The Charlotte News
Tuesday, August 21, 1956
THREE EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports from San Francisco that Republicans at their national convention had put forth in their proposed draft platform a campaign pledge to cut taxes for low and middle income families and for small independent businesses, the completed draft of the platform expected to be approved by the convention this date. It also contained a pledge to reduce Government expenditures, to balance the budget and reduce the national debt, as well as a promise of continued study to correct tax inequities. The platform did not indicate how the tax cut would be accomplished and had not been as specific as had the Democrats' pledge in their platform the previous week, to raise the personal income tax exemption from $600 to $800. The proposed Republican platform cautioned that Government economy, no matter how desirable, ought not come at the price of a weakened national defense, on which it pledged to "maintain and improve" the country's air, sea and land power. The text of the entire platform had been released, except for the preamble which the chairman of the platform committee, Senator Prescott Bush of Connecticut, was withholding until he would read it at the convention this date. It revealed the Republican position on Government integrity, national resources and atomic energy, planks on foreign policy, labor, agriculture and civil rights having been previously released. The civil rights plank had achieved a compromise which left both North and South not completely satisfied but produced confidence that they had a party declaration they could "live with", promising continued Federal, state and local efforts to end racial discrimination.
The President headed to San Francisco this date, aboard his private plane, Columbine III. There was no indication whether he would have anything to say publicly or privately about the question of his running mate, but all signs pointed to renomination of Vice-President Nixon. The President smiled as he arrived at the military terminal at Washington National Airport to depart, picking up each of his four grandchildren and kissing them goodbye. To his grandson David, he said, "Hey, where did you get that sweater?" It was bright red. His personal physician, Maj. General Howard Snyder, said that the President was feeling "on top of the world."
Saul Pett of the Associated Press reports that RNC chairman Leonard Hall had begun the convention the previous day by asking, "Is everyone happy?" with the crowd responding loudly, "Yes." He says that it had about concluded debate for the day. San Francisco Mayor George Christopher had welcomed the delegates to the city and Governor Goodwin Knight had welcomed them to California, followed by a parade of 20 Republican Congressional candidates speaking for two minutes each, denouncing Democrats. "The evening session was no less exciting." Actor Wendell Corey was master of ceremonies, introducing "the music and flag demonstrations, and then, with a flourish, as though the crowd had never met him before, he announced, 'Ladies and gentlemen, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Leonard Hall.'" Mr. Hall had come down the ramp, beaming, and as he spoke, he had become an interesting study in self-confidence, talking easily, with his hands in his pockets, providing a gentle sales talk without sweat or strain, speaking of the greatness of the President and the Vice-President, whose pictures, each 10 by 20 feet, hung from one end of the hall alone, without other pictures. Mr. Hall stated, "There is nothing we need say about Adlai Stevenson that Kefauver hasn't already said," with laughing approval from the audience. "There is nothing that we need say about the Stevenson-Kefauver ticket that Harry Truman hasn't already said." A little later, he had indicated that it was a "free and open convention". Governor Arthur Langlie of Washington, the keynote speaker, had presented an interesting contrast to the Democratic convention keynote speaker, Governor Frank Clement of Tennessee, something "like the difference between warm ovaltine and corn liquor." Governor Langlie had received his share of applause but did not set the hall on fire, using none of the thunder and oratorical calisthenics on display with Governor Clement, being more "like a high school history teacher, earnest, neat, orderly." Actress Irene Dunne had read "The President's Prayer", and upon a signal, the large organ at the other end of the hall had begun playing "America, the Beautiful", providing a great crescendo as Ms. Dunne finished. Mr. Hall then made a motion to adjourn and it was so moved. "The delegates left with a quiet gentility—not at all like warriors rushing off to battle."
This date's program would include reports by the credentials, permanent organization, rules and order of business committees, an address by Representative Joseph Martin of Massachusetts, the convention permanent chairman and House Minority Leader, an address by former President Herbert Hoover and addresses by various Republican political leaders.
