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Alternate running mate for Eisenhower in 52

There’s Taft men Everett Dirksen, maybe and John Bricker, California’s other senator William Knowland, Alfred Driscoll, and lesser rivals Earl Warren and Harold Stassen, who at the time was still a normal politician.

Some are more viable than others. An Eisenhower-Taft ticket might be impossible to achieve after the convention fight, and would mean a vacant vicepresidency within the year.
 
claybaskit said:
Instead of then California senator Richard Nixon what other politician of that era would of made a good running mate for Eisenhower?
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Aznavour said:
There’s Taft men Everett Dirksen, maybe and John Bricker, California’s other senator William Knowland, Alfred Driscoll, and lesser rivals Earl Warren and Harold Stassen, who at the time was still a normal politician.

Some are more viable than others. An Eisenhower-Taft ticket might be impossible to achieve after the convention fight, and would mean a vacant vicepresidency within the year.
Click to expand...

Odd though it is from our perspective, at the time Nixon came about as close to a "safe" VP pick as one could get - Eisenhower had a checklist of (a) young, to balance the ticket (b) from the West, to balance the ticket and (c) acceptable to both Taft and Dewey, and Nixon checked all the boxes - Ike certainly didn't pick him out of any real personal affection, he was just the obvious choice.

Condition (c) means that Dirksen is out (he was Taft's recommendation, one of Ike's advisers apparently said that after what Dirksen said on the floor of the convention, he wouldn't wipe his feet on him) as is Taft, as is Bricker, as is Stassen, who has managed to alienate both Dewey and Taft by this point. Driscoll is out just on geographic grounds.

Eisenhower's own list of names was allegedly Nixon, Knowland, Charles Halleck, Walter Judd, and Dan Thornton, of whom all but Nixon apparently failed one condition or another (Halleck and Judd being just representatives was I suspect a major point against them) but Knowland and Thornton seem at least outwardly plausible, as does Arthur Langlie, whose name also pops up in connection with the job.

The calculus changes if you're looking for a *replacement* for Nixon because Checkers has done in his career - the checklist becomes a bit less important, because Eisenhower doesn't want to be obviously copy-pasting a Second Nixon, and he probably looks for someone a bit older with decent anti-corruption credentials, although frankly I'm not really sure who that would be.
 
Aznavour said:
Some are more viable than others. An Eisenhower-Taft ticket might be impossible to achieve after the convention fight, and would mean a vacant vicepresidency within the year.
Click to expand...
If Ike's heart attack was fatal in 1955, that would make Sam Rayburn president. I imagine catapulting one of the most powerful speakers into the presidency would have some very interesting effects.
 
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