"Hacks" and "Long Hairs": The Question of a DNC Research Division, 1948-1952
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.1994.15.0.57-72Abstract
Since the American Political Science Association's 1950 report on the American two-party system, political scientists have concentrated on the conditions, behavior, functions, and objectives of national party organizations. Besides examining organizational and functional changes, political scientists have also explored the different styles o f and motives for participation in party organizations by different types o f party activists, especially the differences between reformers and regulars. This study explains a prolonged conflict over the creation o f a permanent research division for the Democratic National Committee headquarters during the Truman administration. It analyzes the different perspectives and roles o f "hacks,” i.e., party regulars, and "long hairs," i.e., the researchers and their White House allies, during this struggle. The framework o f this case study and the different political actors examined may be used to analyze similar conflicts over organizational changes in party structures during other presidencies. This article concludes that the current research and publicity activities o f the DNC under chairman David Wilhelm will seek to alleviate differences between party regulars and issue activists as it tries to identify the Clinton administration's more centrist domestic policy goals with the Democratic party.References
American Political Science Association. 1950. Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System. New York: Rinehart and Company.
Barriere. John E. 1991. Phone interview. 13 October.
Batt. William L.. Jr. 1966. Oral history interview. 26 July. HSTL.
___________ . 1991. Interview in Middletown. CT. 20 July.
Berke. Richard L. 1993. At a Gathering. Democrats Hear A Bugle Call to Meet Their Foes. New York Times 10 October.
Birkhead. Kenneth M. 1966. Oral history interview. 7 July. HSTL.
Bone. Hugh A. 1958. Party Committees and National Politics. Seattle: University o f Washington Press.
Brightman. Samuel. 1991. Interview in Bethesda. MD. 12 July.
Broder. David. 1972. The Party's Over. New York: Harper and Row.
___________. 1991. Democrats Could Learn from GOP Policy Forums. South Bend Tribune. 18 September.
Brown. Ronald H. 1989. The Democratic Coordinated Campaign. Washington. DC: Democratic National Committee.
Burnham. Walter Dean. 1975. American Politics in the 1970's: Beyond Party. In William Nisbet Chambers and Walter Dean Burnham, eds., The American Party Systems: Stages of Development. New York: Oxford University Press.
Burns, James MacGregor, William Crotty, Lois Lovelace Duke, and Lawrence D. Longley. eds. 1992. The Democrats Must Lead: The Case for a Progressive Democratic Party. Boulder. CO: Westview Press.
Butler, Paul. 1956. Letter to Turner Catledge. In Paul Butler Papers. HLND.
Carol. Daniel. 1991. Phone interview. 25 October.
Ceaser, James W. 1983. Reforming the Reforms: A Critical Analysis of the Presidential Selection Process. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
Clifford, Clark M. 1947. Memo from Clifford to Truman. 19 November. In Clark M. Clifford Papers. HSTL.
Cotter, Cornelius P. and Bernard C. Hennessy. 1964. Politics Without Power: The National Party Committees. New York: Atherton Press.
Crotty. William. 1983. Party Reform. New York: Longman.
David, Paul T. 1992. The APSA Committee on Political Parties: Some Reconsideration of Its Work and Significance. Perspectives on Political Science 21: 70-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10457097.1992.9941839
____________, Ralph M. Goldman, and Richard C. Bain. 1960. The Politics of Party Conventions. Washington. DC: Brookings.
Democratic National Committee. 1952. How to Win in 1952. In Paul Butler Papers. HLND.
Dreyer, Philip. 1991. Phone interview. 24 October.
Dunar, Andrew J. 1984. The Truman Scandals and the Politics of Morality. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.
Duverger, Maurice. 1951. Political Parties: Their Organization and Activity in the Modem State. New York: John Wiley.
Epstein. Leon D. 1980. Political Parties in Western Democracies. New York: Transaction.
Freeman, Jo. 1986. The Political Culture of Democrats and Republicans. Political Science Quarterly 101: 327-356. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2151619
Germond, Jack and Jules Witcover. 1993. Mad as Hell: Revolt at the Ballot Box. New York: Warner.
Goldman. Ralph M. 1990. The National Party Chairmen and Committees: Factionalism at the Top. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
____________. 1992. Phone interview. 18 September.
Gross. Bertram. 1992. Phone interview. 17 and 21 September.
Hale. Jon F. 1992. New Politics and Liberals and DLC Centrists: Factionalism in the Democratic Party. 1968-1992. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Chicago, IL.
____________. 1993. A Different Kind of Democrat: Bill Clinton, the DLC, and the Construction of a New Party Identity. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Washington. DC.
Hartz. Louis. 1955. The Liberal Tradition in America. New York: Harcourt. The Question of a DNC Research Division 71
Hechler. Ken. 1982. Working With Truman. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
___________ . 1991. Phone interview. 27 August.
Herrera. Richard and Melanie Taylor. 1993. The Structure of Opinion in American Political Parties. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Political Science Association. New Orleans.
Herrnson. Paul and David Menefee-Libey. 1990. The Dynamics of Party Organizational Development. Midsouth Political Science Journal 11: 3-30.
