National Affairs: Nonchalance & Dismay

Harry Truman's sharp political instinct told him he should stay out of the New Hampshire primary. But Democratic National Chairman Frank McKinney urged him to get in; delegate candidates pledged to him would be left out in the corridor if he didn't. Furthermore, he wouldn't have to campaign; the organization would take care of everything.

But it was Estes Kefauver who took care of everything. He polled 20,147 votes to Truman's 16,298, and all twelve of his political nobodies were elected delegates. The Democratic high command tried to be nonchalant about it all. A fine, healthy thing that so many Democrats voted, said the unblushing McKinney. At Key West Harry Truman acted uninterested when reporters tagged him on his morning walk the morning after. He managed a weak grin and said nothing.

Beneath the nonchalance the Trumanites were dismayed. The President and his aides were furious at McKinney for his error in judgment. Harry Truman could still have the nomination if he wanted it, but the defeat was a serious blow to his political prestige. Supporters of other Democratic prospects began to stir even more nervously than before.

Some, observers thought the debacle of New Hampshire would cause Truman to announce his plans soon, possibly at the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Washington March 29. Many a pundit thought this was just the kind of rebuke which might bring Truman out as a fighting candidate. No matter how the President reacted, the New Hampshire voters had proved he was wrong when he scoffed at the primary as just "eyewash." Or, if it was eyewash, Harry Truman was up to his eyeballs in it.