Chaplin’s first wife in critical condition
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Editorial: The Democratic ‘issue’
The oratory at the Democratic National Convention is of the old spread-eagle variety, packed with partisanship. Governor Kerr of Oklahoma, who gave the keynote last night, followed the party line laid down by the indispensable man. But he lacked the cleverness of the master politician who is running this convention from afar. He let too much corn creep in, and poison.
Nevertheless, it was an effective political speech which made the most out of the most vulnerable points in the Republican record.
Here are the Democratic campaign cries:
Save America from Harding, Coolidge and Hoover! Since Mr. Harding and Mr. Coolidge are dead, and Mr. Hoover is not a candidate, this appeal may be found somewhat lacking.
Governor Dewey was picked by Mr. Hoover! This is a little better. The Democrats can prove that Mr. Hoover knows Mr. Dewey and that Mr. Hoover was at the GOP convention. Of course, Mr. Hoover had no control over the choice of a candidate and has no power over Mr. Dewey, but if the story is dressed up properly, maybe a few hundred voters somewhere will believe it.
Keep this Democratic prosperity, which has made everybody fat – employer, labor, farmer! According to all the rules of politics, this is surefire stuff.
But all the other Democratic slogans are secondary to this one: The indispensable man! Or, as streamlined by the man himself: The indispensable Commander-in-Chief!
Edson: Democrats look for ‘least undesirable’
By Peter Edson
Washington –
The peculiar embarrassment of the Democratic Party chieftains in trying to decide in a second-[lace candidate to run beside Franklin Delano Roosevelt is that they are not trying to put the finger on the best man to run, but on the man who will be the least objectionable. Everyone suggested for the job thus far is able enough in his own sweet way, but the catch is that one and all have political BO to some sensitive noses.
Merits and demerits of Henry Wallace are so well known as to require no detailed rehashing here. Admittedly brilliant and having to his credit many practical achievements that have contributed richly to improving American life, he is still branded as a visionary. The mere thought of his ever reaching the White House on a fluke starts many people screaming.
Sam Rayburn (D-TX) has made an excellent speaker of the House of Representatives, respected by both Republican opponents and Democratic followers. But he comes from the less-populous South and the belief that Northerners won’t vote for Southerners in high office is still hanging around as a hoodoo of political folklore that goes back to the tome of Andrew Johnson, even though Cactus Jack Garner did break thew spell in 1932. Furthermore, Mr. Rayburn is not widely known in the North and West and would have to sell himself to the voters.
Byrnes?
From his position as director of the Office of War Mobilization and “assistant President,” James F. Byrnes of South Carolina would seem to be a natural choice. He has behind him a distinguished record as a Senator and a short record as Supreme Court Justice. But My, Byrnes as boss of the war agencies has played a behind-the-scenes role, dodging the limelight as much as possible.
He, even more than Mr. Rayburn, would have to be sold to the voters. And like Mr. Rayburn, he is from the South.
There is considerable Northern enthusiasm for Senator Harry Flood Byrd (D-VA). But he is no favorite of the White House. Mr. Roosevelt, in fact, had so much legislative opposition from Mr. Garner that it is doubtful if the President would welcome any Southern conservative to preside over the Senate. Certainly, no such a vice-presidential candidate would be welcome to the New Dealers.
South says nix
As a reverse to this, a lot of Northerners in the party are not acceptable to the South, where anyone having even a slight suspicion of being New Deal is persona non grata, as the diplomats say. This curse works against not only Mr. Wallace, but also against such people as Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Federal Circuit Judge Sherman Minton of Indiana, and War Manpower Commissioner Paul V. McNutt, the most kicked-around guy in the whole administration.
Any of these New Dealers would probably be acceptable as a second choice to the labor groups, particularly the CIO and its Political Action Committee. The PAC will definitely not support Mr. Dewey, but the vice-presidential nomination of an anti-labor conservative Southerner would alienate the affections of a powerful and growing political force.
One border state Senator who would be accepted to the Southerners and to labor too would be Senator Harry S. Truman (D-MO). He has made a national reputation as chairman of the Senate Committee to Investigate the War Effort.
But if this is to be an all-out carry-on-the-war campaign, Mr. Truman’s presence on the ticket would place the administration in a funny position for the simple reason that Mr. Truman is poison to the War and Navy Departments and to all the admirals and generals in Washington. They think his investigations and reports have hindered the war effort, rather than helped it.
What to do, what to do.
Background of news –
Renominating Presidents
By Bertram Benedict
An adage of American politics has it that an incumbent President can always get himself renominated. The adage has held true during this century; it did not always stand up in the previous century.
It held true in 1940, yet Mr. Roosevelt’s nomination for a third term was contested. Senator Carter Glass of Virginia placed James A. Farley in nomination. Others put in the running were Vice President Garner and Senator Tydings of Maryland. The roll call gave Mr. Roosevelt 946-plus of the 1,100 votes, Mr. Farley 72-plus, Mr. Garner 61, Mr. Tydings 9-plus, Secretary Hull 5-plus.
The delegations from 22 states, including Pennsylvania, many operating under the unit rule, went unanimously for Mr. Roosevelt. Of Mr. Farley’s 72-plus votes, 25 came from New York, 12½ from Massachusetts. Of Mr. Garner’s 61 votes, 46 came from Texas. Of the Tydings votes, 8½ came from Maryland; of the Hull votes, 4⅔ came from Virginia.
After the vote was announced, Texas shifted its 46 votes to Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Tydings announced that Maryland’s 16 were shifted to Mr. Roosevelt, Massachusetts’ 34 went over to the President, and Mr. Farley, obtaining the floor, moved to suspend the rules and make Mr. Roosevelt’s nomination unanimous.
No roll call in 1936
In 1936, a motion was adopted to suspend the rules, abandon the roll call, and make Mr. Roosevelt’s nomination unanimous.
