Editorial: Possible Presidents
There is much talk about possible nominees for Vice President Most of it is based on political considerations, and these are based mostly on geography.
As for geography, this may not yet be “one world” but it is one country, and people care less where a man comes from than what he is and what he stands for.
As for politics, the best politics always is to eschew politics and get down to business. And what is the business of the summer of 1944? It is to select four men, any one of whom may have the job of leading the nation through difficult times.
Four men, we say. Because it looks like a close race between the Democratic and Republican nominees for President, and any man who may be Vice President may succeed to the Presidency.
A candidate for the Vice Presidency should be chosen not only as a potential President, but also as a possible right-hand man for the President.
If it becomes understood that the Vice President is to be an assistant President, if it is never forgotten that he may become President – as two Vice Presidents have done in the lifetime of many now living – the Vice Presidency will not be considered the graveyard of presidential hopes and it will attract the able men that the nation’s need demands.
The candidate for second place on either ticket must be a man whom the party can present to the nation as one fit in all respects to be President. A party which chooses any other kind of candidate for Vice President does not deserve the confidence of the voters.