4th term deplored at White House
Washington (UP) –
Thomas Rhea, prominent Kentucky Democrat, said today after a conference with President Roosevelt that the Chief Executive does not want to be a candidate for reelection.
After first saying that the President had told him as much, Mr. Rhea then said that this was only his personal impression.
Mr. Rhea, prominent in Kentucky politics for a number of years and a delegate to the Democratic conventions in 1932 and 1940, was asked this question as he left the President’s office: “Did you get a line on 1944?”
Mr. Rhea replied:
He says he does not want to be a candidate.
“Did he tell you that?” a reporter asked.
Mr. Rhea said:
Now, wait a minute – I don’t know that he said that. My impression is that he would like to get out of the whole thing. Now, don’t misquote me – the President did not make that statement.
I think he would like to go home if conditions warranted.
Mr. Rhea followed this by saying that he did not discuss “politics” with the President.
Under further questioning as to exactly what the President said, Mr. Rhea remained steadfast in saying that he had not discussed a fourth term with the President, but that if Mr. Roosevelt was a candidate, he would carry Kentucky. Mr. Rhea said he hoped the President would run.