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Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, July 05, 1940, Image 9

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'Short' Third
Term Held
Possible
Roosevelt Could
Pledge Retirement
By March 4, 1941
By DAVID LAWRENCE.
President Roosevelt may be
counted on to do the unexpected
when the Democratic National Con
vention offers him the third nom
ination. Many
people have be
gun to believe,
since Wendell
Willkie's nom
ination, that the
president would
decline to run.
New Dealers are
I equally confident
that because of
the W i 11 k i e
strength, Mr.
* Roosevelt is the
only Democrat
who could win.
Somewhere be
tween these two
David Lawrence.
ideas is a third. Mr. Roosevelt
knows that the chief obstacle to
a third term is precedent. To off
set this is his belief that the next
few months are critical in world
history and that he must remain
at the helm. How, then, to be Presi
dent just a few months and yet
keep the New Deal in power.
One solution, from the Presi
dent's point of view, would be to
announce that he believes the third
term tradition is a good thing, but
that it contemplates two terms of
four years each. Unfortunately for
him, the President might point out,
he is the first President who has
had his term of office shortened by
constitutional amendment. This was
done in order to change the day
of inauguration. Although inaug
urated on March 4 originally, his
second term was compelled to begin
on January 20. Thus Mr. Roosevelt
is to serve seven years and a little
over 10 months. He has been de
«. prived of about 43 days. And a lot
can happen in 43 days, as witness
the "total’ war that conquered :
France in that time.
Tradition Based on Fight Years.
Mr. Roosevelt might say he is
entitled to eight years of service,
as were all three of his predecessors
who were re-elected except those
who came to the White House from
the vice presidency due Jo death of
a President. Theodore Roosevelt,
though serving from September,
1901. to March 4.1909. or about seven
years and a half, said the tradition
must hold even in his case and he
refused to be a candidate for a
consecutive third term. Calvin
Coolidge, although President five
and a half years, did not choose to
run for a third term.
But the tradition is based on
eight years and Mr. Roosevelt would
have a plausible argument if he in- j
sisted that he had the right by i
precedent to serve from March 4.'
1933, to March 4. 1941. This would j
mean that he could be a candidate !
1 in this year's contest and announce j
that he would retire in favor of the |
Vice President next March. He
would thus remain President about ]
43 days longer than otherwise, if j
elected in November, but it would j
assure from a domestic point of view
the continuance of the New Deal,
which, when all is said and done, is
rally the important thing the New
Dealers are worried about. They
want to hold on to the jobs and the
power that goes with them.
Who, then, would be chosen as,
nominee for Vice President? Mr.
Roosevelt can't very wrell select At- j
tornev General Jackson because he, i
too. comes from New’ York State
and a constitutional technicality
disqualifies the electors of New- York
State, for instance, from voting for
two candidates from the same State.
Favorite Is Douglas.
The presidential favorite is known
to be Justice William O. Douglas of
the Supreme Court of the United
States. He is relatively a newcomer
in politics and the regular party
men do not know him. Still, they
have very little to say about it now
adays in the Democratic party. Tire
regulars have fallen all over them
selves to hand the party mechanism
over to the New' Dealers so they can
hardly complain now if the Presi
dent dictates the man he wants for
Vice President.
If Mr. Roosevelt runs, moreover,
it would disqualify Postmaster Gen
eral Farley of New York State, w'ho
really should be the vice presidential
nominee from the standpoint of
service in the past to the Democratic
party. There is talk of naming Sen
ator James Byrnes of South Caro
lina. He is an able man and popu
lar in Congress and if the President
were to retire, Jimmy Byrnes w’ould
make an excellent President.
war May tsaiK Ketirement.
The war abroad, of course, might
prevent Mr. Roosevelt from retiring
exactly on March 4, 1941, if he were
elected next November, but this
would be a detail. Again and again,
under New Deal asupices, circum
stances have arisen which have
made it seem expedient to the New
Dealers to ignore a platform pledge
or a public pronouncement. Under
the New Deal, the philosophy of
Machiavelli prevails—that the end
justifies the means. This is but
another way of saying that the New
Dealers conscientiously believe no
other group can rule America and
preserve the so-called social gains i
or losses—the phrase depending on
whether, for example, a $45,000,000.- ,
000 debt is a social loss or gain in j
the modern world.
