL WHO WAS AN AIDE TO TRUMAN, DIES". The New York Times. 22 May 1981. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
16. H. Walton Cloke (13 August 1949). "VAUGHAN IS READY TO FACE QUESTIONS; FREEZER GIFT CITED; 'No Information Whatever' Is White House Word on Report Mrs. Truman Also Got One". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
17. J. Y. Smith (22 May 1981). "Maj. Gen. Harry Vaughan, Aide to President Truman, Dies at 87". The Washington Post. p. 10.
18. United Press International (22 August 1981). "Merl Young of R.F.C.; Was Named in Scandal". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
19. John Burke (August 1986). "Review: The Truman Scandals and the Politics of Morality by Andrew J. Dunar". The Journal of Politics. 48 (3). University of Chicago Press: 773–774. doi:10.2307/2131187. JSTOR 2131187.
20. Paul P. Kennedy (2 February 1952). "NEWBOLD MORRIS NAMED TO CLEAN UP FEDERAL SCANDALS; Former City Council President Stresses He Is Investigator and Not a Prosecutor TO HAVE SUBPOENA POWER Associate of La Guardia Calls Himself Lincoln Republican, Foe of Spoils System NEWBOLD MORRIS HEADS U. S. INQUIRY". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
21. "The President's News Conference". Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. 14 February 1952. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
22. "'Blow the Lid Off': The Fall of Attorney General Howard McGrath". CAFE. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
23. "NEWBOLD MORRIS FIRED BY M'GRATH Corruption Hunter Is Given News In Letter". Madera Tribune. United Press. 3 April 1952. Retrieved 27 September 2021.