In Libertyville, Ill., Adlai Stevenson this date accused Governor Langlie of having "shamelessly confused facts and falsehood" in his keynote address the previous night, calling the address "another example of the Administration's smug, self-righteous complacency." He said that the Governor had accused him in 1952 of having run up a large deficit in Illinois while Governor, when he had actually left the state with a large treasury balance without raising general revenue taxes. He said he recalled no apology from Governor Langlie and that the previous night's performance did not enhance his respect for his accuracy. Wearing the faded blue jeans which had become familiar to reporters assigned to his campaign, Mr. Stevenson met with newsmen in the gravel driveway of his home, telling them that he hoped to be able to announce later during the week what he called "the table of organization" for his dawn to midnight campaign, the bulk of which would be done by automobile because of limited finances. The idea of his campaign manager, James Finnegan of Philadelphia, was to provide a campaign press spokesman of sufficient stature in the party to counter White House press secretary James Hagerty, and it was anticipated that he would retain Roger Tubby, his present press secretary, within the organizational setup.
In New Haven, Conn., Ed Sullivan, nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and television personality, had been admitted to a hospital the previous night and was being treated for what was described as "some congestion in the lower right lobe of his lung", a condition which was not serious. The hospital said that his recuperation from a recent automobile accident had been interrupted by an elevation of temperature and he had been transferred from his Southbury home to the hospital, primarily to take advantage of the diagnostic facilities. Mr. Sullivan and three others had been injured in a two-car accident early on August 6 and he had spent nearly two weeks recuperating at another hospital.
In New York, the District Attorney's office this date linked a 23-year old truck loader, charged with homicide in a fatal barroom stabbing, with the acid blinding of labor columnist Victor Riesel. He did not elaborate during an argument over a date for further hearing for the defendant, who had surrendered the previous day. He had been wanted for questioning in the killing of a truck driver, both having been pals of the 22-year old man who had been found murdered and whom the FBI identified as the person who had hurled the acid into Mr. Riesel's face the previous April, killed because some of the acid had splashed on his face leaving a scar and making him suspect. The District Attorney was preparing to obtain a court order to exhume the man's body to confirm the presence of the scarring.
In Fort Carson, Colo., a husky Army mess sergeant said that he was to be court-martialed because he was overweight. Maj. General Thomas Watlington said that a handful of his 8th Infantry Division officers and men had failed to reduce as ordered. The sergeant, a veteran of 12 years in the Army and two wars, said this date that he was one of those men. He was protesting and had asked for a general court-martial rather than the customary summary court-martial, to give him a better opportunity to explain his position. Under the summary court-martial procedure, only one officer heard the arguments, while at least five officers were required in a general court-martial. He said that he weighed 276 pounds when he returned to the country from Germany in October, 1954, and had now reduced to 212. He had been ordered to reduce to 193, but no time limit had been imposed. He said he lost 25 pounds in the six months he had been there and that it was about his limit. He said he was sick as a child and had a nervous breakdown, being careful about strenuous exercise. One week he had not lost any weight and his battery commander ordered him to exercise for two hours daily in the gymnasium. He refused the order because he was afraid of the physical reaction. They had left him alone until the previous month, when the general had issued an order that if a man did not lose the prescribed amount of weight in a four-week period, he would be placed before a board of officers and face a special court-martial. He was told he would probably lose a stripe. He told his battery commander that he had lived through two wars weighing more than he did at present, and the commander said that he appreciated that, but that there was no war at present.
