he earned the job in new york under tom dewey. herbert brownell, the attorney general under eisenhower, was dewey's campaign manager, and the list is a very long one. >> richmond, virginia, you're next. caller: hello? >> you're on the air, go ahead. we can hear you >> caller: i'm sorry, can you hear me? >> we can. caller: it's an interesting subject. this was the first presidential election, my mother, a life-long republican, voted in and one of the things she told me was that she found dewey unattractive because of -- she mentioned his greasy hair and mustache. my main interest was understanding the role a future major player in the democratic party, lyndon johnson, played in this election. >> well, l.b.j. tried to get elected himself to the senate in texas so he was not a significant factor in the national, in the presidential race. dewey's appearance is revealing in a number of ways. dewey was someone who, i think, today would be in despair of the handlers. dewey could not be handled. there were people throughout his career who

and 48 of tom dewey had captured the gop nomination on the third ballot. and when to wilkie, 1940 on the sixth ballot. harry truman in 1944, third ballot. we take it for granted that conventions are going to be cut and dry and you're going to wrap it up on the first ballot. this was not a given in 1960 and lyndon johnson is counting on the back room deal being made that he can go to his fellow senators and they can go back home and twist some arms and he will arrive with enough votes in his pocket so that in the second, third, fourth, or fifth ballot, he can derail jack kennedy. jack kennedy feels almost the same way. robert kennedy says, you know, if we don't win on the first ballot, we don't win it all. it was a very, very close for jack kennedy all the way through 1960, even in those primaries to the convention and to the balloting. there are a lot of promises made. the city would have to rent a very large hall, very much larger than this one, to get all the people that jack kennedy promised the vice presidency to that year. [laughter] yes, your remembe

that is something that tom dewey had not done in 1944 under somewhat similar circumstances. go there. in some ways, he paid a price for that. >> you are right. the nuclear test ban, which was very unpopular point of view to take in 1956, he took it very courageously because he believed in it deeply. he said -- someone asked what the weapons would be in world war iv, and he said there would be sticks and stones. >> between 1952 and 1956, was adlai stevenson and going to get the nomination again? >> i would have to answer that with a yes and no. he hoped that might someday be president, but he also knew that if you ran against president eisenhower again, the odds were very much against them. i was one of the few people around him that kurds to and not to run in 1956. he felt an obligation to the democratic party. >> here is a little bit of adlai stevenson at the 1956 convention. >> i come here on a solid mission. -- solemn mission. i accept your nomination and your program. [applause] i pledged to every resource of mind and strength that i possess to make a good win for our co