In 1932, at the Republican Convention, the only name in nomination besides Mr. Hoover’s was that of ex-Senator France of Maryland. The roll call showed:
| Hoover | 1126½ |
| Senator Blaine | 13 |
| Calvin Coolidge | 4½ |
| Mr. France | 4 |
| Charles G. Dawes | 1 |
| Senator Wadsworth | 1 |
A motion to make the Hoover nomination unanimous was adopted with some scattering “nays.”
In 1924, President Coolidge was nominated by vote of 1065–34 for the late Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin and 10 for Senator Hiram Johnson of California. In 1916, President Wilson was renominated by acclamation, but in 1912 President Taft got renomination only by a narrow margin, in a contest with former President Roosevelt. The latter charged that the nomination was withheld from him by fraud in seating delegates whose seats were contested.
In 1904, Mr. Roosevelt, then President, had been nominated unanimously, like William McKinley in 1900.
Record of previous conventions
In the 19th century, the following six Presidents were renominated under the convention system – Benjamin Harrison in 1892 (he had much opposition, receiving only 535 of the 905 votes on the first ballot), Cleveland in 1888 (unanimously), Grant in 1872 (unanimously), Lincoln in 1864 (the votes of Missouri were cast for Grant), Van Buren in 1840 (unanimously), Jackson in 1832 (unanimously).
But the following five Presidents failed in attempts at nomination:
1844: Tyler, a Democrat elected Vice President on the Whig ticket with W. H. Harrison, wasn’t mentioned at the Democratic Convention. He was nominated by a rump Democratic Convention, but withdrew.
1852: Fillmore, who, like Tyler, had gone to the White House on the death of a President (W. H. Harrison), led Winfield Scott on the first ballot at the Democratic Convention, but Scott was nominated on the 53rd.
1856: Pierce at the Democratic Convention on the first ballot ran second to Buchanan, who was nominated on the 17th.
1876: Grant had clearly implied that he was willing to be drafted for a third term, but the House of Representatives passed a resolution deploring third terms, and the President got no votes at the convention.
1884: Arthur, another President by reason of death (Garfield’s), on the first ballot ran second to Blaine, who was nominated on the 4th.
Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
In Normandy, France – (by wireless)
Capt. John Jackson is an unusual fellow with an unusual job. It has fallen to his lot to be the guy who goes in and brings out German generals who think maybe they would like to surrender.
This happens because he speaks German, and because he is on the staff of the 9th Division, which captured the German generals commanding the Cherbourg area.
Capt. Jackson goes by the nickname “Brinck.” He is a bachelor, 32 years old. It is quite a coincidence that he was born in the town of Dinard. About 30 miles from Cherbourg. But he is straight American, for generations back. His folks just happened to be traveling over here at the time he showed up.
Capt. Jackson’s mother lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, but he likes to think of New Mexico as home. For several years he has been a rancher out there and he loves it. His place is near Wagon Mound and Clines Corners, about 40 miles east of Santa Fe. The war has played hob with his business. Both he and his partner are overseas, and there’s nobody left to look after the business. They lost money last year for the first time.
Looks more like Russian soldier
Capt. Jackson is a short, dark man with a thin face. He wears a long trench coat with pack harness, and his helmet comes down over his ears, giving him the appearance of a Russian soldier rather than an American.
He speaks perfect French, but he says his German is only so-so. He says it is actually better in his job not to speak flawless German, for then the German officers would think he was a German turned American and would be so contemptuous they wouldn’t talk to him.
Another remarkable character is Pvt. Ivan Sanders.
Sanders is the “Mister Fixit” of the 9th Division. His actual job is that of electrician, but his native knack for fixing things has led him into a sort of haloed status that keeps him working like a dog 24 hours a day, doing things for other people.
No matter what gets out of fix, Sanders can fix it. Without previous experience he now repairs fountain pens, radios, electric razors, typewriters, broke knives, stoves and watches. He has become an institution. Everybody from the commanding general on down depends on him and yells for him whenever anything goes wrong.
There is just one thing about Sanders. Nobody can get him to clean up. He is a sight to behold. Even the commanding general just threw up his hands about a year ago and gave up. When distinguished visitors come, they try to hide Sanders.
Just never give him time to wash
But the funny part about Sanders’ deplorable condition is that he is eager to be clean. They just never give them to wash. They keep him too busy fixing things.
In civil life, Sanders was an auto mechanic. He comes for Vinton, Iowa. After the war, he guesses he will set up another auto repair shop. He figures there will be enough veterans with cars to keep him busy.
Another unusual thing about Sanders is that he doesn’t have to be over here at all. He is 43, and he has had three chances to go home. And do you know why he turned them down? It’s because he’s so conscientious he figures they couldn’t get anybody else to do his work properly!
Small-world stuff:
On evening I dropped past an ack-ack battery I know, and a Red Cross man who served in this brigade came over and introduced himself.
He did look vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t have told you who he was. And no wonder – it had been 21 years since I’d seen him.
His name was Byron Wallace. He was a freshman at Indiana University when I was a senior. He belonged to the Delta Upsilon Fraternity, and lived just across the alley from us. His home then was at Washington, Indiana.
Ever since college, he has been in recreational and physical-education work – in New York’s Bowery, in Los Angeles, in Pittsburgh. And now in Normandy. He came ashore on D+1. Her thinks he’s going to like it here all right.
Pegler: Democratic Convention Day 2
By Westbrook Pegler
Chicago, Illinois –
The old-line, partisan, American Democrat at this convention is a bewildered and pathetic specimen who has an acute sense, as of a burr in his britches, that he is being played for a gullible fool by a few smart and tricky individuals, but can’t do anything about it.
This refers to Ed Kelly, Frank Hague, Ed Flynn and the machine Democrats of Connecticut, Kansas City and the South, and to Jim Farley, as an individual, as well as the unpretentious little people of the party, as they are often called in the patronizing jargon of their superiors who unmistakably regard themselves as the big people.
It has been several years since anyone with any political knowhow in Chicago believed that the working arrangement between Mayor Kelly and President Roosevelt was anything more than a practical, political deal and sordid on both sides.
