Privately, Taftites complained amongst themselves that they were not allowed to

prominently figure in the campaign. Prior to 1948, Republicans of all factions worked

together after the convention to elect the Republican candidate. In 1948 and 1952, the

Dewey faction had tried to give more responsibility to rival state factions and remove

the Old Guard of their importance. Even though they lost at Chicago, the Taft faction

did not expect to lose their positions within the GOP. South Carolina RNC member J.

Bates Gerald bitterly advised Martin that "All political leaders who went down the

line for the Senator being treated as step children by some of the top brass in

Eisenhower movement[.] This seems to be a good way to loose the national campaign

as Dewey did in 48."50 Although some Taftite groups were given pivotal roles on the

local and state levels, such as Reece's organization in Tennessee, others such as the

Clarence Brown group in Ohio and the Walther Hallanan faction in West Virginia

remained on the outside looking in.51 Brownell's divide and conquer strategy was still

in place in most Southern states and infuriated the Old Guard throughout the

campaign.

 While conservative politicians lamented their fate, there were some signs that

their political beliefs were spreading beyond the party apparatus. 1952 also marked

the entry of the conservative intellectual movement into the electoral arena. After

growing dissatisfied with Dewey's 1948 campaign, the Truman foreign policy, and

what they believed to be increasing socialist tendencies within the Democratic

50 J. Bates Gerald, Telegram to I. Jack Martin, 6 September 1952. Copy in Folder (Eisenhower, Dwight
D. (4)), Box 1286, Taft Papers.

51 Unlike Gerald, many of Taft's associates saved their complaints until after the election, rather than
burden the Ohioan while he was on the campaign trail. After the election, the cold shoulder from the
RNC and the Eisenhower group continued, prompting vociferous complaints from the Old Guard. See
Leonard Hall, Telegram to Leslie Hart, Folder (Tennessee Situation 1953 (1),), Box 176, Papers of the
Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas
[Hereafter cited as Hall Papers]; Katherine Kennedy Brown, Letter to Leonard Hall, 20 July 1955.
Folder 7, Box 17, Katherine Kennedy Brown Papers; Walter Hallanan, Letter to Robert A. Taft, Folder
(Politics Republican 1953 H-K), Box 1259, Taft Papers.