All Washington is talking about
only one subject: Will the Presi
dent accept the nomination that is
going to be tendered to him? He
may answer it with a short
third term—a trick concept
such as he advanced when
he asked that the Supreme
Court be enlarged by enough jus
tices to offset the votes of those he
The Capital Parade
Willkie's Nomination Is Called Background
Of Wheeler-Lewis Talk in St. Louis
By JOSEPH ALSOP and ROBERT KINTNER.
The recent doings of John L. Lewis and Senator Wheeler of Montana,
may prove to be the shadow cast before a coming event far larger in
import than the mere formation of a third party. A third party, dedicated
i to Townsendism, extreme isolationism and Lewis’ brand of C. I. O.-ism,
was what Lewis and Wheeler talked about at the Townsendite old
age pension convention in St. Louis. But there is more to it than that.
The real background of the Lewis-Wheeler talk is the all-important
fact that by nominating Wendell Willkie at Philadelphia the Republicans
firmly rejected the English-model
appeasement program Insistently
offered them by the adherents of
Senator Robert A. Taft. That is
the predominant fact in American
politics today.
The Republicans did offer a
special opportunity to Senator
Wheeler, who has a large national
following, is an isolationist of the
most extreme type and has never
been above seizing opportunities as
they presented themselves, me opportunity, as one 01 the senator s
friends put it today, is "to show Roosevelt where he gets off and play
a big part by rallying the peace vote.' In somewhat less pleasant terms,
it is to raise the tattered banner of appeasement under which the Re
publicans refused to march.
Strange Bedfellows
Appeasement makes strange bedfellows. Mr. Lewis went to Phila
delphia to make an embittered attack on the President’s policies, and
particularly on his foreign policy and preparedness program, before the
Republican Platform Committee. His statement savored strongly of
the C. I. O. leaders who now appear to be his chief advisers, and who,
if not Stalinites themselves, have at least upheld the Stalinites’ hands in
the C. I. O. Mr. Lewis and the Communist labor crowd have always been
anathema to business. Yet a surprising number of influential Republican
businessmen in Philadelphia cheered the Lewis statement as though it
.had come straight from former President Herbert Hoover. While the
struggle between appeasers and Willkieites was still in progress. Sena
tor Wheeler was also asked to approve the foreign policy plank in the
Republican platform.
These events, quite obviously, were related to what happened later
at St. Louis. Mr Lewis and Senator Wheeler have always been close.
Both detest the President with all their hearts and souls. Both Mr. Lewis
and his chief advisers share Senator Wheeler's views on foreign policy.
What could be more natural, therefore, than for them to suggest a third
party movement to the Townsendites after their failure at Philadelphia?
Furthermore, their suggestion cannot be laughed off. The Town
sendites and other old-age pensioners constitute one solid block of
fanatical votes such a party would get. The more violent peace people
are another such block. The labor voters who would follow Mr. Lewis
would hardly be numerous, but they, too, would help. The Nazi sym
pathizers wdio want nothing better than a political party to talk appease
ment would go along with enthusiasm. And unless the party line
changes overnight, as it now may do. the Communists and other extreme
left groups whose co-operation they can count on would throw their
strength into the pot. Not all these groups would be welcomed as sup
porters by most political chieftains. Yet with such a third party. Mr.
Lewis and Senator Wheeler could make a considerable amount of noise.
Mr. Westrick's Work
Nor is it certain that the Tow-nsend fanatics, the Communists and
Nazi bundists. the peace-at-any-price people and the Lewis wing of the
C. I. O. would Drove the onlv Wheeler followers. Since his fight against
UTS GET
TOGETWEC
'and MAktA
faJRADt _
the President’s court bill. Senator
Wheeler has had many business
friends. He has done everything
possible, despite his previous record
on the anti-business side of the
Dolitical fence, to improve these
connections. And since the fall of
France, appeasement on the English
model has begun to be a popular
doctrine among certain powerful
businessmen.
Gerhard Westrick, the German
commercial counselor, has been working hard m the New York financial
district. His story is precisely tne same story that men just like him told
English and French businessmen after the seizing of Vienna, after
Munich and after the fall of Prague. “We are satisfied now," he says.
“We are all businessmen. We want to buy many things in the United
States. Let's get together and make a trade.” The Westrick sales talk
completely fails to explain such ominous phenomena as the intensive
fifth column activity in South America. But wishful thinking will blind
shrewd eyes, and Westrick has had some success. Thus it is no wonder
that wise men. both in the administration and in the group around
Wendell Willkie. are thoroughly alarmed by the possibility of a great
American appeasement drive this summer.
