@jacktyunmen I know you don’t like Westbrook Pegler, but that doesn’t excuse you editing out his article. It’s history, Bircher or not.
fuck, I did that? I think I meant to reply.
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See the arrow next to the edit button? That’s the reply button
I think I may have accidentally misclicked, i’m deeply sorry.
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That’s alright. Just be careful next time 
Guffey-Lawrence factions sidestep VP showdown
Delegates at breakfast meeting hear state chairman try to minimize party split
By Kermit McFarland
Chicago, Illinois –
The rival Lawrence and Guffey factions in the Pennsylvania delegation to the Democratic convention, battling each other in a new outbreak of a six-year feud, today sought to postpone until the last possible moment feud, today sought to postpone until the last possible moment a showdown of their respective strength in the delegation.
At a breakfast tendered the delegates – ironically – by Democratic State Chairman David L. Lawrence and U.S. Senator Joseph F. Guffey, jointly, both sides succeeded in avoiding a second caucus on vice-presidential preferences – the cause of the latest split between these two who are Damon and Pythias turned Hatfield and McCoy.
Senator Guffey, in fact, didn’t even attend his own affair. He was 20 stories up in the same hotel, conferring with CIO and Wallace leaders.
Differences minimized
Mr. Lawrence, who informed the 200 delegates and friends, all from Pennsylvania, that despite his absence Senator Guffey would “split the check,” went out of his way to describe the affair as a “social gathering.”
The state chairman also made an attempt to minimize, publicly, the differences between himself and Mr. Guffey over the vice-presidential nominee.
He said:
Not even the vice-presidential nomination or anything else is going to split the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania. The Senator and myself have gone up and down the state since November trying to out the Democratic Party back where it was before 1938.
Charges continue
But the charges and countercharges which have been developing in the split Pennsylvania delegation since the battle for the vice-presidential nomination began to shape up between Senator Harry S. Truman (D-MO), supported by Mr. Lawrence, and Vice President Henry A. Wallace, backed by Senator Guffey, continued on their way.
Senator Guffey’s blast at the Truman forces, which he implied were being “bossed by the well-known machine leaders, Kelly, Hague and Flynn,” aroused resentment among the Allegheny County leaders and others favorable to Senator Truman.
Caucus is opposed
When the breakfast invitations were first extended, Mr. Lawrence indicated it would e converted into a caucus. But today, both he and Senator Guffey said they thought a caucus unnecessary.
If the convention follows its tentative schedule and hears nominating speeches for Vice President tonight, a caucus before the first roll call is inevitable.
Mr. Guffey claims “55 to 60” of the 72 Pennsylvania votes. Mr. Lawrence isn’t claiming.
Wallace’s best 35 votes
The best estimates indicated Mr. Wallace’s best poll probably would be 35 votes, with 26 likely to go for Mr. Truman and eight or nine in doubt.
Among the doubtful delegates could be listed Pittsburgh’s Mayor Scully and Edward D. Johnson, chief clerk of the Public Safety Department. Both voted for Mr. Wallace at the Tuesday caucus, but they are politically beholden to Mr. Lawrence. Mr. Johnson was elected as an alternate, but has taken the place of Delegate Robert C. Malcolm of Curtisville, who is not here.
Attorney General Francis Biddle, who, as a delegate-at-large has only a half vote, also plumped for Mr. Wallace Tuesday, but if President Roosevelt, as indicated, goes for Mr. Truman, he probably will switch.
Others may switch
The tipoff on this is the attitude of Postmaster General Frank C. Walker of Scranton, who voted against Mr. Wallace at the Tuesday caucus. He told other delegates he did not wish to “vote against the Chief” – Mr. Roosevelt.
Other delegates who may switch to Senator Truman includes Clerk of Courts John J. McClean and Mayor Frank Buchanan of McKeesport. But still sticking firmly to Mr. Wallace is Irwin D. Wolf of Fox Chapel.
Sure Truman backers include County Commissioner John J. Kane and Mr. Lawrence (both half-vote delegates), Register of Wills John M. Houston, City Treasurer James P. Kirk, Coroner William D. McClelland, Mrs. Marguerite Naughton and County Commissioner George Rankin.
New letter ‘the bunk’
Leaders of the Lawrence faction swore that Democratic National Chairman Robert E. Hannegan, Truman promoter, has a new letter from President Roosevelt saying the Missouri Senator is “acceptable” to him as a running mate.
Senator Guffey said that was “the bunk.” He declined to say whether he had been in touch with Mr. Roosevelt, but Lawrence forces claimed he tried unsuccessfully all day yesterday to reach the President by telephone.
Congressman Francis J. Myers, nominee for the U.S. Senate, was the only speaker at today’s breakfast, aside from Mr. Lawrence.