In Chapel Hill, it was reported that, after an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, a Durham man, 36, had been charged with theft of student examination papers from the offices of two UNC political science instructors. The investigation had been requested by University officials who had become suspicious after hearing reports that copies of examination papers were available for a price. The man was charged with breaking into the offices of the two political science instructors and taking the exam papers, with another warrant charging that he had broken into the office of the dean of student affairs and the director of student affairs. A justice of the peace, at a preliminary hearing held on August 16, had found probable cause and ordered him held for action by the Orange County grand jury, releasing him on $7,500 bond put up by his father. A Durham clothier said that the man was a former student at the University. The justice of the peace said that a 25-year old Durham resident, a rising senior at the University, was placed under a $500 bond as a material witness in the case, and that he had testified that he had waited outside while the charged man had entered the offices of the dean of student affairs and director of student affairs, and that the man had come out with both of their student records, that he had examined the records and then returned them to the office. The investigation had begun around August 1, following a conference with the dean of student affairs and the University honor council chairman, as well as the president of the student body. University officials, according to the SBI agent, had become suspicious by the way some examinations were being answered and also by evidence uncovered by the honor council, but indicated that there was no apparent widespread situation, that the officials and honor council had done a good job of ferreting it out.
Emery Wister of The News reports that rain and violent thunderstorms were still in the forecast for the Carolinas, welcome in some places but also being destructive. Heavy showers had brought the green back to parched farms, gardens and yards, but the accompanying lightning had played havoc with power lines and caused some 1,500 reported troubles or cases of service difficulties on Saturday to phone lines.
On the editorial page, "Kilroy and the GOP at San Francisco" finds that there was no reason for the Republicans to be holding a convention during the week, as all conceivable duties of the delegates had already been discharged either by circumstances or by RNC chairman Leonard Hall, the candidates had already been chosen and the platform would come as easily as self-praise. Confidence was abundant and there was no need for speeches or rallies to raise it. It finds that when the convention would conclude, someone could write on the wall, "the GOP was here" and that would tell the story, as convention exploits, like those of Kilroy, would not be worth repeating.
Only the health of the President and the fitness of the Vice-President could possibly be on the minds of the delegates, and no delegate wanted to talk about health and only Harold Stassen and his few friends wanted to inquire as to the fitness of Mr. Nixon for the second spot on the ticket, with it carrying the possibility that he could be elevated to the presidency.
It indicates that the nation, as Adlai Stevenson had said, was "sitting down in the middle of the road, but there was no surface indication that it wants to accept his invitation to 'get up' and move on." The country had come a long road through the Roosevelt revolution and two wars. Four years earlier, the voters had indicated their desire to rest for a time, and nothing had disturbed that mood since, not even the implication of the President's illnesses or of the three times when Secretary of State Dulles had brought the country to the brink of war.
The Republicans wanted to make sure that nothing would disturb the nation, that the President was their best candidate, sick or well, and the subject of Mr. Nixon could not be broached without involving the distasteful matter of the President's illnesses. Thus, there would be no discussion of candidates and they would be nominated by acclamation, with the delegates participating primarily in the tourist trade of San Francisco. It finds that lack of discussion to be good political sense.
The platform drafters would also engage in good political sense if they did what the Democrats had refrained from doing at their convention, endorsing the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The Republicans felt little of the sectional pressure which had forced the Democrats to adopt a middle ground on that issue and they would be wise to take advantage of the opportunity to attract some minority votes which the Democrats had forfeited by their compromise. But it remained to be seen whether the drafters of the Republican platform could rise above politics on that greatest of domestic issues. It suggests in conclusion that the party would do well to stick to generalities which would make up the rest of the platform.
"Public Sentiment Is EVERYTHING" finds that the loudest "ohs and ahs" had been generated at the Republican convention from the "traditionalist, or tinhorn, school of American politicians", who could not get used to the idea of using barrage balloons and dancing girls to sell issues and candidates. It had been the case that some judicious vote buying here and there and a soapbox oration had been enough to deliver some 2,000 votes, but no longer.