• Realeased by North American Newspaper Alliance. Inc.)
didn't like. The same cleverness
which prompted the Supreme Court
bill can bring the abbreviated third
term idea for the 1940 presidential
election.
Fair Marks 75 Years
Of Negroes' Freedom
Bv the Associated Press.
CHICAGO, July 5—The achieve
ments of American Negroes during
the 75 years since their emancipa
tion were portrayed today at the
first colored “world's fair.’’
Known as the American Negro
Exposition, the fair was formally
opened yesterday when President
Roosevelt pressed a button in Hyde
Park to turn on the lights in the
Chicago Coliseum. The exposition
will run through September 2.
A large reproduction of the Lin
coln tomb and monument at
Springfield, 111., stands in the center
of the principal exhibit hall. The
exposition's art exhibit was said
to be the largest showing of work
by colored artists ever assembled.
Executive Director Truman K.
Gibson. jr„ said a contest to select
“Miss Bronze America"—the colored
counterpart of the Atlantic City
beauty contest—would have its finals
at the exposition August 17.
Among features to which Gibson
pointed with pride were a swing
operetta, an art section with some
250 works of contemporary colored
painters and sculptors and the fact
that exhibits came from all sections
of the country, Africa and the Car
ibbean countries.
Justice Douglas Holds
Courts Democracy Base
By the Associated Press.
FORT WORTH. Tex.. July 5.—As
sociate Supreme Court Justice Doug
las told Texas lawyers yesterday that
many of the hopes of democracy rest
on the effective functioning of the
Nation's legal system.
Speaking at a bar luncheon, he
emphasized the need for continuous
improvement of the legal system,
adding:
“Its responsiveness to change, its
efficiency, its integrity tfill create an
abiding faith m the virtues of the
democratic processes."
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CTHE opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not
necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The
Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its
readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among
themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s.
Washington Observations
Good Neighbor Policy Faces Crucial Test,
Caused by War, at Havana Conference
By FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
Our good neighbor policy faces a
crucial test at Havana this month.
Pressing inter-American problems
churned up by the EuroDean war
are scheduled
for discussion at
the conference
of the 21 sister
republics con
vened by the
United States.
The tentative
program. sub
ject to final re
vision by the
Governing
Board of the
Pan - American
Union today,
contains three
general subjects
—n e U t r a 1 uy, I'redtrie William W'ilp.
protection of the peace of the West
ern Hemisphere and economic co
operation. Each topic bristles with
difficulties and differences of opin
ion. Our own people are fully
cognizant of the hurdles that must
be taken before agreement can be
reached on vital points, but are
going to Havana in hopeful as well
as conciliatory mood. The whole
future of inter-American relations
is involved in what happens there.
Whether democracy is to remain
enthroned on this side of the At
lantic or succumb to a Nazi-Fascist
way of life may be the eventual
result.
* * * *
Absentees.
The conference was projected as
a meeting of foreign ministers of
the American republics. Four of the
principal South American states—
Argentina. Brazil. Chile and Uru
guay—will not be so represented.
Secretary Hull's "opposite numbers"
in Buenos Aires. Rio de Janeiro,
Lima and Montevideo have an
nounced that domestic preoccupa
tions will detain them. But it is
emphasized that their absence w’ll
denote no lack of willingness to
promote the conference’s purnr\'\s.
On the contrary, each republic
without exception voices approval
of the meeting, belief in its necessity
and desire for successful results.
Mr. Hull himself may be the most
distinguished absentee, earnestly as
he wishes to he on hand. Should
war events chain him to his Wash
ington desk, or Democratic National
Convention developments suddenly
clothe him with a new status, the
Tennessean will deputize one or
both of his Latin American aces,
Undersecretary Welles or Assis'ant
Secretary Berle, to act for him at
Havana. Mr. Hull enjoys such
prestige throughout the Americas
that his non-participation would be
highly regrettable.
Chronic Suspicions.
A realistic view compels contem
plation of two important confer
ence factors. One is the suspicion 1
chronically lurking in certain south
ern countries regarding the purity
of the United States' motives. The
other is the known hostility of Ger
man-Italian elements to inter-Amer
ican solidarity. Inspired from Ber
lin and Rome, it is aggressively
nurtured by thousands of agents of
Hitler, and Mussolini resident in the
Latin lands. The Monroe Doctrine
and its implications, despite the al
truistic spirit of good neighborliness
which the Roosevelt administration
has breathed into it. is not uni
versally accepted by statesmen and
peoples beyond the Rio Grande and
the Isthmus of Panama. Some of
these cling to the myth that Mon
roeism is a cloak for "Yankee im
perialism.'’ Our spokesmen en
counter that theory at successive
1 Pan-American conclaves. They will
i run into it again.
