At 31 Mr Stassen was elected governor of Minnesota, the youngest in any American state.

ECONOMIST: Harold Stassen

His ship was twice hit by enemy fire and Mr Stassen returned a bemedalled hero to the political stage.

ECONOMIST: Harold Stassen

Republican fears about him seemed to be confirmed when in 1956 Mr Stassen attacked Richard Nixon, then Eisenhower's vice-president.

ECONOMIST: Harold Stassen | The

Mr Stassen, always good-natured, agreed, but said he had decided to stay with the Republicans in the hope of liberalising them.

ECONOMIST: Harold Stassen

Mr Stassen prepared himself for another try as the next election approached, but the Republicans found themselves in possession of an unbeatable, gilt-edged candidate, Dwight Eisenhower.

ECONOMIST: Harold Stassen | The

In his long life Harold Stassen did many useful things.

ECONOMIST: Harold Stassen

Harold Stassen seemed the likely choice to do the pushing.

ECONOMIST: Harold Stassen

This was theoretically possible, except that by now Mr Stassen had lost most of the appeal he might have had as a champion of Republican ideas, and he never came closer to the presidency than he had in 1948.

ECONOMIST: Harold Stassen | The

And he would not tolerate any mention at all of some people in the Inquirer, among them entertainers such as Dinah Shore, politicians such as Harold Stassen, campaigners such as Ralph Nader, various socialites who had offended him and the entire Philadelphia 76ers basketball team.

ECONOMIST: Walter Annenberg