Not even personally are they compatible, as politicians often are, who, nevertheless, fight one another at every turn in the spirit of a rough, and often painful, but sporting game. Kelly is a machine man whose machine has gears and wires and conduits reaching down into the underworld of handbooks and union rackets and tapping the rake-off on government contracts and legal handouts from the federal courts to politically deserving lawyers.
He is what he is, and he has never pretended to be a social worker, a bleeding heart or a statesman of world vision. It was Kelly who so to speak, drew a deadline with his toe across a sooty suburban field on a sunny Memorial Day a few years ago, dared the Communist labor leaders to cross it as they had during their successful reign of terror in Ohio and Michigan.
And when they did cross it, smashed the challenge to the authority of government, with a toll of a dozen lives. Capt. Mooney, of his police department, took the immediate responsibility and the main blow of the abuse, but he acted on Ed Kelly’s authority. Kelly upheld him, and the challenge has never been repeated in Chicago.
Their opposition to Wallace political
Kelly, like Hague in New Jersey, remains the boss in Chicago and he is running the festivities and arrangements of the actual convention. Like the rest of the old-style machine bosses, he is concerned only with his own interests in his own jurisdiction and, like them, he ignores the old sneers, now expediently silenced, of the poseurs and ideologists of the New Deal, about the uncouthness of his political character and his methods.
If such men as Kelly and Hague opposed Henry Wallace, however, their decision was strictly political, not personal or philosophical. Their function is to get out the votes and elect the ticket and all the machine politicians who have turned down Wallace did so only because they believed he would be dead weight.
But actually, it may be seriously doubted that, when they enter their polling booths next fall, they will personally vote for President.
There are many less prominent Democrats at this convention who reveal an inner doubt and fear of the future should their own party win again. They try to balance in their minds the glib catalog of New Deal achievements compiled a few months ago by Senator Alben Barkley of Kentucky, to take the sting out of his furious denunciation of President Roosevelt in the tax law dispute, and find it alarmingly outweighed by invasions of their freedom.
Something is coming
If Roosevelt gave unions the right to bargain with employers, he also robbed the people, who, after all, are the true, living body of American labor, of their right to work without submitting themselves to the private codes, laws and taxing powers of the unions and to their brutal, erratic and overbearing discipline.
Moreover, these Americans, even Kelly and Hague and the little people wearing the badges, know that nowadays, under pretext of the war emergency but without authority in law, Mr. Roosevelt has decreed that no American male civilian may take a new job in any line, whatever, except by permission of the United States Employment Service.
Here they find a furtive and mysterious stranger, Sidney Hillman, a continental ideologist, holding forth in an official political command post as boss of the Political Action Committee of the CIO, which is largely composed of New York Communists, and issuing decrees to their own party’s convention, issuing decrees to them, with the blessing of the President and Mrs. Roosevelt.
These bosses and little people of the Democratic Party do not know Sidney Hillman or accept his authority or leadership and, though they may play out the game in the big hall for lack of any alternative, they will not necessarily go home pleased or confident.
They may be superficially impressed by the personal presence of ostentatious, pushful nightclub celebrities from New York, billed as authors and thinkers and “glamorous” Hollywood personalities, but that need not mean that they will accept them and Hillman as eminent Americans, qualified to rule their old Democratic Party and regulate their employment, their earnings and lives, and rule their country as counselors of government for four years.
Hillman! In God’s name, how came this non-toiling, sedentary conspirator who never held American office or worked in the Democratic organization, to give orders to the Democrats of the United States?
Something is cooking at this strange convention and it may turn out to be a mess.
Biting bear just snoozes as curious crowd looks on
Central Park animal to remain in zoo; Soc healthy, docile temper back
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Pyle gets strange requests – from buttons to camels
Letters galore also pile in on Ernie who reads, but can’t answer, them
By Henry T. Gorrell, United Press staff writer
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Allen: Wallace shouldn’t run with weak supporters
George once did and he almost got caught with – well, anyway, it’s dangerous
By Gracie Allen
Chicago, Illinois –
In my first column from the Democratic Convention, I more or less challenged the Democrats to send as many handsome men to Chicago as the Republicans had. Well – we’re now going into the second day of the convention and I don’t think they’ve quite met the test. Of course, I guess the Democrats don’t need good looks – they have careers.
Also, my husband George is with me this time and I automatically compare every man to him. It’s pretty hard for a man to stand next to George Burns and look handsome… George moves away.
But don’t get the impression that there aren’t any handsome Democrats… There are plenty of them… and what charming men! Especially those Southerners. Most Democrats seem to come from the South. I mentioned this to a Republican and he said:
Don’t let ‘em fool you, Gracie. In July, you think they all come from the South, but in November they come from every direction.
Secedes from conversation
Speaking of charming Southerners, I met Senator Claude Pepper of Florida. With an accent that simply dripped honey, he flattered me almost out of my wits. Well, naturally, I wanted to say something nice right back to the Senator from Florida so I said:
“What a lovely sun tan, Senator – when did you find time to get to California?” Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because he seceded from the conversation.
Wallace’s handicap
The big question at the convention continued to be – “Who will be nominated Vice President?” They tell me there’s going to be a terrific race between Wallace and Truman and that Wallace’s supporters seem to be weakening. My goodness, he shouldn’t try to run a race with weak supporters. George did that once and got caught with his – well, anyway, it’s dangerous.
One thing, the Democrats are getting much cooler weather than the Republicans had. Those poor Republicans really got a roasting at their convention. Come to think of it, they’re getting quite a roasting at this convention, too.
That’s all for now – more political news tomorrow.
1944 Democratic Party Platform
Introduction
The Democratic Party stands on its record in peace and in war.
To speed victory, establish and maintain peace, guarantee full employment and provide prosperity – this is its platform.
We do not here detail scores of planks. We cite action.
Domestic Policy
Beginning March 1933, the Democratic administration took a series of actions which saved our system of free enterprise.
It brought that system out of collapse and thereafter eliminated abuses which had imperiled it.
It used the powers of government to provide employment in industry and to save agriculture.
It wrote a new Magna Carta for labor.