* * * *
Totalitarian Intrigue.
Uncle Sam's tribulations on that
ancient score are aggravated now
adays by totalitarian intrigue. The
Nazis do not conceal their inten
tion to throw monkey wrenches
into the Havana machinery. Their
press has already warned Latin
America that the New World will
be made to suffer commercially after
the war. if it does not “co-operate”
with the Reich now. Hitler's own
newspaper, Voelkischer Beobachter,
accuses the United States of incit
ing anti-German "agitation” in
Latin America and “attempting to
form something like an anti-Eu
ropean bloc." It says: “Sensible
Central and South American inter
ests realize that the Latin republics
are dependent on a Europe reor
ganized by Germany for sales pur
poses. The Reich will never for
get where it could count on friends
in the fight against the British op
pressor. and where it met with
malevolence.”
This is a veiled thrust at the Pan
American trading corporation, or
cartel, which the United States pro
poses. The plan is to buy up, pri
marily with our dollars, the surplus
produce of the other Americas, so
as to avoid the necessity of selling it
to the axis powers under conditions
that would disrupt Latin American
economy, enslave it to the totali
tarian system, and perhaps lead to
far-reaching political changes. Hit
ler s notorious ambition is to con
vince our sister republics that their
future lies w’ith Nazi ideology and
not with “outmoded and inefficient
democracy.”
* * * *
Hemisphere Defense.
No less far-reaching than the car
tel scheme is hemisphere defense.
The United States is aware that the
lion s share of protecting the Amer
ican republics from aggression—
•either from Europe or Asia—rests
upon our broad shoulders. There's
no disposition to shirk this respon
sibility. but our delegates at Havana
are likely to seek more concrete
pledges of armed co-operation by
the other Americas than at present
are provided for. We require unre
stricted facilities for military, naval
and air bases and more definite ar
rangements for co-ordination of our
fighting forces with those of the
Latin states in case of need for ac
tion in the Caribbean, Canal Zone.
on eitner the Atlantic or Pacific
side of the continent, or within any
Latin American country threatened
bv invasion or fifth coiumnism. To
what extent the Americas are ready
to absorb European refugees is an
other problem requiring considera
tion. as does the status of Canada
in any hemisphere defense plans.
Havana, in short, presents an ar
ray of thorny issues that will tax
North American diplomacy to the
limit. In the light of past experi
ence. our delegates are destined to
work in an atmosphere infested
with political saboteurs, bent on
wrecking the conference, to Nazi
Fascist advantage.
Three Die in Plane Crash
MONMOUTH. 111., July 5 t/P>.—
Three persons were killed and an
other was injured seriously yester
day when their plane crashed at
the Monmouth Airport. The dead
are Robert McVey, 40, the pilot, co
manager of the airport: Frank M.
Saddler. 50. and Mr. Saddler's 2
year-old son William. Lois Bland,
Bellflower, Mo., was injured.
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I
This Changing World
British-German Peace Declared Possible
If Hitler Makes Reasonable Offer
By CONSTANTINE BROWN.
The denials of the London government concerning peace conver
sations are correct enough, but there are peace talks going on.
Ever since the beginning! of the war—just as was the case before
the outbreak of hostilities—there has been a small but powerful party
in the United Kingdom which believed that all this fight is useless
and harmful to business. Before the war, and up to last December, this
party hau some support within the cabinet.
This group, called the 6 per centers because its members are mostly
bankers and big business men, lost face with the inception of the
Churchill government. Even former Premier Chamberlain, who was
believed to be this group’s “man,” has turned away from them.
But in ;$ite of lack of support within the country’ representatives
of this group are discussing with German business men in Stockholm,
Zurich and Madrid the possibility of stopping the war. Neither the
British nor the Germans have any mandate from their governments,
but if some vague basis for peace pourparlers could be discovered, they
would communicate them to London and Berlin and “something might
happen."
There is no question that Chancellor Hitler and Prime Minister
Churchill are aware of the activities of these mandateless men. But they
ignore them as long as nothing tangible has been devised.
Hitler Prepares for Attack
In the meantime, Hitler is gathering all available air and naval
forces for the final blow against England, while the British are fever
ishly preparing themselves to resist any attempt of the Germans to
invade or destroy the United Kingdom.
