William H. Milliken, Jr. - Election of 1958: The "Six Year Curse"

Election of 1958: The "Six Year Curse"

When Benjamin James announced his retirement from Congress in February 1958, there was intense speculation as to whom the Delaware County Board of Republican Supervisors (War Board) would endorse for his successor. In apparent reaction to the failing health and looming departure of the 72 year old incumbent, some GOP leaders felt the need to choose a younger candidate. A spokesman for the county political organization denied rampant speculation that former Register of Wills Thomas Curran was the leading contender. Those being considered for the job were Milliken, Curran, state representatives Edward E. Lippincott 2nd and Clarence Bell, Republican leader of Swarthmore Edmund Jones, Assistant District Attorney Jacques Fox of Upper Providence and William Miller of Radnor. Others interested were state representative Clyde R. Dengler; Upper Darby attorney Dominic Jerome; and Chester Times Publisher Robert Howard.

When the War Board met on March 21, 1958, at John McClure's home, it was reported that those in attendance were: Curran, Milliken, state senator G. Robert Watkins; county commissioners Arthur C. Throne and J. Warren Bullen; Walter Weaver of Darby Township; Newtown Township supervisor John Gable; state committeeman Albert H. Swing of Radnor; Fred Duke of Clifton Heights; Roy Blackburn of Haverford Township; and John R. Cramp, county Republican chairman. Milliken, who at age 61, was only a year younger than James was at the time he ran in 1948, was endorsed by the McClure Machine by an undisclosed vote.

The primary election was a four way race for the GOP nomination, with Milliken winning a majority over his rivals. According to the News, Milliken received 41,553 votes to Edmund Jones, 15,866; Ivan H. "Cy" Peterman, an Upper Darby journalist, 11,683; and Upper Darby 10th Ward commissioner Jack F. Robbins, with 11,240. Hubert Earle, the son of former Governor George H. Earle, beat fellow Democrat James M. "T-Shirt" McBride of Glenolden, 10,524 to 4,078. Congressman Hugh Scott of Philadelphia carried Delaware County over former state senator Heyburn, also winning statewide. McClure scored a personal triumph with Arthur T. McGonigle's victory, county and statewide over independent Harold Stassen of Philadelphia. Governor George Leader won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, along with Pittsburgh Mayor David Lawrence for governor.

In the general election, the Democrats nationally were especially energized. Several factors converged in 1958 to cause the greatest defeat for the GOP in Congress since the New Deal. Foremost was the implication of President Eisenhower's Chief of Staff, Sherman Adams, in improprieties involving the receipt of gifts, notably a $69 vicuna coat, from a textile manufacturer in return for the former's help in resolving problems with the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission. As Democratic candidates made hay of these allegations, Adams was forced to resign, which he did on September 22, in hopes of lessening the harm to the Republican campaign effort.

Throughout the fall campaign the Democrats hammered away at other issues, charging that Eisenhower had supposedly left our defenses in a weakened state, allowing the Soviets to pull ahead in the missile and space races. This charge was to be repeated in the 1960 election and eventually proven false during the succeeding Kennedy administration. Worst of all, for the GOP, the economy was only then just coming out of a brief, but sharp recession that began in the summer of 1957. By the spring of 1958, industrial production had declined 14 percent and corporate profits fell 25 percent, resulting in unemployment peaking at 7.5 percent. President Eisenhower's popularity, in turn, as measured by the Gallup poll tumbled from 79 percent in early 1957 to his lowest point ever of 52 percent in November 1958. Tracking polls had shown that with the launching of Sputnik in October 1957, which seemingly indicated that the U.S. was behind the Soviets technologically, the Democrats popularity exceeded that of the GOP. Aggravating this trend in the Deep South was the Republican Administration's stand in enforcing desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas that same year. Further, when the average voter was asked by the Gallup Poll what his or her impression was of the Republican Party, the answers were "selfish and rich" and the "businessman's party", while the Democrats were viewed as representing the middle class.

The election locally between Milliken and Earle degenerated into a particularly bitter race, with the latter accusing the former of having converted county funds to his own personal use. Specifically, when Milliken was Clerk of Courts, he had used $5,953 in fees paid to the county for his own use, later paying back all of the funds. James J. Connor, the minority County Commissioner, jumped into the fray, declaring that he would ask his fellow commissioners to file suit against Milliken to recover about $1,400 in estimated interest that these funds would have earned. An indignant Milliken said that his actions were not illegal and had been standard practice, at least by his two predecessors in office, and retaliated by filing a criminal libel suit against Earle. Earle was then arrested and posted a $1,000 bail on October 25, but Milliken failed to appear at the magistrate's hearing at the Springfield Township Building that day. The Democrat was undeterred by the lawsuit and continued his attacks the next day at a rally in Chester, offering to withdraw from the campaign and go to jail if Milliken would answer several pointed questions regarding the missing funds.

When the votes were counted election day, the Democrats had gained a whopping 13 seats in the Senate and 46 in the House, for the biggest majorities since 1940 and 1936, respectively. This election was part of the trend in which the party in power loses heavily in its sixth year in office, such as 1938, 1946, 1966, 1974 and the GOP Senate loss in 1986.

In Pennsylvania, voters split their tickets, narrowly electing Lawrence governor by 76,000 votes, while Congressman Scott was elected to the U.S. Senate by almost 113,000. However, Democrats picked up three U.S. House seats from Republicans statewide, giving them sixteen of the thirty member delegation. Scott was able to go against the tide by carrying Democratic Allegheny County by 33,000 votes and losing the Philadelphia region by only 6,000 votes. In Delaware County, there was no danger of the Republican ticket losing. Milliken sailed past Earle with 59.2% of the vote and Scott and McGonigle had similar majorities in the county.

In 1958, members of Congress were paid $22,500 annually and were allowed $17,500 to hire up to eight clerks, with no one clerk allowed to be paid more than $7,000. The mileage allowance was 20 cents per mile, with $1,200 per session allotted for stationery expenses, $200 for air mail or special delivery, 45 hours of long distance telephone calling and 12,000 words in telegrams. In contrast, the average annual family income in 1958 was around $5,000 and a factory worker in Philadelphia was averaging about $4,500 a year. Retirement for members of Congress was granted after a minimum of six years of service and attainment of the age of 62.