When Republican strategists quoted Abraham Lincoln as having said "public sentiment is everything", they meant everything, such that the ward heeler was being replaced by the barrage balloon and something called "merchandising-in-depth". There was a special room in San Francisco which translated what the latter phrase meant into buttons which said "I Like Ike" in Chinese, and included blinker bowties which lit up to say "Ike", Ike parasols, rubber elephants with trunks which unrolled and waved tiny American flags, elephant toys for infant Ike supporters, "Stick With Ike" matchboxes which stuck to one's shirt or dress, men's socks with elephants on them and "I Like Ike" stockings for women, "Bikes for Ike" and a "Handy Dandy Kit" for decorating Republican campaign headquarters.
Almost overnight, campaigning had become supersonic, more than a little tawdry and Pavlovian. It shudders to think that the future ward heeler might turn up dressed in Gina Lollobrigida's circus tights, riding a mechanical elephant, and carrying a little dog named Checkers. It finds the only comforting note about the convention being the slogan department, with the words over the speaker's platform being "Peace" and "Prosperity", which was the same slogan the Federalists had used in 1796 when Vice-President John Adams was elected President. It finds that some things never changed.
"The 'Chaos' Had a Healthy Note" tells of the press photographer for the newspaper having gone into a local voting precinct to take a picture of voter registration, but there had been no rush found, reflecting the problem of voter apathy in 1956.
Some misinformation had been published regarding registration deadlines, producing confusion, disorder and overwork, with the Elections Office having been jammed as a result. But it showed that there were many citizens of the community who did care enough about the right to participate in elections for public officials such that they were frightened that they would not be allowed to register.
It warns, however, that procrastination was a wretched vice, especially when it involved democratic processes. It clarifies that there were two important elections in the immediate future, one being the September 8 statewide referendum on the amendment to the State Constitution regarding public schools, and the other being November 6, the date of the general election. It then provides the procedure for registering to vote, indicating the deadline for registration for the September election as the following Saturday, with additional time to register for the general election.
Drew Pearson, in San Francisco, provides the inside story of how the Vice-President had accomplished the political miracle of getting his longtime rival, Senator William Knowland of California, to take his side in the feud with Harold Stassen. There were few men in the Republican Party who had more natural antipathy for each other than Mr. Nixon and Senator Knowland, the latter having followed a steady conservative, plodding course, while the former, in contrast, had a meteoric rise in politics from Congressman in 1947 through 1951, then as Senator for two years and finally Vice-President since 1953. Mr. Nixon had been conservative to conservatives and liberal to liberals. He had once been something of an isolationist but was now an internationalist.
The two young Senators had nearly reached the breaking point when Senator Knowland, in 1952, had refused the offer of the vice-presidency from the late Senator Taft in return for swinging the potent California delegation to him, remaining loyal to Governor Earl Warren, who had appointed him to the Senate. Mr. Pearson suggests that probably Senator Knowland would at present be president had he yielded to temptation, but he had not. But the opportunist, Mr. Nixon, had, seeking to swing the California delegation and failing. But Governor Thomas Dewey, who handled the Eisenhower strategy in 1952, had gone through with his pledge to Mr. Nixon anyway. Since that point, Mr. Nixon had not improved his relations with Senator Knowland by acting as official spokesman for the President in the Senate, where Senator Knowland was the Minority Leader. There were reports during the battle over Senator McCarthy that Mr. Nixon was maneuvering to replace Senator Knowland as leader.
But now, the two men had made up, until Senator Knowland was the best ally of Mr. Nixon in the battle with Mr. Stassen. It was partly because Senator Knowland, as a conservative, did not care for Mr. Stassen, believing him too liberal and that he might use his influence to obtain recognition for Communist China.
But there had also been an important secret deal whereby Mr. Nixon had promised to let Senator Knowland play a major role in foreign policy into the future, promising that he would be consulted and listened to more and that when and if Mr. Nixon were to become president, Mr. Knowland would be appointed secretary of state.
