inflation to the economic practices of the New and Fair Deals while pledging to

protect the nation from communist subversion. In short, he affirmed a number of

Taft's own positions. Eisenhower's public speaking ability did not meet expectations,

as he seemed to have poorly rehearsed his performance, but the rhetoric did seem

more combative than the speeches Dewey had delivered in 1948. Taft responded to

Eisenhower's Abilene address with a firm declaration of his own principles and policy

goals. He called for an immediate end to price controls, pledged to balance the federal

budget during his first year in office and, like Eisenhower, repudiated Truman's

foreign policy.2 This response did little to counter Eisenhower's speech, especially

since he had openly criticized Truman's foreign policy at Abilene and stolen some of

Taft's talking points.

 Eisenhower joined his own campaign at a critical time in the election cycle. In

May, Taft appeared to be gaining popularity among Republicans and independent

voters. A Gallup poll released on June 4 found that Taft had gained three points in the

last two weeks and now trailed Eisenhower by seven.3 On June 20, a Gallup poll

showed that sixty-one percent of Republican county chairmen favored Taft versus

thirty-one percent for Eisenhower. At this level of party leadership, Taft led over

Eisenhower in every section of the country with the South and the Midwest giving

him his largest majorities.4

 With Eisenhower an active candidate, Taft now had the opportunity to challenge

his opponent on specific policy questions. Eisenhower proved willing to discuss and

defend his points of view on most topics, countering the Taftite charge that he had no


2 Robert A. Taft, quoted in Washington Post, 20 June 1952.

3 Washington Post, 4 June 1952.

4 Washington Post, 20 June 1952.