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The Worst Beating. The Republican National Committee made a mighty effort for Candidate Longstreth. Among first string Republicans who said a good word for the candidate: President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, Secretary of the Treasury George Humphrey (who spoke at a $100-a-plate Philadelphia G.O.P. dinner), National Chairman Leonard Hall, Pennsylvania's U.S. Senators Edward Martin and James Duff, and Indiana's Representative Charles Halleck.
In nearly every speech, Longstreth talked about his wish to bring "Eisenhower Republicanism" to Philadelphia. But he was unable to make the President of the U.S. an issue in the local campaign. Philadelphians knew that they had been getting good government, and they knew the veteran Dilworth far better than they knew amateur Longstreth. The final count: 420,099 for Dilworth to 288,646 for Longstreth. Although Dilworth's margin was less than Adlai Stevenson's Philadelphia margin over Dwight Eisenhower in 1952, it was the worst beating a Republican candidate for mayor of Philadelphia had ever taken.