In 1948 , Pepper supported not his friend Henry A. Wallace but Eisenhower . In fact , on July 7 , 1948 , Pepper went further than any other supporter with an extraordinary proposal : Senator Claude Pepper of Florida called on the Democratic party today to transform itself temporarily into a national movement , draft Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as a " national " and hence " nonpartisan " Presidential candidate and promise him substantial control of the party 's national convention opening in Philadelphia next week . It would be necessary , Mr. Pepper suggested , for the convention to invite General Eisenhower to write his own platform and to pick the Vice ~ Presidential nominee . Moreover , the Senator said , the general should be assured that the Democrats would never make partisan claims on him , and he should be presented not as a " Democratic " candidate but the candidate of a convention " speaking not as Democrats but simply as Americans . " Pepper managed to gain support from ADA . The Draft Ike movement gained support from the CIO , the Liberal Party of New York State , Democratic local leaders ( Jacob Arvey of Chicago , Frank Hague of New Jersey , Mayor William O'Dwyer of New York City , and Mayor Hubert Humphrey of Minneapolis ) , as well as ADA leaders Leon Henderson and James Roosevelt II . Eisenhower made repeated statements that he would not accept the Democratic Party 's nomination well into July , just ahead of the 1948 Democratic National Convention . When Eisenhower , who accepted to become president of Columbia University in January 1948 ) made three statements refusing the nomination during July 1948 , Pepper and others gave up and provided lukewarm support to Harry S. Truman . His third and last denial , sent by telegram to Pepper , ended the " Eisenhower Boom , " and delegates began to reconsider Truman . ( Pepper also made a bid for presidential candidacy but withdrew it . ) On the evening of July 9 , 1948 , Roosevelt conceded at " Eisenhower-for-President headquarters " that the general would not accept a nomination . During the convention ( July 12 – 14 , 1948 ) and after , concern persisted that the Eisenhower Boom had weakened Truman 's hopes in the November 1948 elections
1948 Democratic National Convention
1948 Democratic National Convention
Claude Pepper