The possibility of some sort of Petain government being formed in
Britain is considered in well-informed quarters here as completely out
of the question.
Churchill has many failings. He is too impulsive and has not
always displayed the best of judgment. But he is not the man who
would hoist the white flag. Nor is the weak Mr. Chamberlain capable
of such an action.
Canada and Australia are in full agreement that there can be
no surrender to the Reich. If the worst comes, the King and his
government, accompanied by the entire navy, would come to Canada,
make the nearby Dominion the seat of government, and, continue the
fight from there as long as possible.
This does not preclude, however, the possibility of peace if Hitler
is di-nosed to offer the British something which might save some of
the Empire and most of their face. The British love sports and always
aie willing to shake hands with an opponent who has conquered them
fairly.
If Hitler—and this, for the time being, is unlikely—were to offer
through the intermediaries who are now active some sort of peace
offerings which are not humiliating—as has been the case with the
French it is not out of the question that the British might consider them.
British Prestige Lost in Europe
Grea_5 Britain has lost all possibility of being an influence in Europe.
All the European states are now under Germany's wing Even those
which have not been conquered, like Sweden and Switzerland, expect
to take orders from Berlin and organize their economic and social life
in accordance with Berlin's desires. All they hope for is a nominal
political independence—that is. the avoidance of the Gestapo and the
Gauleiter.
. ^e Balkans, there is not even such a hope. Rumanian has just
formed a strong Nazi government under the leadership of Ion Gigurtu
who all his life has been a sincere devotee of Germany, where he made
his engineering studies. Gigurtu is not a politician and his sincere
0I\, °f,- German strength and power of organization is not
doubted in Berlin.
as a*!n^r, 3?d F9Fei?n Minister Von Ribbentrop do not consider him
as a turncoat—a Nazi because the wind is blowing that wav in fact
the new Rumanian leader is not a Nazi at all. He is merelv stronalv
?hotGRman and honestIy convinced, as he has been for manv years
linirL Sf ,fundan?ental interests-economic and politicai-are
linked with the fate of the Reich.
aniri rned King Caro]; who haa important investments in Gigunu s
fuit mlmng conipames. that unless he turned toward Berlin while
she haH8S tlme 10 do so- Rumania would lose most of the territories
she had acquired after the World War.
thereWuaLr?akeS Gigurtu, aSreable to the Hitler government is the fact
doubt th«?'ni»U' °UnCf non'Aryan bl00d in him. And there is no
respond frS Sn Rumanian leader ™ *»ve a sympathet.c
Pepper Says All Musi
Aid U. S. Defense Plan
By the Associated Press.
MIAMI. Fla., July 5.—Senator
Pepper. Democrat, of Florida de
clared yesterday "we must have uni
versal service in the near future"
as a part of "the most gigantic
preparation campaign in the history
of the world.”
"By universal service,’’ Senator
Pepper said in addressing a patriotic
gathering at the American Legion
Home, “I mean that every man and
woman must offer his service to the
defense of this country-. Some will
be needed in uniform, others in fac
tories, but all must do their part."
The Florida Senator, who has
been emphatic in advocating United
States aid to the Allies, said there
were some men “who don't want to
pay taxes or jeopardize their busi
ness connections—like Henry Ford.”
After referring to Ford's refusal
to manufacture airplane motors for
Great Britain. Pepper declared:
“There will come a time when
big men, just like little boys, will
be made to obey."
JULY
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EISEMAN’S
F STREET AT SEVENTH
Third-Term
Issue Aided
Willkie
But Some Argue
Roosevelt Has
A Way Out
By CHARLES G. ROSS.
It is being said that Mr. Roosevelt
[ has been put ‘‘on the spot” by the
I Republicans’ nomination of Wendell
I Willkie; that if the President now
Charles G. Ross.
oecnnes to run
again he will
convict himself
of being afraid
to go up against
real opposition.
So, it is argued,
the natural re
action of a bel
ligerent and self
confident man is
now joined with
other pressures
to assure a third
term candidacy.
All this, both
the premises and
the conclusion.
may be true. It represents the gen
eral belief at Washington. The Re
publican high command sees Mr.
Roosevelt as the opposition candi
date and is making its plans ac
cordingly. And certainlv the hopes
of the third-termers within the New
Deal—hopes which were on the ebb,
despite all the brave talk to the
contrarv. prior to the Republican
convention — have been increased
commensuratcly with the tremen
dous increase in the bread-and
butter demand on the President
from the ‘'practical" men of the
party machines not to let the party
down.
