The Pittsburgh Press (March 12, 1944)
Usurpation of power laid to Roosevelt
Indianapolis, Indiana (UP) – (March 11)
Senator Robert A. Taft (R-OH) charged tonight that “usurpation of power by the President” is transforming the courts and legislature into “a mere shell” and declared that a fourth term would cause steady enlargement of the executive power.
Addressing the Republican Editorial Association, Mr. Taft denied that the President had any legal right to many of the powers which he has assumed.
Mr. Taft said:
If the President is elected to a fourth term, with a Congress disposed to do his bidding, the people can only expect one course to be pursued – that is the course of steady enlargement of the executive power.