Welcome to Whistlestop a podcast of Presidential Campaign Curiosities.

I'm John Dickerson. Did Dwight Eisenhower snooker his way into the presidency or did he prevail over a despicable attempt by his opponent

Senator Robert Taft to subvert democracy through a theft of delegates?

We'll tell the story of Me Tooism, the Texas Steel, and the star turn of a man known as the

Wizard of Ouse.

The second chapter in our look at the 1952 Republican Convention in a moment, but first a word from our sponsor.

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Just go to the Great Courses.com slash Whistlestop. That's the Great Courses

dot com slash Whistle Stop. Our Whistle Stop today is an actual

whistle stop with a train moving through a station. It's July 2nd and we're in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Dwight Eisenhower had planned to watch the Republican Convention taking place in Chicago

from his Denver headquarters, but now he's telling reporters that he's boarded a special train and he's headed for Chicago.

He only entered the presidential race officially a month ago, a reluctant candidate,

but now the general's marching hard, pledging that he's going to

Chicago to, quote, have a hand in the fight. He said he's going to roar clear across the country

to keep our party clean and fit to lead the nation. He's

...