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When TV Changed Politics: Adlai Stevenson Vs. Ike
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Adlai Stevenson, who tried to "talk sense to the American people," was an old-fashioned intellectual who believed in long speeches and the power of words.
But in 1952, Stevenson faced his Republican opponent, Dwight Eisenhower, in the presidential race on a new battleground — television.
While Eisenhower boiled his campaign down to a few sound bites — "Ike for President" and "You like Ike, I like Ike, everybody likes Ike" — Stevenson believed in longer speeches to sell a message. So he bought 30-minute blocks on TV, but nobody tuned in to watch them.
Ultimately, the former Illinois governor lost to Eisenhower.
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Radio Diaries talked with Stevenson's son, Adlai Stevenson III; Newton Minnow, who worked as an assistant legal counsel to Stevenson in 1952; David Schwartz, the chief curator of the Museum of the Moving Image; and Jean Baker, who wrote The Stevensons: A Biography of an American Family.
This story was produced by Joe Richman and Samara Freemark of Radio Diaries.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDA1OTI3MjQ5MDEyODUwMTE2MzM1YzNmZA004))
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