Jerry Summers
In 1998 author Greg Mitchell wrote a 316-page novel about the 1950 United States Senate race between Republician Richard M. Nixon and Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas in the state of California (Random House).
The title of the publication was “Tricky Dick and The Pink Lady,” with a subtitle of “Sexual Politics and the Red Scare 1950.”
That year was one of multiple historical events for America.
It was the start of the Korean War that would result in the deaths of many young soldiers under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur.
It was a time of the Communist take over of China and the resulting creation of the pro-American regime in (Formosa) Taiwan that continues as a potential worldwide powder keg with China in 2022.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had been arrested upon the word of Julius’ brother-in-law, David Greenglass, and they would ultimately die in the electric chair for a conspiracy to turn over the Manhattan Project (atom bomb) secrets to the Soviet Union.
Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin was in his heyday claiming there were thousands of Communists in the State Department and other government agencies that generally were unfounded but did ultimately lead to the convictions of the “Hollywood Ten” (and others not charged) for Contempt of Congress.
They were required to serve federal prison sentences.
The year also witnessed one of the most controversial political races in the country between Nixon and Ms. Douglas. Both served in the House of Representatives and Mitchell describes them as friendly in private life, but they would become bitter foes in the Senate race.
Mitchell, in a well-researched and documented treatise, covers all aspects of the campaign from beginning to end and shows a definite contrast to the up to one year long campaigns that Hamilton County in 2022 has witnessed in the local county mayor and district attorney general races.
The unending bombardment of political ads that the public has had to endure for many months was not the case in 1950.
Nixon’s campaign guru, Murray Chotiner, made a statement to the effect that “a brief (if intense) six to eight week election campaign should be sufficient.”
He was quoted as saying “Any longer and you wear out your candidate and your workers.”
“Voters are simply not ready to receive campaigns in advance of eight weeks before the election.”
The California race was the start of the designation of Nixon being known as “Tricky Dick.”
The unsealing of many of his personal records, correspondence between many individuals and thorough research by Greg Mitchell after the president's fall from power following the Watergate scandal reveal much about the character of the 37-year-old lawyer from Whittier that pre-dated his senatorial and presidential careers.
The labeling of his much more liberal (progressive) Democrat opponent known as “The Pink Lady” was much more effective in 1950 than it probably would be in California in 2022.
An attractive actress who was only featured in one movie, “She,” in Hollywood but performed regularly on Broadway, was married to well-known character actor Melvyn Douglas, who was an activist in the Democrat Party and also would be a co-star with Greta Garbo in the classic film “Ninotchka” that is also considered by some to be one of the earliest political spoofs of Stalin’s’ Communist Russia.
With the advent of the worldwide web, decline in the influence of newspapers, the prevalence of attack commentators, and the expense of being a candidate for running for public office becomes less attractive to many Americans.
August and November 2022 local and state elections and the Congressional and Presidential contests in 2024 promise more of the same in the political forums.
“Tricky Dick and The Pink Lady” is a valuable insight into the world of politics, is well written, and if a copy can be found at a used bookstore or on the web is a worthwhile read by a prominent author on the subjects of “dirty tricks” and “women in politics.”
(It also touches on the issues today confronting the exercise of Free Speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.)
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Jerry Summers
(If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com)