Bob Taft would have been excellent, but he died n 1953. He could have picked Goldwater — indeed, there was a Goldwater for VP boomlet at the convention, which Goldwater himself quashed. There were other choices, such as Norris Cotton, Roman Hruska, Karl Mundt, etc. (John Tower was not yet n the Senate, indeed lost the Senate election that year — and never stopped running until he won the special election.)There were other choices as well.
I was thinking Taft might have been dead. So he runs in 52 and dies in 53. Unreal.
But anybody but Lodge. What a stupid choice. George Romney, Alice Longworth Roosevelt. Anyone. Goldwater, yes. Anyone.