Still no one knows for certain
what the President will do.
War Helped Willkie Win.
It is not to make any prophecy
that the third-termers will be
proved wrong to suggest that the
"on the spot" argument is too facile.
Another view of the reaction of the
President to the unorthodox nomi
nation of Mr. Willkie by the Repub
lican party is entirely plausible.
Mr. Willkie* unquestionably owes
his nomination in large part to
the Hitler blitzkrieg and its drasti
cally upsetting effect on American
thought. He was seen as the new
man needed to cope with new issues.
He preached “competence" in gov
ernment as a prime essential in the
building up of our armament. There
was a freshness about his approach
to our problems that captured the
imagination of the rank and file of
his party and ended the defeatism
in which the party was becoming
bogged down.
But if Mr. Willkie was the prod
uct of the Hitler aggressions, he
was the product also of Mr. Roose
velt. It is not only Hitler who has
reoriented the thought of the coun
try and paved the way for new men
and new measures: it is also Mr.
Roosevelt. Mr. Roosevelt has been
doing that for the last seven years
Save for the New Deal—or. ‘more
accurately, the forces which brought
j about the New Deal and to which
the New Deal has given emphasis
and direction—the political outsider,
Wendell W'illkie. would not be the
nominee of the Republican partv.
Ihird-Term Threat Aided Willkie.
That is point number one. Num
ber two is that Mr. Roosevelt is
not only indirectly responsible for
Mr. Willkie. through the New Deal,
but is immediately and directly re
sponsible for him. through the
threat of a Roosevelt candidacy for
a third term. If it hadn't been for
that threat. Mr. Willkie surely would
have been blackballed and the nom
ination would have gone to some
long-time and impecably "regular”
member of the inner Republican
club—as it turned out. to Mr. Taft.
Mr. Taft almost got the prize,
anyway. He was deprived of it by
the fact that Mr. Willkie had skill
fully sold himself to the Repub
lican public—and through this pub
lic to the delegates—as the one
man under consideration who would
have a chance to beat Roosevelt. I
doubt if there is any informed per
son who will contend that Mr.
Willkie would have been nominated
if the shadow of Roosevelt hadn't
hung o’ er the Philadelphia con
vention
The reason why he wouldn't have
been nominated without this third
term threat was not his public util
ity connection. In his campaign
ing he had shaken off that liability
—even, perhaps, converted it into
an asset. The reason was the fact
of his Democratic antecedents. That
was the hard pill for the Repub
lican delegates to swallow. Despite
all the soothing sirup administered
by Govs. Stassen and Carr and
Baldwin, and the lesser oolitical
leaders attracted to the ‘Willkie
camp, the convention would have
gr ped on that pill and nominated
a regular Republican wheelhorse if
it hadn't been for the fear of
Roosevelt.
G. O. P. “On the Spot.”
So it is that Roosevelt in a
double sense, as the chief author
of the New' Deal and as a potential
candidate, is responsible for the
nomination of Mr. Willkie.
So it is that Mr. Roosevelt can
fairly argue that he has put the
Republicans on the spot.
One cannot pretend to know what
is in the mind of the President,
but it does not stretch the imagi
nation to conceive that the nom
ination of either Taft or Dewey
would have been the final straw'
required to tilt the scales in favor
of a third-term race. He may have
felt that with either of these men
a candidate, it W'ould be his duty
to run in order to protect, to the
utmost of his strength, the course
he has followed in foreign relations.
Mr. willkie's nomination, on a
platform open to interpretation by
the candidate, would appear to place
no such compulsion on the Presi
dent. Unlike the views of Taft and
Dewey, which have shown a strong
isolationist slant, the views which
Mr. Willkie has expressed on cur
foreign relations have been essen
tially the same as the President's.
Mr. Roosevelt can gracefully take
himself out of the race on the
ground that the nomination of Mr.
Willkie, far from placing him on
the spot, has in fact served one of
his own great objectives; that with
respect to the other objectives, in
the domestic field, the contest
shoujd be free of the complication
of a third-term candidacy.
Something of this sort the Presi
dent might conceivably say. No
prophecy is here intended that he
will say it. The pressure on him to
run again is terrific. I only want
to suggest that the Willkie candi
dacy can plausibly be viewed *a
a deterrent to his running.

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