So there was obviously something about Taft which didn't quite sit right with the average Republican voter of those times.
In the 1940's, delegates to nominating conventions were mostly chosen by caucuses and state conventions, and there were relatively few primaries, but Taft was, in fact, very popular with many average Republican voters--in fact, his nick name was "Mr. Republican." Although his campaign style was described as plodding and dull, and he had no use for crowd-pleasing stunts such as kissing babies, which he dismissed as "ballyhoo," he won three Senate terms handily.
However, the GOP's Eastern Establishment--the "Wall Street" faction--never liked him, and they had more money than the "Main Street" faction that made up much of the party's rank and file.
Taft didn't run in 1944--he was up for re-election to the Senate. In 1948, Dewey was the front-runner for the nomination from the start, although Taft won the Ohio primary. In 1952, Taft came to Chicago with the largest number of delegates, but deal-making by his opponents gave Eisenhower enough to win the nomination.
From Wikipedia:
"As 1944 began the frontrunners for the Republican nomination appeared to be
- Wendell Willkie, the party's 1940 candidate;
- Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, the leader of the party's conservatives;
- New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the leader of the party's powerful, moderate eastern establishment;
- General Douglas MacArthur, then serving as an Allied commander in the Pacific theater of the war; and
- former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, then serving as a U.S. naval officer in the Pacific.
However, Taft surprised many by announcing that he was not a candidate; instead he voiced his support for a fellow conservative, Governor John Bricker of Ohio."In 1948: "With Eisenhower refusing to run, the contest for the Republican nomination was between
- New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey,
- former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen,
- Ohio Senator Robert Taft,
- California Governor Earl Warren,
- General Douglas MacArthur and
- Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, the senior Republican in the Senate.
Governor Dewey, who had been the Republican nominee in 1944, was regarded as the frontrunner when the primaries began.
Dewey was the acknowledged leader of the GOP's powerful eastern establishment; in 1946 he had been re-elected Governor of New York by the largest margin in state history."In 1952: "The fight for the Republican nomination was between
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who became the candidate of the party's moderate eastern establishment;
- Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, the longtime leader of the GOP's conservative wing;
- and Governor Earl Warren of California, who appealed to Western delegates and independent voters."
In 1952: "The conservative Republicans led by Taft were based in the Midwest and parts of the South.
The conservatives wanted to abolish many of the New Deal welfare programs; in foreign policy they were often non-interventionists, who believed that America should avoid alliances with foreign powers.""When the 1952 Republican National Convention opened in Chicago, most political experts rated Taft and Eisenhower as neck-and-neck in the delegate vote totals.
Eisenhower's managers, led by Dewey and Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., accused Taft of "stealing" delegate votes in Southern states such as Texas and Georgia.""In the end, Eisenhower took the nomination on the first ballot; to heal the wounds caused by the battle, he went to Taft's hotel suite and met with him.
Taft issued a brief statement congratulating Eisenhower on his victory, but he was bitter about what he felt was the untrue "stealing delegates" charge, and he withheld his active support for Eisenhower for several weeks after the convention.
In September 1952 Taft and Eisenhower met again at Morningside Heights in New York City, there Taft promised to actively support Eisenhower in exchange for Eisenhower agreeing to a number of requests.
These includedEisenhower agreed to the terms, and Taft campaigned hard for the GOP ticket."
- a demand that Eisenhower give Taft's followers a fair share of patronage positions if he won the election, and that
- Eisenhower agree to balance the federal budget and "fight creeping domestic socialism in every field."
Eisenhower won the 1952 general election in a landslide.
More important, his coattails carried Republican majorities into both houses of Congress -- iirc, a condition which had not existed since 1932 and would not exist again until the year 2000 -- when Republican President Bush had majorities in both houses of Congress.