Governor Christian Herter of Massachusetts, whom Mr. Stassen had wanted to substitute on the ticket for Mr. Nixon, had been bowing to Mr. Nixon during the controversy, wanting to play a much larger role in foreign policy, his forte when he had served in the House. When Mr. Stassen had approached him about running for the vice-presidency, Governor Herter had initially agreed. But when RNC chairman Leonard Hall had phoned him, he persuaded him not to cooperate, an easy task, as Mr. Herter lacked political courage and also wanted a post inside the Administration, and had been promised one—eventually, replacing Secretary of State Dulles at his death in 1959 after being appointed as Undersecretary at the start of the second term in early 1957.
It was a recognized fact in diplomatic circles that Herbert Hoover, Jr., had been a disappointment as Undersecretary of State, without sufficient background in foreign policy, leading him to make such honest and naïve statements as, "I don't know a thing about Cyprus, I've got to bone up on it." The Near East had been supposedly his area of expertise, but it was now near the exploding point, and Mr. Hoover had been among those who had fallen for the charm of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, had thrown the diplomatic eggs of the country into his basket, and had also allowed Greece to get out of hand regarding Cyprus. Mr. Pearson therefore ventures that Mr. Hoover would retire sometime in the following year and be replaced by Mr. Herter, and that the latter would eventually replace Mr. Dulles as Secretary. He notes that it left the Republicans with two prospective secretaries, resulting from Mr. Nixon's determination to remain as Vice-President.
Mr. Nixon had come to San Francisco about two weeks early to begin mending political fences and had considerable mending to do within the California delegation because about half of it had been in sympathy with the anti-Nixon Governor Knight.
Joseph & Stewart Alsop, in San Francisco, find that the Republican convention had been planned to resemble a commercial television program selling popular products, "peace, prosperity and Eisenhower." It appeared there would be none of the open maneuvering and disagreement which made more normal conventions pleasurable and educational. Yet, there was some marching and counter-marching behind the well-staged scenes, among which, the most interesting was the march of former Governor Thomas Dewey at the head of the nominating procession for Vice-President Nixon, an ironic scene, as Mr. Nixon's greatest political strength lay in the wing of the party which had once been loyal to the late Senator Robert Taft, loving Mr. Nixon for the enemies he had made, as they disliked the type of Republicans who disliked Mr. Nixon, those who had also most disliked Senator Taft.
The Alsops suggest that the White House might have given more consideration to alternative vice-presidential candidates had Mr. Nixon not possessed that basic Taft support, as any plan to dump him would surely have produced a row with that whole wing of the party, which the President and his team were always anxious to avoid at any cost. Yet, the former Taft supporters would not gain any increased influence within the party through Mr. Nixon's renomination. Rather it would be the man whom the former Taft supporters loathed above all others, former Governor Dewey.
When the President had suffered his heart attack the prior September 24, Mr. Dewey had been the one man outside the White House entourage who was capable of raising a standard for other Republicans to rally around, and if he had decided that the President's impaired health required the nomination of a different running mate, he could easily have gotten the formidable backing in the press and the party organization which could never be won by either Harold Stassen or Governor Goodwin Knight. But instead of raising an anti-Nixon campaign, Mr. Dewey had astutely done the opposite.
Mr. Nixon's close friend and adviser, Assistant Attorney General William Rogers—future Attorney General during President Eisenhower's second term and future Secretary of State during President Nixon's first term—, had always been an important link between Mr. Nixon and Mr. Dewey. The two men had a lot in common, both in character and outlook, and Mr. Dewey had come to like and respect Mr. Nixon long before the President's illness. In addition, as a practical matter, opposing Mr. Nixon would have been a tough fight in which the role the President would have played was not foreseeable and could be decisive, while backing Mr. Nixon was a sure thing, making Mr. Nixon a practical shoo-in for renomination with his additional support from the Taft wing of the party. Thus, Mr. Dewey had let it be known from the outset that he was joining in support of Mr. Nixon for the ticket.
