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Electric Coonskin. Then, overnight, he became the man in the coonskin cap. Early in 1947, Kefauver shrewdly saw that a factional split in Boss E. H. Crump's Tennessee machine might give a non-machine Democrat a chance to be Senator. He broke precedent by declaring a full ten months before the primary. He and Nancy set up campaign organizations in each of the state's 95 counties, probably shook more hands than anyone in Tennessee political history, and nettled Mistah Crump into a roar that made Kefauver famous. "Kefauver," wrote Crump in full-page newspaper advertisements through the state, "reminds me of the pet coon that puts its foot in an open drawer in your room, but invariably turns its head while it is feeling around in the drawer."
Kefauver's retort was mild: "I may be a pet coon but I'll never be Mr. Crump's pet coon." A more imaginative friend clapped a coonskin cap on Kefauver's head at a luncheon rally. The gag grew until Kefauver eventually blossomed out in a coonskin cap haloed with electric lights. In the primary he polled 42,000 votes more than his nearest opponent.
And that was without television.
Upright Judge. Unnumbered millions of people got to know Estes Kefauver as he presided over the hearings of the Senate Crime Investigating Committee a year ago. From Manhattan as far west as the coaxial cable ran, the U.S. adjusted itself to Kefauver's schedule. Dishes stood in sinks, babies went unfed, business sagged and department stores emptied while the hearings were on.
Kefauver could not have made his debut to better advantage. His role was that of an upright judge in a grim, real-life morality play. On one hand, aggressive little Rudolph Halley shrilled and barked at the forces of evil. On the other, Costello (only his hands), Greasy Thumb Guzik, Jim Moran and Anthony Anastasia defended themselves with all the genius and resources of Satan. In the background, New Hampshire's Charles Tobey wailed like a Greek chorus singing its lines from Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. And right in the middle of the scene, calm, judicial, and unruffled, Estes Kefauver meted out justice—or at least soft words—for all.
Abject Apology. While he kept a sharp senatorial eye on his fan mail, deadlines & headlines, he was several cuts above the average for congressional investigators. In the eyes of the public the whole performance accrued to his personal credit. Actually, much of the investigative initiative was Rudy Halley's. Much of the evidence was old stuff contributed by friendly cops and newspapermen. The committee achieved one really important result. It brought the decent, dishwashing, baby-feeding public face to face with the curled lip of organized crime, and taught the people to vote against public officials who have condoned it.