The Pittsburgh Press (October 15, 1944)
And he’s a Republican, too –
Hershey assails Dewey on demobilization charge
Draft director says his quoted statement was ‘hypothetical’ and ‘personal opinion’
Washington (UP) – (Oct. 14)
**Selective Service Director Lewis B. Hershey said today that a remark attributed to him by Governor Thomas E. Dewey, and interpreted by the Republican candidate for President as indicating a “defeatist” attitude
Mr. Hershey, who is a major general in the Army, said in a letter to President Roosevelt that he made the remark at a press conference in Denver in reply to a hypothetical question and that it was “given as my personal opinion in a field over which I have no responsibility.”
The Hershey letter was the third document released by the White House today in an effort to refute charges against the administration by the GOP candidate. The others were a letter to Mr. Roosevelt from Assistant Secretary of State Adolf A. Berle Jr. – accusing Governor Dewey of playing “fast and loose” with the public – and a White House list of “facts” dealing with specific Dewey charges.
Charge recalled
Governor Dewey had quoted Gen. Hershey as saying it would be cheaper to keep men in the Armed Forces after they were no longer needed militarily than it would be to create an agency to find jobs for them. The Republican candidate cited Gen. Hershey’s remark as indicative of the administration’s intent toward war veterans.
Gen. Hershey’s letter, in which he revealed that he has always been and still is a Republican, said that the circumstances in which he made the remark were such that it was clear he was voicing a personal opinion about a matter which “was a responsibility of the director of Selective Service.”
“It was clearly indicated at the time,” Gen. Hershey said, “that my personal opinion was not popular and probably would not be given consideration.”
Decries partisanship
Subsequently, he said, the War Department announced its point-system plan for partially reducing the size of the Army after victory in Europe, depending upon military necessity and shipping space, and based on “polls of Army personnel.”
Gen. Hershey emphasized that “partisanship ha had no place in Selective Service.”