It provided social security, including old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, security for crippled and dependent children and the blind. It established employment offices. It provided federal bank deposit insurance, flood prevention, soil conservation, and prevented abuses in the security markets. It saved farms and homes from foreclosure, and secured profitable prices for farm products.
It adopted an effective program of reclamation, hydroelectric power, and mineral development.
It found the road to prosperity through production and employment.
We pledge the continuance and improvement of these programs.
War Policy
Before war came, the Democratic administration awakened the nation, in time, to the dangers that threatened its very existence.
It succeeded in building, in time, the best-trained and equipped army in the world, the most powerful navy in the world, the greatest air force in the world, and the largest merchant marine in the world.
It gained for our country, and it saved for our country, powerful allies.
When war came, it succeeded in working out with those allies an effective grand strategy against the enemy.
It set that strategy in motion, and the tide of battle was turned.
It held the line against wartime inflation.
It ensured a fair share-and-share-alike distribution of food and other essentials.
It is leading our country to certain victory.
The primary and imperative duty of the United States is to wage the war with every resource available to final triumph over our enemies, and we pledge that we will continue to fight side by side with the United Nations until this supreme objective shall have been attained and thereafter to secure a just and lasting peace.
International Peace
That the world may not again be drenched in blood by international outlaws and criminals, we pledge:
To join with the other United Nations in the establishment of an international organization based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving states, open to membership by all such states, large and small, for the prevention of aggression and the maintenance of international peace and security.
To make all necessary and effective agreements and arrangements through which the nations would maintain adequate forces to meet the needs of preventing war and of making impossible the preparation for war and which would have such forces available for joint action when necessary.
Such organization must be endowed with power to employ armed forces when necessary to prevent aggression and preserve peace.
We favor the maintenance of an international court of justice of which the United States shall be a member and the employment of diplomacy, conciliation, arbitration and other like methods where appropriate in the settlement of international disputes.
World peace is of transcendent importance. Our gallant sons are dying on land, on sea, and in the air. They do not die as Republicans. They do not die as Democrats. They die as Americans. We pledge that their blood shall not have been shed in vain. America has the opportunity to lead the world in this great service to mankind. The United States must meet the challenge. Under Divine Providence, she must move forward to her high destiny.
Foreign Relations
We pledge our support to the Atlantic Charter and the Four Freedoms and the application of the principles enunciated therein to the United Nations and other peace-loving nations, large and small.
We shall uphold the Good-Neighbor Policy, and extend the trade policies initiated by the present administration.
We favor the opening of Palestine to unrestricted Jewish immigration and colonization, and such a policy as to result in the establishment there of a free and democratic Jewish commonwealth.
Equal Rights for Women
We favor legislation assuring equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex.
We recommend to Congress the submission of a constitutional amendment on equal rights for women.
Education and Industry
We favor federal aid to education administered by the states without interference by the federal government.
We favor federal legislation to assure stability of products, employment, distribution and prices in the bituminous coal industry, to create a proper balance between consumer, producer and mine worker.
We endorse the President’s statement recognizing the importance of the use of water in arid land states for domestic and irrigation purposes.
We favor non-discriminatory transportation charges and declare for the early correction of inequalities in such charges.
Territories
We favor enactment of legislation granting the fullest measure of self-government for Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, and eventual statehood for Alaska and Hawaii.
We favor the extension of the right of suffrage to the people of the District of Columbia.
Post-War Programs
We offer these postwar programs:
A continuation of our policy of full benefits for ex-servicemen and women with special consideration for the disabled. We make it our first duty to assure employment and economic security to all who have served in the defense of our country.
Price guarantees and crop insurance to farmers with all practical steps:
To keep agriculture on a parity with industry and labor.
To foster the success of the small independent farmer.
To aid the home ownership of family-sized farms.
To extend rural electrification and develop broader domestic and foreign markets for agricultural products.
Adequate compensation for workers during demobilization.
The enactment of such additional humanitarian, labor, social and farm legislation as time and experience may require, including the amendment or repeal of any law enacted in recent years which has failed to accomplish its purpose.
Promotion of the success of small business. Earliest possible release of wartime controls.
Adaptation of tax laws to an expanding peacetime economy, with simplified structure and wartime taxes reduced or repealed as soon as possible.
Encouragement of risk capital, new enterprise, development of natural resources in the West and other parts of the country, and the immediate reopening of the gold and silver mines of the West as soon as manpower is available.
We reassert our faith in competitive private enterprise, free from control by monopolies, cartels, or any arbitrary private or public authority.
The Four Freedoms
We assert that mankind believes in the Four Freedoms.
We believe that the country which has the greatest measure of social justice is capable of the greatest achievements.
We believe that racial and religious minorities have the right to live, develop and vote equally with all citizens and share the rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. Congress should exert its full constitutional powers to protect those rights.
We believe that without loss of sovereignty, world development and lasting peace are within humanity’s grasp. They will come with the greater enjoyment of those freedoms by the peoples of the world, and with the freer flow among them of ideas and goods.
We believe in the world right of all men to write, send and publish news at uniform communication rates and without interference by governmental or private monopoly and that right should be protected by treaty.
To these beliefs the Democratic Party subscribes.
These principles the Democratic Party pledges itself in solemn sincerity to maintain.
Vote of Confidence in the President
Finally, this Convention sends its affectionate greetings to our beloved and matchless leader and President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He stands before the nation and the world, the champion of human liberty and dignity. He has rescued our people from the ravages of economic disaster. His rare foresight and magnificent courage have saved our nation from the assault of international brigands and dictators. Fulfilling the ardent hope of his life, he has already laid the foundation of enduring peace for a troubled world and the wellbeing of our nation. All mankind is his debtor. His life and services have been a great blessing to humanity.
That God may keep him strong in body and in spirit to carry on his yet unfinished work is our hope and our prayer.
Address by Helen Gahagan Douglas, National Committeewoman from California
July 20, 1944
We the people are engaged in an enterprise of freedom. We turn our attention in the midst of a global war to a national election. No nation that had lost any part of freedom could engage in an election No nation, not free, would be having this convention, oh could have held the convention which took place here three weeks ago.
