So serious was the issue that Eisenhower himself traveled to Dallas in late June to give a searing speech denouncing the tactics of a “small clique” of Texas Republicans who were trying to steal delegates. He pointed out that no party could “clean up the government of the United States unless that party—from top to bottom—is clean itself.” In the meantime the pro-Eisenhower forces in Texas named a rival delegation to go to the national convention, where they would continue the fight to be recognized. This nasty conflict loomed as the convention opened.
