Reece and Martin both assumed that Eisenhower would defer to Dewey's

leadership out of political ignorance rather than ideological agreement. While they

greatly underestimated the General's acumen and experience, they genuinely thought

that a vote for Eisenhower was a vote for a Dewey-controlled White House.23 This

terrified Reece and Martin, and the concerns they expressed to Taft stemmed from a

mix of personal interest, fear, and animosity. They thought a liberal Republican

administration would prevent the Taftites from making patronage appointments,

therefore weakening the most traditional and enduring source of Old Guard power. A

Democratic administration would be worse for the country, but a liberal Republican

victory could injure their personal standings within the party. Reece, for example,

believed that Eisenhower would recognize an upstart faction in Tennessee and that he

would no longer have a place in the national GOP hierarchy, meaning everything he

had worked for politically would be for naught. There was also an underlying hatred

of Dewey in their correspondence. They believed that the only steal committed in

1952 was when the New Yorker had swindled the convention from Taft through an

unfair and unrelenting publicity campaign that had moved beyond the bounds of

respectable politics. Taft's assistance could potentially correct the Republican course,

but before the Ohioan would agree, the Old Guard wanted concessions from the

Deweyites.

 Taft shared the feelings of his top advisors, but he emphasized the ideological

and programmatic ramifications more than any personal disdain for Dewey. Frederic

23 This was far from the truth. Dewey's core 1948 organization participated in the campaign, but the
addition of Summerfield, Lodge, Adams, and Stassen made the Eisenhower campaign a coalition
broader than it had been in previous elections. In early August, Eisenhower noted with wonder that
Dewey had kept his promise that he "would carefully abstain from offering me any direct political
advice or counsel. In view of your great experience in this field, it has been most amazing to me that
you have been able to observe so patiently and so exactly this limitation." Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Letter to Thomas E. Dewey, 1 August 1952. Copy in Folder 4 (Dwight D. Eisenhower), Box 16, Series
X, Dewey Papers.