it would suit him. Eisenhower also asked if Strauss would consider succeeding John Foster Dulles (who was ill) as Secretary of State, but Strauss did not want to preempt Undersecretary Christian Herter, who was a good friend. Finally, Eisenhower proposed that Strauss become Secretary of Commerce, which Strauss accepted. With the 1958 United States Senate elections imminent, Eisenhower announced the nomination on October 24. Strauss took office via a recess appointment, effective November 13, 1958. However, Senate opposition to this appointment was as strong as to a renewed AEC term. This was surprising, given the high level of experience Strauss had, the relative lack of prominence of the Commerce post compared to some other cabinet positions, and the tradition of the Senate deferring to presidents to choose the cabinet heads they wanted. Indeed, at the time the previous thirteen nominees for this Cabinet position won Senate confirmation in an average of eight days. Due to a long-running feud between the two, Senator Clinton Anderson took up the cause to make sure that Strauss would not be confirmed by the Senate. Anderson found an ally in Senator Gale W. McGee on the Senate Commerce Committee, which had jurisdiction over Strauss's confirmation. During and after the Senate hearings, McGee charged Strauss with "a brazen attempt to hoodwink" the committee. Strauss also overstated the importance of his role in the development of the H-bomb, implying that he had convinced Truman to support it; Truman was annoyed by this, and sent a letter to Anderson undermining Strauss's claim, a letter that Anderson promptly leaked to the press. Strauss attempted to reach Truman through an intermediary to rescue the situation, but was rebuffed and felt bitter at the lack of support. A group of scientists who were still upset over the role Strauss had played in the Oppenheimer hearings lobbied against confirmation, playing upon their target's name pronunciation by calling themselves the Last Straws Committee. After sixteen days of hearings the Committee recommended Strauss's confirmation to the full Senate by a vote of 9–8. By now the struggle was in the forefront of the national political news, with a Time cover story calling it "of the biggest, bitterest, and in many ways most unseemly confirmation fights in Senate history." In preparation for the floor debate on the nomination, the Democratic majority's main argument against the nomination was that Strauss's statements before the committee included semi-truths