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ch apter six Vote Texan, Vote Ike 1952 after new braunfels, it appeared clear that shivers had no intention of mending the rift in the state Democratic Party and that he was planning to wage war against the national party. Weldon Hart, Shivers’s chief political adviser, spoke as though a clash could not be prevented. Fagan Dixon telephoned Bexar County loyalist organizer Kathleen Voigt and instructed her to reserve meeting space, fearing loyalists might “have to walk” at the May state convention. From Washington, a concerned Lyndon Johnson tried to mend relations between Governor Shivers and Sam Rayburn. Rayburn did not necessarily want the loyalist group to prevail, but he also did not trust Shivers to control the Texas delegation. Johnson, through Weldon Hart, informed the governor that Rayburn, who would preside over the national convention, might refuse to seat a Shivers-dominated delegation unless he toned down his rhetoric. Rayburn was willing to accept an uninstructed delegation, but he would not allow Shivers to be seated until he took the party pledge. Johnson promised to keep trying to soften Rayburn’s stance, but added that it was “essential” Shivers take the symbolic pledge.1 Much of the organizing necessary to capture the state convention scheduled in May began in January. Shivers’s key allies received instructions through a “Convention Organization Guide” drafted by Weldon Hart and John Van Cronkhite, a former lieutenant of Leander Perez, a key Louisiana Dixiecrat. It instructed operatives on tactics for controlling precinct conventions, including when and what to move, resolve, and vote on. The Shivers organization flowed downward all the way to precinct level following the intricate network established by Jake Pickle in late 1949andearly1950.WithnobackingfromWashingtonandnoorganizationalstrategy , the Loyal Democrats of Texas were in disarray. They expected a beating from the governor’s forces in May. However, as Austin journalist Stuart Long confided to Hart, the loyalists expected to regain control at the September convention—just as they had in 1944 and 1948.2 Locally, Shivers’s minions moved efficiently and ruthlessly, at times resorting to heavy-handed tactics to seize precinct and then county conventions. Precinct meetings rarely attracted many voters, making a takeover relatively simple. It was a matter of organization and turnout. A precinct boss declared for either side must get his or her voters to the meeting, preferably early. This presented a problem for wageworkers, the voters most likely to be organized against the governor. Whichever side got to the meeting first with the most began the precinct convention promptly at 7:30 p.m., perhaps after setting a clock five or ten minutes fast. Sometimes meeting places that had been agreed upon in advance might be moved on short notice. Once assembled, voters took the loyalty pledge, elected a temporary chair and secretary, and began the meeting. If handled correctly, the meeting could convene, elect officers, and select a delegation to the county convention in half an hour. If the steamroller encountered opposition, parliamentary procedure could be manipulated to achieve the desired result. If things got a little heated and words were exchanged, the defeated faction would—if well organized—leave and form a rump convention. A week or two later, the whole process would begin again at the county convention, sometimes with two or more delegations from a precinct claiming legitimacy. The county convention would then rule on which ones to admit.3 The county conventions, held in early May, predictably favored Shivers’s faction . The governor’s machine managed to control 1,009 of the state’s 1,152 precincts. Shivers forces carried Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, and El Paso, along withmostofthesmallercities.Ineachcase,theloyalistsboltedandheldrumpconventions . The governor quickly made plain his intention to make a clean sweep of the loyalists. “I’m tired of a lot of ultra-intellectual parlor pinks and so-called liberal crackpots running the Democratic Party,” he declared. Of the major cities, onlySanAntonio’sBexarCountyconventionfelltotheloyalists.There,forcessupportive of the national party, led by Maury Maverick Sr., defeated Shivers’s allies. When Texas Democrats descended on San Antonio for the state convention on May 27, the battle lines had been clearly drawn. The delegates quickly discovered they could not agree on anything—not even a temporary roll. Determining the legitimacy of competing delegations took considerable time. When the State Democratic Executive Committee issued a report on convention organization, Maverick dissented with a minority report that called for all delegates to pledge support to the national party’s presidential nominee. Shivers’s handpicked state...

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