Lawrence, Guffey praised
As a candidate whose chances might be endangered by a split in the party organization, he praised Senator Guffey and Mr. Lawrence for “walking throughout the state arm in arm” building up the Democratic machine.
He said:
Unless the vote is heavy, we may not carry Pennsylvania, regardless of how beloved the President is by the people. But if we get out the vote, victory is sure.
Mr. Lawrence pleaded for “strong” finance, labor and women’s campaign committees in each county and said it was “amazing” how many members of organized labor are not registered to vote.
Nye is victor for renomination
Bismarck, North Dakota (UP) –
North Dakota Secretary of State Thomas Hall said today that Senator Gerald P. Nye was virtually assured of renomination in the June 27 primary election in North Dakota.
Unofficial figures from canvassing boards in 32 counties plus previous totals gave Mr. Nye a lead of 956 votes over Lynn U. Stambaugh, former national commander of the American Legion.
All figures will remain unofficial until the state canvassing board meets July 27. Latest tabulations gave Mr. Nye 38,169 votes, comparted to 37,213 for Mr. Stambaugh and 35,680 for Rep. Usher L. Burdick.
Incumbents win in three primaries
By the United Press
Late returns from Tuesday’s primary elections in three states decided all contests today, with all incumbents renominated in Arizona and Lief Erickson, 38-year-old State Supreme Court Justice, conceded the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Montana. In Wyoming, Charles E. Norris of Laramie won the Democratic nomination for Congress.
Senator Carl Hayden, who has served in Congress ever since Arizona became a state, polled 29,327 votes to win the renomination by a 2-to-1 margin and Reps. John Murdock and Richard Harless received 29,414 and 26,910 votes respectively to win by a wide margin. Governor Sidney P. Osborn polled 34,797 votes to win renomination by a 3-to-1 margin over his nearest opponent. Jerrie Lee won the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
Both Austin Middleton and former governor Roy E. Ayers conceded the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Montana to Mr. Erickson, who held a lead of more than 6,000 over Mr. Middleton. Republican Governor Sam C. Ford won renomination by a 6-to-1 margin.
Montana had no senatorial contest this year and both incumbent Democratic Congressmen were unopposed for renomination.
Keynoter’s speech starts demonstration
Magic word ‘Roosevelt’ sets mob to whooping
Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Democrats went whooping into the aisles for the first big demonstration of their convention last night when Oklahoma Governor Robert S. Kerr made a keynoted speech calling for the reelection of President Roosevelt and denouncing Republican administrations under which American “hardened under Harding, cooled under Coolidge, and hungered under Hoover.”
The speech was interrupted by a 12-minute demonstration during which state standards were paraded down the aisles to the platform where Governor Kerr put on a 10-gallon white hate while the band blared, “You’re Doin’ Fine, Oklahoma.”
Governor Kerr’s reply to the Republican Party’s “accent on youth” was the declaration that such “tired old men” as President Roosevelt, Adm. Ernest J. King, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Gen. George C. Marshall “are winning this war.”
Repeating the refrain, “Shall we discard as a ‘tired old man,’” he alluded in staccato succession to 59-year-old Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, 62-year-old Adm. William F. Halsey Jr., 64-year-old Gen. MacArthur, 66-year-old Adm. King, and 64-year-old Gen. Marshall.
Then he added the paragraph which stopped his speech and produced the most deafening demonstration which this convention had seen thus far.
The keynoter said:
No, Mr. Dewey. We know we are winning this war with these “tired old men,” including the 62-year-old Roosevelt as their Commander-in-Chief.
The words “Commander-in-Chief” were almost drowned out by the burst of applause which greeted the word “Roosevelt.”
Governor Kerr himself was caught offguard. He had expected applause, but he hadn’t expected bedlam. He quickly sensed the situation, however, spread his arms like a cheerleader, and urged them on.
Democratic Convention hopefuls must be received by ‘Big Four’
Bosses hold court, decide what’s what
By Sandor S. Klein, United Press staff writer
Chicago, Illinois –
Those in the know here say the men to “see” in the Democratic Convention are the “Big Four” – National Chairman Robert E. Hannegan, Former National Chairman Ed Flynn of New York, Chicago Mayor Edward J. Kelly and Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague.
These big city bosses are working frantically behind the scenes to untangle the vice-presidential scramble. They are not actually dominating the convention – yet – but their influence is great. They may be the men who will decide who is to be the vice-presidential nominee if it appears that Henry A. Wallace has definitely lost his chance for the necessary majority.
Hopefuls see bosses
Some vice-presidential hopefuls – not all of them – have been received by the quarter. A number of them, favorite-son candidates, are being ignored.
