Among other dramatic moments, they saw Everett Dirksen of Illinois, second only to Taft in the hearts of the so-called Old Guard, point a long finger at Dewey, the losing presidential candidate of 1944 and 1948 but one of the architects of the Eisenhower campaign, and voice the frustration of Taft’s followers: “We followed you before and you took us down the path to defeat. Don’t do it to us again!”