That support placed Mr. Nixon under heavy obligation, which he was quick to acknowledge. Then, Mr. Stassen came along with his dump-Nixon movement, which had turned out to be nothing more than an enormous present for Mr. Dewey, in effect creating just enough commotion so that Mr. Nixon felt the need of active rather than passive help, which Mr. Dewey was quick to oblige. He had traveled to Washington to confer with Mr. Nixon and Mr. Rogers, as well with the President, and then made a second trip to see the President, taking his place at the head of the procession for Mr. Nixon by issuing a statement following his meeting with the President.
They venture that it was reasonable to guess that the tough-minded Mr. Dewey also had something to do with the real clincher for Mr. Nixon, that being the announcement of Governor Christian Herter of Massachusetts that he would not only make the nominating speech for Mr. Nixon but would also refuse to permit his name to come before the convention for the vice-presidency, after Mr. Stassen had promoted him as the substitute candidate. Governor Herter had talked with chief of staff Sherman Adams, who said that he would make the nominating speech for Mr. Nixon.
But after Mr. Dewey came onto the scene, there were indications that Governor Herter had not gone far enough, and soon he had taken the final step of publicly indicating that he would not allow his name to be placed in nomination.
"Altogether, if we ever have a Nixon administration, Dewey's influence is likely to be even greater than it is today."
Mr. Dewey would live through the first two years of the Nixon Administration, 1969-71, and he was a frequent White House visitor and adviser to the new President, whom he had greatly helped become Vice-President in 1952. One columnist, Richard Wilson, promoted the idea of Mr. Nixon appointing Mr. Dewey as the new Chief Justice to succeed retiring Chief Earl Warren, after the filibustered to death nomination during the summer of 1968 of Justice Abe Fortas, appointed by President Johnson as the successor Chief after Chief Justice Warren had announced his retirement in June of that year, to avoid the prospect of Mr. Nixon being able to appoint his successor. Apparently, President Nixon offered or at least floated the idea of the appointment to Mr. Dewey but he declined because of his age. As Mr. Dewey in his later years had recommended repeal of the Fifth Amendment, it would have been doubtful that he could have survived very long the confirmation process of a Democratically-controlled Senate, especially after the controversies of the previous year. Moreover, Mr. Dewey never appeared eager to re-emerge from private life after retiring from politics following his last term as Governor of New York in 1955, having been the failed Republican presidential nominee twice, in 1944 and 1948. The idea of his appointment likely derived from the precedent of Charles Evans Hughes, who had resigned as Justice in 1916 to be the Republican nominee for the presidency, losing narrowly to incumbent President Woodrow Wilson, and then was appointed Chief by President Hoover in 1930 at the death of Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who had been appointed by President Harding in 1921 after President Taft's failed bid for re-election in 1912 in a three-way race with Governor Wilson and Bull Moose candidate, former President Theodore Roosevelt.
A letter writer finds that Charlotte and some of its dedicated people had been responsible for the conception of the basic plan which had been applied nationally to awaken the country from what had been described as the "deepest apathy" in decades. As the author of the plan, he indicates that its details had been mailed to editors, broadcasters and executives in all media by the American Heritage Foundation, sponsor and coordinating agency for the 1956 Non-Partisan Register and Vote Campaign, and by the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters. He describes the plan as involving neighborliness, calling for the creation of a steering committee consisting of the heads of four important organizations, the League of Women Voters, the Jaycees, the American Legion or the Advertising Club, for example. The steering committee would assemble the heads of important representatives of every civic organization in the community. Materials would be provided to those organization leaders, enabling them to educate their members as to their civic responsibilities. Every member of each organization was expected to work among neighbors in a given block, making sure that every eligible voter registered and, on election day, voted. He thanks various people who had helped improve upon his plan. He had found that when he visited New York, unlike 1952, when many communities had been organized for a vote campaign as early as May, none had been organized in 1956. He thus conceived of the plan, which was put into operation in Charlotte to obtain 2,300 voter registrations, becoming the first community in the nation to adopt it.
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