We the people know tonight, proudly and triumphantly, that ours is a free land, and no motivated part of us can tell us otherwise. At this hour our freedom brings high responsibility. The people of America cannot afford to make, a mistake. We cannot afford to endanger our future by: muddy thinking or limited vision.
We are a free people. But freedom is not something that can be inherited – taken from the shoulders of one generation and placed on the shoulders of another. We must earn freedom so that we may prize it – know when it is in jeopardy, for we can lose our freedom not only from without our shores but from within ourselves.
Freedom demands self-discipline, sacrifices and a high choice of leadership. Freedom demands daily intelligence and moral tests of people who would enjoy its glorious blessings. The two-party system is the American device by which those tests are posed most severely for us. We cherish that system. In this year of years, we welcome that test.
Tonight, we will select the man who as President of these United States for the next four years will have greater responsibilities than any other man has ever had.
As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces the next President will have enormous influence in bringing the war to complete victory. As the head of the nation, charged by the Constitution with the conduct of foreign affairs, he will have more influence on the peace terms than any other person in this world. As Chief Executive he will be required to take the lead in shaping domestic affairs during the period of demobilization and after.
We must not commit the lives and the future of the American people to inexperience and negation.
We must have a man – broad visioned – one who is wholly capable and entirely familiar with the intricate and multitudinous problems that must be met and solved in wartime. We must have a man of high ability to deal with the great problems of diplomacy – to sit with the representatives of the nations of the world on familiar and confident terms. We must choose a humanitarian with practical and proven plans, for insuring a post-war period of high production and equitable distribution.
We the people want no bread lines as a result of the peace we all long for.
We want the man whose every act over twelve years shows that he hates and loathes bread lines with every fiber of his being. We want the man who has taken more concentrated abuse from the few than any other man in American history, because he has refused to consign any part of the American people to poverty.
Here, tonight, we are keenly aware of our men and women on battlefronts all over the world. We have in our hearts the deepest gratitude for their sacrifices.
We are of stern determination to give each and every one of them not just lip service but full opportunity for rehabilitation, for education, for jobs, for advancement, in a full and happy life when this war is over.
We each see our own, you and I, the ones we love best, in relation to this war. There is scarcely a home across the length and breadth of this country that has not been touched by it. But you belittle your son, your daughter, your husband and I belittle my husband and we imperil our children unless’ we see our dear ones now serving overseas in relation to their country, their world, their future.
It is with this future in mind that this convention makes its choice tonight.
We know that this country, mindful of the quickening pulse of social change the world over, will choose a President who will lead us to a fuller and richer life.
We know this because we are the party of the people. The Democratic Party has no interests apart from the interests of the American people. It has no interests apart from the interests of the American soldiers – the millions of American workers – and of American business.
There is no conflict between what the Democratic Party wants and what the majority of the people of America want, for they want the same.
America wanted an efficient army. Ours is the best equipped army ever sent into battle; ours is the best clothed army ever sent into battle; ours is the best cared for army ever sent into battle. The reason is short, simple and clear. This administration has no interests apart from the fighting sons, daughters, fathers and mothers of America.
This is the first of America’s wars in which there has not been a scandalous inflation. This administration has no interest in runaway prices, because the Democratic Party has no interest apart from the people who must pay the prices for food, clothing and shelter.
This administration is the instrument of the people. It has been forged by them in three successive campaigns, as their tool for obtaining what they want – what they need – what they must have in order to live.
The people of America have made the Democratic Party as they have made the railroads and the highways, the bridges and the tall buildings of America. They have made the Democratic Party to conserve their heritage.
The Democratic Party is the true conservative party. We have conserved hope and ambition in the hearts of our people. We are the conservative party. We have conserved the skills of their hands. We have husbanded our natural resources. We have saved millions of homes and farms from foreclosure and conserved the family stake in democracy.
We have rescued banks and trust companies, insured crops and people’s savings. We have built schools. We have checked the flooding rivers and turned them into power.
We have begun a program to free men and women from the constant nagging fear of unemployment, sickness, accident – and the dread of insecure old age.
We have turned a once isolated, flood-ravished, poverty-stricken valley, the home of four and a half million people, into what is now a productive, happy place to live – the Tennessee River Valley.
We have replanted the forest, re-fertilized the soil. Ours is the conservative party.
We have guarded children, protected them by labor laws, planned school-lunch programs, provided clinics. Our is the conservative party.
Ours is the party that has created laws which have given dignity and protection to the working men and women of this country.
Ours is the party that has made the individual aware of the need for his participation in a true democracy. We are the conservative party.
We have conserved the people’s faith in a people’s government – democracy.
Because we are the conservative party, we reject the hazy Republican dream that this country can get along with its government dismantled, its housing programs destroyed, its wage and price controls thrown out the window. The Republican leaders are the dreamers. They have no contact with the people or with the realities of their wants and needs.
Their program is a dream, a nightmare of muddle and confusion. In their bankruptcy they have turned to this dream because they have nothing to offer in their platform except a series of contradictions, and what the Bible calls “wicked imaginations.” What interests us are the dreams of the young men and women of America for jobs, for homes, for families – and we are determined to make these dreams a reality.
It is because the Democratic Party has no ambitions apart from the ambitions of the American people that we disdain to talk to you in contradictory terms or what is known as double-talk.
The Republican candidate has pledged himself to carry to Japan a defeat so crushing and complete that every last man among them will know that he has been beaten.
And at the same time the Republican platform does not indicate by a single line or a single word that there is any need for further war sacrifice.
That is double-talk.
The Republican Party has pledged itself to reduce taxes to the normal expenditures of government as soon as the war ends and also has pledged itself to reduce the national debt. It has not explained how taxes and debt can be so reduced at the same time. That is double-talk.
The Republican Party has pledged itself to support farm prices, but in the same breath tells the farmers that federal subsidies are un-American. That is double-talk. The Republican leadership demands that barriers to world trade be reduced, and also that foreign goods be kept out of this country. And that is double-talk.
