South Dakota's Republican Senator Francis Case took the floor last February to announce to his colleagues that an attempt had been made via a $2,500 "campaign contribution" to influence his vote on the natural-gas bill, aimed at freeing gas producers of federal supervision. In the ensuing explosion, both the Democratic and Republican leaders clucked politely, then hurriedly pushed the bill through, promising to investigate later. President Eisenhower, objecting to the "arrogant" and "highly questionable activities" of gas-bill lobbyists, vetoed the bill (which he favored in principle).
A Senate investigating committee made appropriate noises about a sweeping investigation, then settled for...
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