OWI state’s group endorses Dewey
Directs delegation chairman, after tactical delay, so to cast all 93 votes
By Warren Moscow
Chicago, Illinois – (June 25)
New York took officially tonight its long-delayed action in endorsing Governor Dewey for President, instructing the chairman of its delegation to the Republican National Convention to cast its solid bloc of 93 votes for him on the first ballot.
The delay had been only for tactical reasons, and the unanimity was far different from 1940, when Mr. Dewey’s weakness in his home state delegation was a factor in his loss of strength from the time the balloting began in Philadelphia.
Tonight, it was different. With no rollcall and with state chairman Edwin F. Jaeckle standing on a chair in a ballroom recently used for a buffet supper, the vote was unanimous on a resolution presented by Troy Mayor John J. Ahearn.
Text of the resolution
The resolution read as follows:
In 1942, Thomas E. Dewey was nominated for Governor by the duly elected delegates of the Republican Party in New York State and was thereupon elected. He has devoted himself wholeheartedly and exclusively to the responsibilities of that office.
Today, we, the duly elected delegates from New York State to this convention, join with delegates of other states in the draft of Governor Dewey for the service of the nation.
We take this action because we recognize that the interests of the people of New York, like those of all of our people, will best be served by electing Governor Dewey to be President of the United States.
Therefore, be it resolved, that the chairman of the delegation from New York State to the Republican National Convention be and hereby is instructed to cast the votes of the delegates of New York State for Thomas E. Dewey for President.
Organizing is completed
Just before adopting the resolution, the delegation completed, equally informally, its organization for the convention. J. Russel Sprague and Jessica McCullough Weis were reelected national committee members, Mr. Jaeckle was picked as chairman of the delegation, Mrs. Weis became vice chairman, and Harold Turk of Brooklyn, secretary.
William H. Hill, long-time leader of the Southern Tier counties, was named to the committee on permanent organization; Mrs. Harriet Mack of Westchester to the Committee on Rules, and Livingstone Platt of Westchester, to the Committee on Credentials.
Meanwhile, it became known that the problem of providing a Governor for New York during the period that Mr. Dewey will be out of the state to attend the convention here has been solved.
All three statutory successors, Lieutenant Governor Joe R. Hanley. Senator Majority Leader Benjamin F. Feinberg and Speaker Oswald D. Heck of the Assembly are delegates, and one should return to the state before Mr. Dewey leaves it on Wednesday.
It became known tonight that Mr. Feinberg had been selected, and he will leave here about the time Mr. Dewey leaves Albany.
Enthusiasm at headquarters
With the New York delegates’ arrival on a special train this morning, Dewey banners and buttons sprang into sight.
Their first act was to set up Dewey headquarters in a large ballroom on the third floor of the Stevens Hotel, to put on a reception which outdrew the Bricker headquarters, on the same floor, by a wide margin.
Delegates and distinguished guests from other states were greeted throughout the day. In a corner, on the same floor, are separate county headquarters established by New York, Kings and Westchester counties, where open house is held, and tickets are distributed.
The dominant note in the Dewey headquarters is a blue banner about 20 by 10 feet bearing the slogan “Thomas E. Dewey” on one line; “For President” on a center line, and “Vote Republican” on the third line. Close inspection by reporters showed that the words “For President” had been neatly stitched over the previous exhortation, “For Governor.” It was the same banner which was used at the Saratoga convention in 1942, at which Mr. Dewey was nominated for Governor. Pat Gogerty, owner of the banner, explained that its history actually went back eight years, to 1936, and that the upper line, “Thomas E. Dewey,” if peeled off, would reveal the name of William F. Bleakley, who ran for Governor in 1936.
Among the visitors at the Dewey headquarters today were Nebraska Governor Dwight Griswold, U.S. Senator John G. Townsend Jr. (R-DE), former Governor Samuel R. McKelvie of Nebraska, National Committeeman R. B. Creager of Texas, U.S. Senator Chapman Revercomb (R-WV) and U.S. Senator George Wilson (R-IA).
The Dewey headquarters was placarded with signs carrying the picture of the New York Governor and such slogans as “Dewey Will Win,” “The People’s Choice” and “America Wants Dewey.” They appeared to have been brought on from New York by his backers, despite his not having made any formal statement that he is willing to accept the nomination.