The Republican leadership declares that we need vigorous young men in Washington, because of the hard jobs that lie ahead, and it also declares that Washington is going to have nothing to do when this war is over. All government will be returned to the States. And that is double-talk.
The Republican Party declares that it is the party of the Constitution, but its nominee declares that he will not participate in the active management of the war.
This thoughtless and inept argument ignores the fact that our Founding Fathers carefully provided for civilian control of the military as the only possible safeguard of democratic life. The Constitution gave the people the right to elect a civilian Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Yet the Republican nominee runs for the office of Commander-in-Chief on the solemn pledge that if elected he will not fulfill his duties. That is double-talk.
In the early days of the war, when the choice of the top positions of the Armed Forces had to be made, when the choice of theaters in which to concentrate our effectiveness had to be made, the Republican leaders complained that the war was being managed poorly by our Commander-in-Chief.
Now that we are on the threshold of victory, now that every military fact in the world testifies to the magnificence with which President Roosevelt has performed his duties as Commander-in-Chief, the Republicans have changed their arguments, and their tune is now that the American armies and navies need no Commander-in-Chief and that the war will run itself. And that is more double-talk.
The leadership of the Republican Party, lacking sufficient vision and stature, has made a miserable attempt to discredit President Roosevelt’s work in flying personally to the far places of the world… to sit down with the heads of the British, Chinese and Russian states. These conferences, which have built mutual respect and confidence between our President and other leaders of the United Nations have been the greatest demonstration in history of working unity on the part of the peoples of this world – a unity and understanding that will prove to be the foundation for action to prevent future wars.
The Republican nominee implies that he will participate in no such conferences. He declares that he will delegate the conduct of foreign policy to a secretary whose name we do not even know. It is the President, however, under the American Constitution, who is responsible for foreign policy. He is responsible to the people. Once again, the Republican candidate seeks to divest himself of a duty.
The reason, of course, for the Republican attempt to divest the office of the Presidency of these vital constitutional duties is clear. The Republican leaders realize that the people of America suspect that the Republican candidate is not properly equipped for the tremendous tasks ahead.
The Republican leaders realize that the people of America know that President Roosevelt has shown himself to be equal to such tasks and all emergencies.
The powers of leadership, vision and statesmanship of President Roosevelt are universally recognized.
Whoever becomes President succeeds in doing so because he has won the confidence of a majority of the voters regardless of party. There aren’t enough Democrats to elect a President – nor are there enough Republicans to do so. Franklin Delano Roosevelt has been elected President for three successive terms – and each time the Republicans have helped to put him in office.
The last three elections have shown that the Democratic Party has been the best friend the Republican rank and file voter has ever had: He knows it and he has voted accordingly.
And that, again, is because he knows that the Democratic Party has no secret aspirations of its own – it has no private goals which are different from the goals of the American people.
Every program of our administration has been one for all of America; every bit of social legislation we have favored has been designed to help Americans on the basis of their need.
Never before in American history have the people of both parties been so long united on one man. They have been united in support of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who believes the wealth of a nation is its people; and the people will elect him again because they know that he has no ambition that is not for all of America.
Address by Senator Alben W. Barkley (D-KY)
July 20, 1944
Mr. Chairman, members and guests of the convention:
It has been my privilege to serve you in responsible capacities in three preceding national conventions.
To none of these did I bring a deeper sense of personal pleasure or public duty than that which actuates me on this occasion.
I come to the fulfillment of this assignment not simply a Democrat, but as an American, seeking to promote the welfare of my country and the enduring happiness of her people.
As we assemble here, evil forces stalk across the stage of human affairs whose power must be annihilated lest the whole course of civilization be reversed and mankind be reconsigned to the miseries of total slavery.
In such a posture we must rise above the level of the petty and the inconsequential.
We must look beyond the horizon of temporary expedients and contemplate the larger opportunity and the larger challenge.
Eleven years ago, standing before an eager and distraught multitude, a new President of this republic was heard to say: “This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.”
Some of those who listened looked upon it as a handsome figure of speech uttered in the course of an inaugural address.
The speaker perhaps was thinking of our domestic problems chiefly, then in utter chaos and disorder; thinking of the sixteen millions whose feet were treading upon the unresponsive pavements in town and city, seeking work; thinking of the anxious eyes and hungry mouths of women and children; thinking of the toilers in the fields who dare to cope with nature and her seasons to feed and clothe the world; thinking of the incomparably low prices marking the reward of the nation’s farmers; of burned crops and mounting debts and unpaid mortgages, and dried-up credit and broken promises quadrennially made by those who had the power but not the will to keep them.
Perhaps he thought also of the smokeless smokestacks and the silent wheels of industry; of our lost traffic with the nations of the world; of the motionless turbines of out merchant marine, tied up in harbors for lack of cargoes; of the billions lost by innocent investors in the speculative orgy fostered and inspired from the portals of the Treasury by “the greatest Secretary since Alexander Hamilton;” of the collapse of our financial institutions, the loss of other billions of the people’s deposits and the loss of their faith and confidence in these institutions.
In all likelihood he saw the insecurity of old age, the hazards of sickness and unemployment, the sordid record of financial exploitation among our neighbors in the Western world under the alliterative aegis of dollar diplomacy, and the fear and suspicion and hatred that policy had inspired.
He saw the wasting soil reserves washing to the sea; the idle natural resources of the nation unharnessed for the use of man; the devastating floods destroying life and property and uprooting the happiness of whole communities and valleys.
Looking across two oceans, proclaimed by some as the unassailable fortresses of our protection and security, he beheld the beginnings of Japanese aggression in Asia and the rise to power of Adolf Hitler in Europe.
Surveying these national and world perplexities, is it strange that this dauntless man uttered the prophetic sentence, “This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny? What a destiny! What a rendezvous!”
Centering his searching mind and great abilities upon our own domestic problems, he restored our financial institutions; strengthened them beyond any previous stability; and rekindled the people’s confidence in them to the end that today they hold larger deposits of their funds than at any other time in their history.
