Ike's tour of the West was something of a triumph. Early in the morning or late at night, huge crowds turned out at the depots to hear him; in the cities there were showers of tape, and people sometimes lined five deep along the curbs. Newsmen on the Eisenhower Special (who stood 24 for Adlai, 7 for Ike in a recent poll) conceded they had seen nothing like it since Franklin Roosevelt's greatest days.
Eisenhower's words seemed to echo the enthusiasm of the crowds. With the difficult political maneuvering through "Taft territory" behind him, Ike sounded more at ease than he had...
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