One of the candidates most prominently mentioned in the vice-presidential sweepstakes was almost distraught his first day here when not one of the “Big Four” called on him. His managers felt convinced that this meant their candidate was “out.” But the next day, two of the bosses invited him over to their rooms and the candidates hopes were revived.
The “Big Four” was said to be in touch with the White House. For the present, they are not doing any “dictating.” They discuss with various candidates their chances and convey to them the latest “dope.”
Keep in touch
And, of course, they keep in constant touch with the leaders of the key state delegations.
Three of the “Big Four” have their quarters in the Blackstone Hotel, across the street from the Stevens Hotel, which is convention headquarters. Mr. Hannegan has a corner suite on the seventh floor. Right next door is Mr. Flynn’s room. Mr. Hague has a corner suite on the fifth floor. Mr. Kelly operates from his spacious six-room apartment overlooking Lake Michigan.
There are frequent conferences among the four in Mr. Hannegan’s suite, where the transoms over the doors are kept tightly locked.
Of the four, Mr. Flynn is believed to be closest to the President.
Another former National Committee Chairman in the same hotel is James A. Farley. He doesn’t get invited to the conferences. He isn’t close to Mr. Roosevelt anymore.
Stokes: Corcoran pulls strings to get Douglas named
Plots Truman-Wallace tie to achieve goal
By Thomas L. Stokes, Scripps-Howard staff writer
Chicago, Illinois –
Intrigue of the devious and deep-dyed variety, such as never has been practiced in a vice-presidential nomination, is going on here, in hotel room conferences and by long-distance telephone, over the nomination of a running mate for President Roosevelt this year.
A vice-presidential candidate is usually picked by the leaders, at the last minute, as sort of an afterthought. But it is different this year. The stakes are high. The vice-presidential nomination, the only contest this year, has become the center of a struggle for party control between the conservatives and New Dealers on the broad scale, and a prize over which various factions among New Dealers are tugging for supremacy.
The whole story in detail must await the memoirs and subsequent scrappy revelations by the principals. But more than enough leaks out to prove that New Dealers, when they take up politicking, can be just as tricky as those who make it a profession, and with refinements to which the professional would not resort.
Mr. Fixit for a price
This applies particularly to one who left the New Deal administration for the more lucrative practice of “influence,” a Mr. Fixit for a Price, but who still operates within it, sometimes just as if he still were in the government. this is Thomas G. Corcoran. He is up to his ears in this vice-presidential melee, manipulating by remote control from Washington, and the reports of his machinations are very fantastic, but most of them are probably true.
As the time for the nomination of a vice-presidential candidate approaches – it will follow the renomination of Mr. Roosevelt which occurs tonight – the two leading candidates were Vice President Wallace and Senator Harry S. Truman, chairman of the Senate Investigating Committee which bears his name. they have become the victims of the last-minute intriguing – there was plenty previously revolving about other figures.
Wallace amateur politician
Mr. Wallace is the rankest amateur as a politician, and without guile. Senator Truman honestly does not want the job. If you know him, you know this is true. Friends of each are pulling the wires and doing the tricks.
The infighting waxed hot last night when Senator Joe Guffey (D-PA), one of the vice President’s managers, got out a blistering statement denouncing National Chairman Hannegan for trying to influence the nomination of his fellow Missourian, Senator Truman. National party chairmen are supposed to be impartial, and the Pennsylvania Senator had a point there.
Guffey’s challenge
Mr. Guffey challenged the chairman to give out the complete text of a letter Mr. Hannegan was purported to have from the President listing the Missouri Senator as among those who would be acceptable to him.
Senator Guffey concluded with a reference to Senator Truman as “the candidate of Hannegan, Kelly, Hague and Flynn,” the last three the well-known Chicago, Jersey and New York bosses, in order to raise the issue of bossism against Senator Truman and to insinuate it, for those who know their political history, directly against the Senator from Missouri who started in politics as a young man with the once notorious Pendergast machine of Kansas City, though he has long outlived this.
Now Mr. Corcoran enters the plot, as reported here.
It’s an old feud
“Tommy the Cork,” as he is familiar known, has been working a long time to defeat Vice President Wallace for renomination. His hostility goes a long way back. It’s an old feud. His candidate, as it was in 1940, is 45-year-old Justice William O. Douglas of the Supreme Court, who has many attractions as a candidate, being a vigorous, scrappy fellow well identified with New Deal philosophy.
Now Mr. Corcoran has close affiliations with both Senator Joe Guffey and Senator Pepper (D-FL), also identified with the Wallace movement here, both state bosses of no mean pretensions. He also has considerable influence with Secretary of the Interior Ickes, who is here on the ground maneuvering around ostensibly against Vice President Wallace on behalf of Mr. Corcoran.