He built anew the basis of agricultural prosperity, restored the farmer’s credit, lowered his interest rates, electrified his homes, lifted a portion of the drudgery from the backs of housewives, organized a program of soil conservation, expanded the field for the use of agricultural products, increased the annual income of farmers by more than 300 per cent, and contributed more to the stability of farm life in America than was ever before accomplished in three times the length of time, if ever at all.
While the war has brought hardships to farm life, those strides made by agriculture under the guidance of this man of whom I speak laid the foundations for the magnificent contributions being made by the farmers and their families to the victory we shall ere long achieve against our enemies and the enemies of all freedom.
In his address from this platform three weeks ago, the Governor of California asserted that under this administration the farmer works all day and keeps books all night.
He paid to this administration an unintentional compliment. For under the administration of its predecessor the farmer worked all day and worked all night and had no books to keep; or, if he kept any at all he made his entries in the crimson liquid of bankruptcy and despair.
Truly enough, he keeps books now, and he makes his entries in the jet-black liquid of cancelled mortgages and saving deposits and improved farms and war bonds.
The man of whom I speak set in motion the machinery for the employment of the idle. In four years, he reduced unemployment from 16 millions to less than ten. And in four more years to less than six millions.
Three weeks ago, from this platform, the nominee of the Republican Convention complained with glee that this administration had not solved completely the unemployment problem.
He should have said with greater frankness that this administration did not create but inherited that problem from the administration of his own political mentor, guide and counselor; that neither that administration nor any of its apologists then or since have ever offered a sane or understandable remedy for the chronic malady which they bequeathed to the American economic system.
In addition to the reduction of unemployment, this Democratic administration gave to labor the boon of collective bargaining, the reassuring balance wheel of minimum wages and maximum hours, the stimulating guarantee of unemployment insurance and compensation, the tardy inauguration of old-age subsistence and the abolition of child labor.
Under the driving power of the head of this administration, the market for securities was made a safe and honest place for the transaction of business, and the small home owner was saved from eviction and enabled to preserve the tradition of his vine and fig tree.
For the sordid emblem of the dollar on the escutcheon of our diplomatic relations he substituted the symbol of the good neighbor.
For the log-rolling, corrupt methods of tariff legislation he substituted mutual trade agreements, restoring to a material extent the natural flow of commerce with other nations.
By these and other great measures of similar importance the American people, the American economic system and the American conception and way of life were fortified for the impact of war and the defense of our land.
What will our opponents do with this modern vehicle we have created? They have not said. Having neither the foresight nor the creative genius to conceive or construct it, they now admit the virtue of most of it, but say they could have done it better if they had thought of it and known how.
Their platform looks in all directions and sees nothing. It is like the exhortation of the devout minister who concluded as follows a sermon on “sin”: “I say unto you, brethren, repent of your sins, more or less. Ask forgiveness, in a measure; or you will be damned, to some extent.”
Before this gloomy prospect the baffled intellect must pause and kneel for guidance and direction.
To one intelligent observer it is “the pattern for chaos.” To another it is “the tired old platform.” To nobody is it either the “substance of things hoped for, or the evidence of things unseen.”
Against this nebulous Milky Way, we shall present a record of constructive accomplishment unique in American history.
We shall present a candidate who inspired and guided and drove that record to certain consummation.
We shall present a candidate who not only traveled but constructed the highway which leads to a fuller and happier life.
When the new foundations for this sounder American economy were advancing toward completion, disorder was on its way in other parts oi the world. Fear began to grip the hearts of millions who remembered or learned the tragic horrors of the last world conflict.
The cloud which at first seemed but a fleck upon the rim of heaven grew until it covered the earth with its fore bodings and obscured the sun of man’s hopes for peace and life.
The past rose before us like a nightmare. We heard the sound of preparation and the noise of boisterous drums. We saw hundreds of assemblages and heard the raucous voice of the diabolical agitator across the sea.
In all of this, though the domestic task was yet unfinished, the President of the United States saw the import of the gathering storm and sought to avert it.
Through every channel of diplomacy, every weapon of official and personal persuasion, every resort to logic and reason, he appealed to egocentric and distorted minds to forego the butchery oi another world war, another selfish and ambitious design upon the peace of nations, another reversion to the barbarism of the dark ages, multiplied a thousand times.
And he appealed to his own country not to dwell too, long in a fool’s paradise; not to indulge the fancy that we could be safe from the fires that might consume other peoples. For this foresight and forthrightness, he was denounced as a warmonger, and assailed as the friend of the war profiteer; and he became the object of partisan and personal vilification like unto that from which Washington suffered and which Lincoln endured.
Whose was the voice then that cried from the wilderness? Who became the major prophet – the man who saw and warned the people against approaching danger, or those who fulminated their jeremiads against him because he had the clarity of vision to see and the courage to proclaim our profound interest in the world’s developments?
When the treachery of Pearl Harbor came, we were not ready. The shock of it blasted us from our complacency, as the previous shock of Hitler’s attack on Europe blasted his neighbors out of theirs.
No democracy is ever ready for war at the drop of a hat. That is true of Europe and Asia, no less than of America. And because the people themselves who live in those democracies have not wanted war, because they believed in the good faith of treaties made to prevent war, they were unwilling to believe that war would come or to be ready for it.
Thus happened the world’s narrow escape from complete and bitter subjugation.
But war came nevertheless to Asia, to Europe and to America. And though unready for it when it came, we have gone farther and faster, and with more profound temporary readjustments in our lives than was ever true of any others nation in the whole history of nations.
Our industry, our labor, our agriculture, our finances, our manpower, our homes, yea, the moral and spiritual fiber of a mighty people have all been fused into an irresistible stream whose momentum will drive the war lords of the Nazi and the Nipponese back into the war hatchery from which they were spewed to become the world’s supreme scourge.
We have raised and trained, and through these agencies; have equipped, the ablest fighting force that ever flew the sky, sailed the sea or marched beneath a banner.
