The Pittsburgh Press (October 19, 1944)
Roosevelt includes Boston in plans for stumping tour
Speeches now scheduled for three cities; quick trip to Midwest expected
Washington (UP) –
The White House today added Boston to the growing list of cities where President Roosevelt will make campaign speeches, in line with his apparent decision that the time has come to take a few direct potshots at Governor Thomas E. Dewey.
Presidential Secretary Stephen T. Early confirmed to reporters that Mr. Roosevelt will speak in Boston. He did not give the date of the appearance but reports from that city indicated it would be on Nov. 4.
Confirmation of the Boston speech brought to three the number of formal talks now on the President’s schedule. He speaks in New York Saturday night, after a day-long tour of the city. On Oct. 27, he is to address a mass meeting at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park. Furthermore, high Democratic officials expect him to make a brief stab into the Midwest, perhaps speaking in Ohio and Illinois.
Democrats irritated
Mr. Roosevelt and his campaign advisers are obviously irritated by Mr. Dewey’s use of statements by administration figures for his attacks against the New Deal. On two occasions, the White House has released compilations of “facts” making the point that the statements had been lifted from context and their meaning twisted.
The President’s speech before the Foreign Policy Association in New York Saturday is expected to be a scholarly discussion of international policy, perhaps replying to Mr. Dewey’s attack last night against the administration’s conduct of foreign affairs.
Fighting speech expected
But when he speaks at Shibe Park in Philadelphia a week from next Friday night, Mr. Roosevelt is expected to take off the gloves and follow the lugging style of his Sept. 23 speech to the AFL Teamster Union here. At stake will be Pennsylvania’s important 35 electoral votes.
Mr. Roosevelt will also be going after New York’s vital 47 electoral votes in his Saturday trip. His tour of the city before the foreign policy speech will include a stop at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn for a rally on behalf of Senator Robert F. Wagner.