Wants a deadlock
The essence of the Corcoran “plot” as related is that he is pulling strings behind the scenes to incite the Wallace and Truman forces against each other, so that they will smear each other sufficiently to defeat each and cause a deadlock, out of which Justice Douglas would emerge as the winner.
Advanced as evidence is the Corcoran association with both Senators Guffey and Pepper, who has been busy in the intriguing, and with Mr. Ickes. The latter is known to have visited the Vice President in Washington not long ago ands asked him to withdraw. It was reported that last night he was trying to induce Vice President Wallace to take the floor and denounce boss Ed Kelly, Frank Hague, and Ed Flynn for trying to put over Senator Truman, which would, indeed, be a nice ruckus.
Sounds fantastic, to be true. It may be. But it fits in with the Corcoran technique.
Out of such intrigue, a vice-presidential candidate will emerge.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
Address by Vice President Wallace
July 20, 1944
As chairman of the Iowa delegation, I am deeply honored to second the nomination of the greatest living American – Franklin D. Roosevelt. The strength of the Democratic Party has always been the people – plain people like so many of those here in this convention – ordinary folks, farmers, workers and businessmen along main street. Jefferson, Jackson and Woodrow Wilson knew the power of the plain people. All three laid down the thesis that the Democratic Party can win only if and when it is the liberal party.
Now we have come to the most extraordinary election in the history of our country. Three times the Democratic Party has been led to victory by the greatest liberal in the history of the United States. The name Roosevelt is revered in the remotest corners of this earth. The name Roosevelt is cursed only by Germans, Japs and certain American troglodytes.
The first issue which transcends all others is that complete victory be won quickly. Roosevelt, in a world sense, is the most experienced military strategist who has ever been President of the United States. Roosevelt is the only person in the United States who can meet on even terms the other great leaders in discussions of war and peace. The voice of our new world liberalism must carry on.
It is appropriate that Roosevelt should run on the basis of his record as a war leader. He is successfully conducting a war bigger than all the rest of our wars put together. He must finish this job before the nation can breathe in safety. The boys at the front know this better than anyone else.
The future belongs to those who go down the line unswervingly for the liberal principles of both political democracy and economic democracy regardless of race, color or religion. In a political, educational and economic sense there must be no inferior races. The poll tax must go. Equal educational opportunities must come. The future must bring equal wages for equal work regardless of sex or race.
Roosevelt stands for all this. That is why certain people hate him so. That also is one of the outstanding reasons why Roosevelt will be elected for a fourth time.
President Roosevelt has long known that the Democratic Party in order to survive must serve men first and dollars second. That does not mean that the Democratic Party is against business – quite the contrary. But if we want more small businessmen, as the Democratic Party undoubtedly does, we must modify our taxation system to encourage risk capital to invest in all rapidly growing small business.
We want both a taxation system and a railroad rate structure which will encourage new business and the development of the newer industrial regions of the South and West. Rate discrimination must go.
The Democratic Party in convention assembled is about to demonstrate that it is not only a free party but a liberal party. The Democratic Party cannot long survive as a conservative party. The Republican Party has a monopoly on the conservative brains and the conservative dollars. Democrats who try to play the Republican game inside the Democratic Party always find that it just can’t work on a national scale.
In like manner Republicans who try to play the Democratic game inside the Republican Party find that while it may work on a state basis it can never work nationally. I know because my own father tried it. Perhaps Wendell Willkie may have learned in 1944 a little of that which my own father learned in 1924. The old elephant never changes and never forgives.
By nominating Franklin Roosevelt, the Democratic Party is again declaring its faith in liberalism. Roosevelt is a greater liberal today than he has ever been. His soul is pure. The high quality of Roosevelt liberalism will become more apparent as the war emergency passes. The only question ever in Roosevelt’s mind is how best to serve the cause of liberalism in the long run. He thinks big. He sees far.
There is no question about the renomination of President Roosevelt by this convention. The only question is whether the convention and the party workers believe wholeheartedly in the liberal policies for which Roosevelt has always stood.
Our problem is not to sell Roosevelt to the Democratic Convention but to sell the Democratic Party and the Democratic Convention to the people of the United States.
The world is peculiarly fortunate that in times like these the United States should be blessed with a leader of the caliber of Roosevelt. With the spirit of Woodrow Wilson, but avoiding the pitfalls which beset that great statesman, Roosevelt can and will lead the United States in cooperation with the rest of the world toward that type of peace which will prevent World War III. It is this peace for which the mothers and fathers of America hope and work.
Issues that will be with us for a generation – perhaps even for a hundred years – will take form at this convention and at the November election. The Democratic Party and the independent voters will give Roosevelt their wholehearted support because of his record in peace and war.
As head of the Iowa delegation, in the cause of liberalism, and with a prayer for prompt victory in this war, permanent peace and full employment, I give you Franklin D. Roosevelt.
