Prescott Bush moved into action again in 1952 aRepublican presidential nomination to Gen. Dwight D. (Ike '') Eisenhower. Among the other teams a national leader of the push to give the (^) members were Bush's Hitler-era lawyer John Foster Dulles, and Jupiter Islander C. Douglas Dillon. Dillon and his father were the pivots as the Harriman-Dulles combination readied Ike for the presidency. As a friend put it: When the Dillons ... invited [Eisenhower] to dinner it was tointroduce him to Wall Street bankers and lawyers. ''@s1@s2
Ike's higher-level backers believed, correctly, that Ike would not interfere with even the dirtiest of
their covert action programs. The bland, pleasant Prescott Bush was in from the beginning: a friend
to Ike, and an original backer of his presidency.
On July 28, 1952, as the election approached, Connecticut's senior U.S. Senator, James O'Brien
McMahon, died at the age of 48.*
This was extremely convenient for Prescott. He got the Republican nomination for Uspecial delegated meeting, with backing by the Yale-dominated state party leadership. Now he.S. Senator at a
would run in a special election for the suddenly vacant Senate seat. He could expect to be swept
into office, since he would be on the same electoral ticket as the popular war hero, General Ike. By
a technicality, he would instantly become Connecticut's senior Senator, with extra power in
Congress. And the next regularly scheduled senatorial race would be in 1956 (wterm would have ended), so Prescott could run again in that presidential election year--once againhen McMahon's (^)
on Ike's coattails!
With this arrangement, things worked out very smoothly. In Eisenhower's 1952 election victory, Ike
won Connethe statewide Republicans, but managed to win by 30,373 outcticut by a margin of 129,507 votes out of 1,092,471. P of 1,088,799 votrescott Bush came in last amonges case, his margin
nearly 100,000 behind Eisenhower. He took the traditionally Republican towns.
In Eisenhower's 1956 reelection, Ike won Connecticut by 303,036 out of 1,114,954 votes, the
largest presidential margin in Conne129,544 votes out of 1,085,206--his margin this time 290,082 scticut's history. Prescott Bush managed to win again, bymaller than Eisenhower's.@s1@s3
In January 1963, when this electoral strategy had been played out and his second term expired,
Prescott Bush retired from government and returned to Brown Brothers Harriman.
The 1952 Eisenhower victory made John Foster Dulles Secretary of State, and his brother Allen
Dulles head of the CIA. The reigning Dulles brothers were the Republican '' replacements for their client and business partner, Democrat '' Averell Harriman. Occasional public posturings
aside, their strategic commitments were identical to his.
Undoubtedly the most important work accomplished by Prescott Bush in the new regime was on the
golf links, where he was Ike's favorite partner.
Toward the ``National Security State''
Prescott Bush was a most elusive, secretive Senator. By dimay be traced: He was opposed to the development of publligent research, his views on some issuesic power projects like the Tennessee
Valley Authority; he opposed the constitutional amendment introduced by Ohio Senator John W.
Bricker, which would have required congressional approval of international agreements by the
executive branch.
frankie
(Frankie)
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