Before the 1960 election, the frontrunner was Senator Estes Kefauver, who'd run twice before and been nominated for Vice-President. He had a knack turning the Senate into his own personal soapbox, with the unfortuate side-effect of pissing off everybody else in the room. He was a natural campaigner, racking up support in the primaries, but lacked support from the establishment when he ran for President. In 1952 the bosses united behind a darkhorse to beat him, and in '56 he ran out of money. He led in the polls for the '60 election, but counted himself out in 1959 and put all his focus into writing laws.
As for the issues, Estes Kefauver can best be described as populist. He was known to support laws attacking monopolistic business, and stir up fears around organized and violent crime. He was also pro-civil rights, at least by the standard of a successful politician in the South in the '50s. He was also against a unilateral moratorium on H-bomb testing.
If Kefauver had run in 1960, how would it turn out? Would he do well enough in the primary to knock out Kennedy and Humphrey? Will the convention stick with Stevenson, or try to run Johnson or Symington instead? How would he fare against Nixon and, of course, how would he govern the country if he won?
As for the issues, Estes Kefauver can best be described as populist. He was known to support laws attacking monopolistic business, and stir up fears around organized and violent crime. He was also pro-civil rights, at least by the standard of a successful politician in the South in the '50s. He was also against a unilateral moratorium on H-bomb testing.
If Kefauver had run in 1960, how would it turn out? Would he do well enough in the primary to knock out Kennedy and Humphrey? Will the convention stick with Stevenson, or try to run Johnson or Symington instead? How would he fare against Nixon and, of course, how would he govern the country if he won?