Who for Vice President?

Who are the most likely candidates for the 1956 Democratic vice-presidential nomination?

The one man who could have the nomination almost for the asking would probably not accept it; Texas' Lyndon Johnson considers his place as Senate Democratic leader more important than the Vice President's chair, sees little reason for compromising his 1960 presidential chances by appearing on what he suspects will be a losing 1956 ticket against Eisenhower. Moreover, although he has recovered from his own heart attack a year ago. Johnson 1) knows that his candidacy would weaken the Democrats' health issue against the President, and 2) would like another four years to build up his own strength for campaigning.

In reverse, one man who might now settle for second place on the ticket could probably not get it under any circumstances; Tennessee's Estes Kefauver has made too many enemies along the campaign trail, has few delegates that he could use in a trade for the No. 2 spot.

With Johnson and Kefauver eliminated for diametrically opposite reasons, the vice-presidential hopefuls most frequently talked about in today's unofficial huddles are:

Massachusetts' John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Trademarked by his boyishly unruly shock of brown hair, slim Jack Kennedy, 39, has looks, brains, personality, an attractive wife (who is expecting her first baby in October). He has a fine World War II record as a PT-boat skipper in the Pacific, a noteworthy vote-getting ability in a pivotal state (he defeated Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. by 70,700 votes in 1952), reputation as an able, independent-thinking, middle-of-the-road member of both House (1946-52) and Senate. If the Democrats are to make their big pitch to farmers, Kennedy's vote this year against rigid, 90%-of-parity farm supports might work against giving him a place on the ticket. Far more controversial is the fact that Kennedy is a prominent Roman Catholic and--despite persuasive statistical arguments that

Catholicism is no longer a national political liability (see box)--many Southern and Midwestern Democratic politicians gulp hard when his name is mentioned. Geography weakens his position as a possible running mate for New York's Harriman. but he stands high on the Stevenson list.

Minnesota's Hubert Horatio Humphrey. He has patched together his state's Democratic-Farmer-Labor organization after its stunning primary defeat by Estes Kefauver, is now edging back toward the center of the national stage. St. Paul's Representative Eugene McCarthy (no kin to Joe) has begun organizing a Humphrey-for-Vice-President movement. Humphrey, an effective orator, is the champion of high, rigid farm supports. Although he has risen in the estimate of his Southern Senate colleagues (Georgia's Walter George offered to campaign for him in 1954), other Southerners recall vividly--and bitterly--his strident civil-rights performance at the 1948 convention. Humphrey's charter membership in Americans for Democratic Action is today something less than a national political asset. Nonetheless, longtime Stevensonian Humphrey, 45, ranks high in the Stevenson camp.

And Harriman eyes him wistfully as just the partner for a continent-spanning, true-blue liberal Harriman ticket.

Tennessee's Senator Albert Arnold Gore. Looking ten years younger than his age (48), Gore is personable, an aggressive speaker, and owns a consistent liberal voting record in both House (1938-52) and Senate. A strong advocate of expanded foreign trade, he helped write this year's highway-construction bill, was a leading Democratic critic of the ill-fated Dixon-Yates contract, called vigorously for a real investigation of the lobbying scandal on the natural-gas bill (but accepted party discipline without public complaint when he was shunted aside as chairman of the committee investigating lobbying activities and the investigation was steered into a bipartisan blind alley). As a border-stater, Gore is acceptable to both North and South. One of Harriman's top advisers, Tammany Hall Boss Carmine De Sapio, speaks especially highly of Gore. So does Rival Jack Kennedy.

New York City's Mayor Robert Ferdinand Wagner. Excluded from serving in Washington with New York State's Harriman, Wagner has cast his lot with Stevenson. The son of the Senate author of the Wagner Labor Relations Act, Bob Wagner, 46, bears a name enshrined by organized labor. A Catholic (his wife is a Quaker), Wagner is an adequate administrator and a lackluster campaigner who would have little appeal in the South or the farm states.

Tennessee's Governor Frank Goad Clement. As the keynote speaker at the Democratic convention, Clement hopes that his stem-winding, evangelistic style of oratory will inspire the delegates to nominate him for Vice President, and last week he tactfully sought fatherly preconvention advice from Mr. Democrat Harry Truman in Kansas City. Clement's chances for 1956 are dim, but his Democratic future, at 36, is bright.

Missouri's Senator William Stuart Symington. He might be ruled off a Stevenson ticket by geographical considerations. Favorite Son Symington, 55, would probably accept vice-presidential nomination with Harriman if it were offered--but his eye is undeniably on the top spot in 1960.

Michigan's Governor Gerhard Mennen Williams. He becomes a strong vice-presidential possibility only in the event of a close convention contest for the presidential nomination. In that case, "Soapy" Williams' control of the big (44 votes) Michigan delegation would give him invaluable trading material.

With Stevenson the acknowledged front runner, Harriman and Stevenson look on the vice-presidential hopefuls with different eyes. Harriman is inclined to nod toward a candidate who can bring him delegates in the convention, e.g., Williams. Stevenson, confident of nomination, is inclined toward a running mate who can perhaps bring him a new bloc of votes in November, e.g., Kennedy. In short, is the vice-presidency to be reward or bait? The 1956 assumption: bait.

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