Hine. David. 1986. Leaders and Followers: Democracy and Manageability in the Social Democratic Parties in Western Europe. In William Peterson and Alastair Thomas, eds., The Future of Social Democracy. New York: Clarendon Press.
Hoeber. Johannes. 1966. Oral history interview. 13 September. HSTL.
Kayden. Xandra and Eddie Mahe. Jr. 1985. The Party Goes On. New York: Basic Books.
Key. V.O., Jr. 1947. Politics, Parties, and Pressure Groups. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
Kirkpatrick. Jeane. 1976. The New Presidential Elite: Men and Women in National Politics. New York: Russell Sage.
Klinkner, Philip A. 1993. A Comparison of Out-Party Leaders: Ray Bliss and Bill Brock. In John Green, ed., Politics, Professionalism, and Power: Modem Party Organization and the Legacy of Ray C. Bliss. New York: University Press of America.
___________ . 1992. The Response of Political Parties To Presidential Defeats: A Study in Organizational Culture. Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University.
Lees, Kelly. 1993. Phone interview. 4 October.
Lewis, Anthony. 1952. Local Background Information for Stevenson Campaign. In Philip Stern Papers. JFKL.
Lipset, Seymour and A. Basu. 1976. The Roles of the Intellectual and Political Roles. In A. Gella, ed., The Intelligentsia and Intellectuals: Theory, Method, and Case Study. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Longley, Charles H. 1977. Party Reform and Party Organization: The Compliance Review Commission of the Democratic Party. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Northeastern Political Science Association, Mount Pocono, PA.
___________ . 1980. National Party Renewal. In Gerald M. Pomper, ed., Party Renewal in America. New York: Praeger.
___________ . 1981. National Party Reform and the Presidential Primaries. Paper presented at annual meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Cincinnati, OH.
___________ . 1992. The National Democratic Party Can Lead. In James MacGregor Bums, William Crotty, Lois Lovelace Duke, and Lawrence D. Longley. eds., The Democrats Must Lead: The Case for a Progressive Democratic Party. Boulder: Westview Press, Inc.
Maisel, L. Sandy. 1987. Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process. New York: Random House.
Martin, John F. 1979. Civil Rights and the Crisis of Liberalism: The Democratic Party 1945-1976. Boulder: Westview Press.
McCullough, David. 1992. Truman. New York: Simon and Schuster.
McKinney, Frank E. 1951a. Acceptance speech. In DNC Library Clipping File. 31 October. HSTL.
__________ . 1951b. Memo to Truman. In Frank E. McKinney Papers. 1 November. HSTL.
Michelson, Charles. 1944. The Ghost Talks. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
Morin, Andrew. 1991. Phone interview. 9 July.
Murphy, Charles S. 1950. Memo to Truman. In Charles S. Murphy Papers. 11 July. HSTL.
Neustadt, Richard. 1991. Interview in Wellfleet. MA. 24 July.
New York Times. 14 October 1951. In DNC Library Clipping File. HSTL.
Panebianco. Angelo. 1988. Political Parties: Organization and Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Parmet, Herbert S. 1976. The Democrats: The Years After FDR. New York: Macmillan.
Polsby. Nelson W. and Aaron Wildavsky. 1976. Presidential Elections: Strategies of American Electoral Politics. New York: Charles S. Scribner's Sons.
Pomper. Gerald M. 1971. Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System? What. Again? Journal of Politics 33: 929-940.
Price. David E. 1984. Bringing Back the Parties. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Rauh. Joseph. 1991. Interview in Washington. DC. 10 July.
Ranney. Austin. 1951. Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System: A Commentary. American Political Science Review 45: 488-499.
___________ . 1954. The Doctrine o f Responsible Party Government. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
___________ . 1975. Curing the Mischiefs o f Faction. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Redding. John M. 1948. Memo to J. Howard McGrath. 13 November. In John M. Redding Papers. HSTL.
Roberts. George C. 1987. Paul M. Butler: Hoosier Politician and National Political Leader. Lanham. MD: University Press o f America.
Sabato. Larry J. 1988. The Party's Just Begun. Glenview. IL: Scott. Foresman and Company.
Sorauf. Frank J. and Paul A. Beck. 1988. Party Politics in America. Glenview. IL: Scott. Foresman and Company.
Sullivan. Denis G., Jeffrey L. Pressman. Benjamin I. Page, and John L. Lyons. 1974. The Politics of Representation: The Democratic Convention o f 1972. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Travis. Alice. 1991. Interview in Washington. DC. 8 July.
Turner, Julius. 1951. Responsible Parties: A Dissent from the Floor. American Political Science Review 45: 143-152. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1950888
U.S. News and World Report. 1992. 21 December: 38.
Wekkin, Gary D. 1984. National-State Party Relations: The Democrats' New Federal Structure. Political Science Quarterly 99: 45-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2150258
Wilson. James Q. 1962. The Amateur Democrat. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with American Review of Politics agree to the following terms:
The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
Attribution: other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
Non-Commercial: the materials may not be used for commercial purposes;
Share Alike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
The Author represents and warrants that:
the Work is the Author’s original work;
the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
the Work has not previously been published;
the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
