Bolt by Willkie is possibility
Republican chiefs shed few tears
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
Washington (UP) –
Wendell L. Willkie’s withdrawal from the contest for the Republican presidential nomination projected him today into a new role as freelance political adviser with a mission to commit the party to significant post-war cooperation in international affairs.
He withdrew last night in a statement that challenged the party with the possibility that he may bolt the ticket this year if he regards the candidates or the platform to be against the principles he has espoused.
There was recognition of the possibility that Mr. Willkie might take a walk is the comment of most party members on his retirement from office-seeking politics. They generally expressed the hope that he would remain on the anti-New Deal firing line through the presidential campaign.
He retired when Wisconsin Republican preferential primary voters accorded Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York a vote of confidence despite the fact that Governor Dewey repudiated his backers there and Mr. Willkie made a vigorous campaign. The slate of Willkie delegates not only trailed Governor Dewey’s men, but ran behind those committed to LtCdr. Harold E. Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Mr. Willkie was blanked.
But Mr. Willkie’s acknowledgment of the futility of his own presidential ambitions was accompanied by an aggressive insistence that he would continue to speak his mind. He aimed at Governor Dewey, too, an indirect charge of accepting so-called America First support.
It is assumed that Mr. Willkie intends to continue the America First line of criticism wherever he deems it to be justified and that he will make himself notable in this political year by asking most of the embarrassing questions.
Criticized Dewey
Mr. Willkie has criticized and resented Governor Dewey’s unruffled insistence that he is not a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination and that he will not campaign for it. In his new role, Mr. Willkie inevitably will undertake to smoke the Governor out.
But organization and Congressional Republicans generally waived him out of the contest with some cheers and few misgivings. The consensus seemed to be that Governor Thomas E. Dewey’s chances of being drafted for the nomination steadily were improving.
Rep. Joseph W. Martin Jr. (R-MA), House Republican Leader, said he was confident Mr. Willkie would stand by the Republican Party, to which he went from the Democrats after President Roosevelt’s first election in 1932 to help lick the Roosevelt administration this year.
Willkie’s statement
Mr. Willkie’s statement in Omaha last night follows:
It has been my conviction that no Republican could be nominated for President unless he received at the convention the votes of some of the major Midwestern states. For it is in this section of the country that the Republican Party has had its greatest resurgence. Therefore, I quite deliberately entered the Wisconsin primary to test whether the Republican voters of that state would support me in the advocacy of every sacrifice and cost necessary to winning and shortening the war and in the advocacy of tangible, effective economic and political cooperation among the nations of the world for the preservation of the peace and the rebuilding of humanity.
The result of the primary is naturally disappointing and doubly so since the candidate who led the poll for delegates is known as one active in organizations such as the America First, opposed to the beliefs which I entertain.
As I have said many times, this country desperately needs new leadership. It is obvious now that I cannot be nominated. I therefore am asking my friends to desist from any activity toward that end and not to present my name at the convention. I earnestly hope that the Republicans will nominate a candidate and write a platform which really represents the views which I have advocated and which I believe are shared by millions of Americans. I shall continue to work for the principles and policies for which I have fought during the last five years.
Dewey backer hit
The reference to the former America First adherent was evidently to Wisconsin Secretary of State Fred R. Zimmerman, who organized the Dewey-for-President movement in Wisconsin and got more votes than any other delegate-at-large candidate.
Mr. Zimmerman retorted today in Milwaukee:
We’re all 100% for America around here. Regardless of what contributed to my vote, if Willkie thinks I’m for America second or third or fourth, he’s crazy. Maybe that’s why he got the licking he did at the polls. Maybe the voters feel that he’s for Russia, or England, or France first. If anybody else feels as he did let ‘em line up with that young man and they’ll get the same licking he did.
Smith sees victory
This charge followed shortly upon a statement by Rev. Gerald L. K. Smith, one-time Louisiana minister who variously attached himself to the late Huey P. Long, the Townsend Old-Age Pension movement, Father Charles E. Coughlin and others, that Mr. Willkie’s defeat in Wisconsin was a great victory for America First.
He added that he was communicating with Governor Dewey who, in a New York speech this week, said “the Gerald L. K. Smiths and their ilk must not be permitted to pollute the stream of American life.” Rev. Smith said he was writing to Governor Dewey that he was not at all offended by the remark and that he was “confident you have been misinformed concerning my activities.”
Two third parties
There have been two recent third-party movements of consequence. Theodore Roosevelt, a national hero, wrecked the Republican Party in 1912 by organizing the Progressive Party and becoming its presidential nominee. The late Robert M. La Follette, a great political figure in his own right, organized a Progressive Party in 1924. He carried Wisconsin and the city of Cleveland, Ohio.
There was scant support for speculation that Mr. Willkie would attempt a third party. But as a free agent – a rover in the political croquet game – he may prove now to be in a position to exert more influence than as a candidate for the presidential nomination. His opposition to Governor Dewey’s nomination generally is conceded. He now is in a position to ask embarrassing questions. That Mr. Willkie will continue the “America First” theme of attack is almost inevitable and he is expected to bombard the Governor with questions about his availability for the Republican nomination in view of Governor Dewey’s repeated statements that he wants to complete his four-year term in Albany.
Stop-Dewey drive
Another development foreseen today was a “Stop-Dewey” movement which should attract Cdr. Stassen, Gen. MacArthur’s supporters and Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio. It is the custom of presidential aspirations to mow down the frontrunner. That may explain in part what happened to Mr. Willkie in Wisconsin.
Some Republicans expressed regret that Mr. Willkie attacked Governor Dewey as being supported by “America Firsters.” Among them Senator Robert A. Taft (R-OH), who said:
It is unfortunate that Willkie allowed his natural disappointments to lead him to attack Republicans who disagree with him on foreign policy. Nevertheless, his withdrawal will lead to greater unity of all Republicans behind the principles declared at Mackinac.
Other Republican comments:
- Senator Gerald P. Nye (R-ND):
I am surprised at Willkie would allude to the America First backing… which seems to be an acknowledgment that the America First thought is still prominent in this country.
- Senator John A. Danaher (R-CT):
If Mr. Roosevelt would only do the same thing, I think our people would have a great deal more confidence in the general scene.
- Rep. Hamilton Fish (R-NY):
The withdrawal of Mr. Willkie is an unselfish and patriotic act in order to promote unity in the Republican Party and assure the Republican Party and assure the defeat of the New Deal, the fourth term and the bureaucratic administration.
Landon surprised
Alf M. Landon, 1936 Republican nominee, said he was surprised by Mr. Willkie’s action and added:
Last December, I predicted that Dewey would be the nominee and that Willkie would not be much of a factor at the convention. The results in Wisconsin speak for themselves.
Representative Democratic command came from Herman P. Eberharter (D-Philadelphia):
Willkie had no chance from the beginning because the bosses had greased the Republican machinery for their favorite boy – Dewey. We’ll take Dewey without even breathing.
