The Pittsburgh Press (September 20, 1944)
Russians say isolationists still lead GOP
Moscow writer hits Hoover and London
Moscow, USSR (UP) –
Isolationism has declined in the United States under the pressure of public opinion, but it still lingers, particularly among reactionary Republicans, an article in the magazine War and the Working Class said today.
Nina Sergeyeva, the author, wrote:
The Republican Party always has been a citadel pf isolationism/ now this party is the rallying center of opponents of present American foreign policy. Through it, extreme reactionaries, pro-Fascist and Fascist elements, American defeatists and appeasers, and even Hitlerite agents, are seeking access to the political arena.
Hoover, Landon hit
A predominant influence in the Republican Party is exercised by a reactionary group headed by former President Hoover and Republican candidate Landon. This constitutes the “Old Guard” isolationism which dominates the machinery of the Republican Party.
It was precisely this group which last June promoted Dewey’s candidacy. This group gets certain support from the National Association of Manufacturers, long well-known for its pro-Fascist tendencies.
du Pont, Ford named
Owners of the powerful chemical concern of du Pont de Nemours; the noted industrialist, James Mooney, vice president of General Motors; the auto manufacturer, Henry Ford, and the Chicago banker, Robert Wood, are the people who finance the Republican Party.
It was characteristic, War and the Working Class said, that:
This reactionary, isolationist group, which seized control of its part convention, accepted an election platform establishing the principle of international collaboration, which clearly contradicts its oldline isolationism.
It continued:
In their recent utterances, Dewey and even Hoover attempted to shake off diehard isolationists and defeatists like Hamilton Fish and the Fascist leader Gerald Smith.
It is entirely clear that the Republicans cannot ignore public opinion, particularly before elections.
Articles names Senators
It said that the America First organization was closely connected with Senators Arthur H. Vandenberg, Robert A. Taft, Burton K. Wheeler, Gerald P. Nye, Robert Reynolds and Bennett Champ Clark, and Reps. Clare Hoffman, Fish and Martin Dies, and was financed by du Pont, Robert Wood, Ford and Mooney.
The author continued:
Among the isolationists and appeasers, there are several noted Democrats, like Senator Reynolds, Wheeler, Clark and Rep. Dies. But within the Democratic Party these men constitute an uninfluential group.
The article then listed and denounced the Hearst, Patterson and McCormick press and organizations such as America First and the various leagues against war, accusing them of sabotaging the war front by campaigns to discredit the Allies, England and the Soviet Union, and of advocating the appeasement of Germany by a compromising peace.
The article further charged that firms such as DuPont, Ford and General Motors, have substantial commercial interests in Germany, Italy and Japan, and therefore were interested in their preservation.