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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2009
In the 1964 New Hampshire Republican primary, with very little money, no political power base, and not even a genuine candidate, the “Draft Lodge” movement brought off a stunning victory over Goldwater and Rockefeller organizations which spent huge sums, between them controlled nearly all the sources of Republican power in New Hampshire, and had earnest candidates who tramped all over the snow-covered landscape shaking hands by the thousands and making speeches by the hundreds. How that victory was achieved is an instructive lesson in the vagaries of American presidential politics. It also happens to be a brilliant illustration of what has become known as the “public relations” campaign which, it turns out, works even better in primaries than in regular elections. Here then is the story of a political victory put together out of press releases and announcements, a couple of pieces of direct-mail advertising, a five-minute television film, and the mistakes of the other candidates. As for Lodge himself, he was 10,000 miles away in Saigon insisting he was not a candidate.
1 Author's interview with Robert R. Mullen, Washington, D.C., March 1, 1966. Mr. Mullen's contributions to this article will be evident.
2 New York Times, 12 8, 1963, p. 1.Google Scholar
3 New York Times,129, 1963, p. 1.Google Scholar
4 Author's interview with David B. Goldberg, Boston, Mass., September 22, 1965. I am indebted to Mr. Goldberg for much information.
5 The Sunday Press, Binghamton, N.Y., (12 15, 1963), 22A.Google Scholar
6 Los Angeles Times, 12 24, 1963, II 6.Google Scholar
7 AP story, 01 4, 1964.Google Scholar
8 Former Governor of New Hampshire Wesley Powell told me (interview, September 21, 1965, Hampton Falls, N.H.) that it was his recognition of this state of affairs which prompted him to promote the write-in campaign on behalf of Richard Nixon. On January 11, Senator Norris Cotton was reported as saying that if the vote was taken then, Goldwater would come in second and Rockefeller third, but the largest number of votes would be “undecided.” Nashua Telegraph, January 11, 1964, p. 1.
9 Author's interview with Richard Jackman, May 17, 1965, Concord, N. H.
10 Governor Powell said he urged Nixon to wage a full-fledged campaign by getting a slate of delegates, but Nixon chose to be cautious instead. Voters will not accept the seriousness of a candidate unless delegates favorable to him are also running, said Powell.
11 Nashua Telegraph, 01 23, 1964, p. 3.Google Scholar
12 I interviewed Governor Rockefeller's New Hampshire campaign managers—Governor Hugh Gregg and Bert Teague, as well as many members of his national campaign organization and the Governor himself.
13 There are several versions of what Rockefeller said, but the purport in all of them is clear. This version is from the Boston Herald, February 23, 1964, p. 15. After the New Hampshire campaign Paul Grindle reported that when Goldwater attacked Lodge “we thought sure Rockefeller would issue a statement backing up Lodge and we felt it would absolutely ruin us.” New York Times, March 12, 1964, p. 5. This makes little sense to me since most Lodge supporters had already rejected Rockefeller.
14 Boston Globe, 02 24, 1964, p. 1.Google Scholar
15 Boston Herald, 02 24, 1964, p. 1.Google Scholar
16 Boston Herald, 03 3, 1964.Google Scholar
17 Newsweek, 03 9, 1964, p. 18.Google Scholar
18 “For the News Media, a Background Memo on the Henry Cabot Lodge Campaign”, issued by the Draft Lodge Committee, Washington, D.C., 01 16, 1964.Google Scholar
19 This one had no heading, it simply began with a detaline, “Washington, 02 11.…”.Google Scholar
20 We must recall that George Lodge was not officially part of the “Draft Lodge” movement, although no knowing observer of the events believed for a moment that George Lodge was ignorant of what was being done in New Hampshire or of what his father's political decisions were in Saigon.
21 New York Times, 03 8, 1964, p. 1.Google Scholar
22 Boston Globe, 03 8, 1964, p. 7.Google Scholar
23 New York Times, 03 9, 1964, p. 17.Google Scholar
24 Gallup Poll, , in Evening Press, Binghamton, N.Y., 03 29, 1964.Google Scholar