In order to pay in part for this titanic effort the American people are paying in taxes into the Treasury of the United States annually six billion dollars more than their total income from all sources in 1932, and have left in their pockets more than a hundred billion dollars with which to buy the bonds of their government and meet the other obligations of a nation and a people.
On all of the battlefronts these efforts, these gifts of blood and treasure, are being justified and sanctified by the incomparable bravery which brings glory everywhere and victory ever nearer to our cause.
But we are told by the nominee of our opponents that those in charge of our government have grown old and tired in office and that they are young and fresh. Life is not measured by figures on a dial. This administration and the Democratic Party have done more for the youth of America than was ever done before by any combination of administrations or political parties.
In this struggle to emancipate humanity, men and women of all ages, political beliefs, religions, races, colors and conditions have the power and the obligation to serve, and they are serving in every imaginable capacity.
None of those who are in charge of the government of the United States are as old as the Old Guard which dominated the convention which met in this place three weeks ago.
The President of the United States has not been the head of this government as long as the Generalissimo has been head of the Chinese government, or as long as Joseph Stalin has been head of the Russian government, or as long as Winston Churchill has held high office in the British government.
Yet with what dismay and consternation would the people of America receive news that any or all of these had been banished from office by the people of their respective countries!
In this hour of tragedy, when the lives of innocent men, women and children all over the world hang in the balance; when blood and treasure beyond calculation are being poured out to save civilization; when hearts and minds and tongues that think and feel and speak in every language cry out for peace and deliverance and the leadership of experience in war and in its aftermath, no birth certificate, whether inscribed on the crisp new page of the latest volume of vital statistics, or whether it is slightly faded from longer use and service, can or will constitute the prime qualification for the Presidency of these United States.
Shakespeare must have had our opponents in mind when he said: “Heat not a furnace for thy foe that it do not singe thyself.”
In their platform, and thus far in their public statements, they have attempted to compromise the convictions of Willkie with the underground of isolationism. They neither take the ground nor abandon it. They neither fly nor light. They hover.
The Democratic Party goes before the American people on its record, and it will not become a fugitive from the truth.
It has pushed outward the frontiers of enterprise, enlarged the boundaries of human endeavor, quickened the spirit of the man who earns his bread by the sweat of his face and opened new routes to the hopes of mankind.
Democracy knows that in a free land there are some things never to be tolerated, and one of them is intolerance.
Democracy must make mistakes. Ours has been no exception to this rule, and we freely admit that we have made them.
But all progress among men is a residuum of a multitude of mistakes. Only through error does man or nation come to know the truth. And how often have we come to realize in this administration that questions once objects of great debate and controversy are now accepted as indisputable facts. We must preserve the continuity of democracy by bringing together the experiences of yesterday and tasks of today and the aspirations of tomorrow.
We know that in our struggle as a people through the years we have kept this ideal before us, and it is our beacon light today.
Though we do not know the day or the hour when it will come, we know that the sum total of all our past and present devotions will bring success to the cause of justice in the war and peace and healing to the souls of men when it is over.
Already we are preparing for the return of our national economy to the practices and conditions of peace.
Already we are laying the solid groundwork for the demobilization of men and materials and plants and for their gainful employment in private enterprise.
Already we have provided for the just and helpful transition of men and women in the service; for the education, rehabilitation and compensation of those who bear the heat of battle and for their dependents; for the reintegration of men and women and industrial and agricultural enterprises into the jobs and activities of post-war readjustments.
We propose to create no economic stalemate which will make it necessary for men and women in the service to march on Washington to petition the government under the Constitution, only to be driven out with the very instruments with which they have saved the nation.
Already the foundations for victory; for a just, honorable and durable peace, and for the organization of the world for peace when its organization for war is no longer needed, have (been set deep m the soil of the United Nations.
Already the American people have made up their minds that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; that it will not seek to avoid its solemn responsibilities in the family of nations, and that it shall pledge its experience, influence, and cooperation to the end that no other generation shall be driven through the slaughterhouse through which this one is passing in order that human liberty may be preserved.
Under whose leadership have these things moved forward to accomplishment?
Under whose leadership? Have we as a nation marched from the valley of depression to the peak of national well-being?
Under whose guiding hand have we made the long journey from military impotence to power unrivalled in human history?
Whose hand has moved the throttle of our productive engine?
Whose touch at the pilot’s wheel has steered our stately ship through the treacherous waters of international controversy and intrigue, and brings us now within sight of the harbor and its impregnable shores?
Whose name among all the millions of dejected and disheartened men and women stands today as the symbol of freedom and deliverance?
I have not always agreed with this man who has been honored beyond his fellows. Though recognizing his more intimate knowledge and greater responsibility, I have on occasion found myself in disagreement with him over the substance or the method of some course of action in which we were concerned. Under similar conditions again I would not feel at liberty to pursue a different course.
But it is one thing to differ from a friend, though he be President, on some course of action that seems fundamental.
It is quite another thing to discard, or seem to discard, a leadership unsurpassed if ever equaled in the annals of American history, or to repudiate a record of achievement in national and international affairs so amazing and successful that his friends proclaim it and his enemies dare not threaten it with destruction.
Like all true believers in liberty, the President fights, and has always fought, not doggedly for opinions but for the right to entertain and express them.
From time to time my views may change. In the light of broader knowledge or modified conditions my opinions may be altered. So may his. We both fight now and have all our lives fought for the right to harbor our opinions, to express and defend them and to change them when convinced of error.
This is the essence of democracy. It was this conception of democracy which made Jefferson the premier among the defenders of freedom of thought, of the press, of education, of speech and religion.
It is this atmosphere of freedom that gives validity to the immortal words of Voltaire to Helvetius: “I wholly disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Because I believe in these eternal truths, and because they have been the sheet anchor of his faith and the guideposts of his conduct in public and in private station, I present to this assembly for the office of President of these United States the name of one who is endowed with the intellectual boldness of Thomas Jefferson, the indomitable courage of Andrew Jackson, the faith and patience of Abraham Lincoln, the rugged integrity of Grover Cleveland, and the scholarly vision of Woodrow Wilson – Franklin Delano Roosevelt.