We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2009
When historians come to assess the Eisenhower era they will ponder the fact that for the first time in American history a popular president was faced with an opposition Congress for six out of his eight years in office. Unquestionably, they will attribute part of this phenomenon to the fact that the President was stronger than his party. But they will also have to contend with the lack of divisive issues on Capitol Hill. This juxtaposition which has persisted so long dates from the G.O.P. revival of the later 1930's. This resurgence in turn brought about an alliance between Northern Republicans and Southern Democrats which explains so much about recent American politics. It is the purpose of the present study to investigate the causes of the Republican upsurge which once more made the Party a force of respectable opposition and laid the groundwork for its restoration to full power in 1952.
1 Lubell, Samuel, Revolt of the Moderates (New York, 1956), p. 71Google Scholar. Roosevelt received 60.2% of the popular vote, slightly under that of Harding in 1920. He received 523 electoral votes as compared to Landon's 8. The popular vote was 27,478,945 to 16,674,665.
2 Chicago Times, January 1, 1939 in Thomas E. Dewey Scrapbooks, XXIII, Thomas E. Dewey MSS. (hereafter cited as Dewey Scrapbooks), University of Rochester Library.
3 Frank Knox to Mrs. Frank Knox, December 10, 1936. Frank Knox MSS., Library of Congress.
4 See Lamb, Karl A., Republican Strategy and the Congressional Election of 1938 (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Brasenose College, Oxford University, Michelmas Term, 1957), ch. 2Google Scholar for an analysis of Landon's strategy The Nation, CXLIII (11. 14, 1936), 564Google Scholar, pointed out that Landon's Kansas supporters tried to out-New Deal the New Deal, especially in promising farm bounties.
5 Stone, Irving, They Also Ran (Garden City, New York, 1943), pp. 306, 309, 312Google Scholar.
6 Thomas, Norman to Marshall, C. G., Managing Editor, U.S. News, 11 12, 1936. Norman Thomas MSS., New York Public LibraryGoogle Scholar.
7 New York Times, November 5, 1936.
8 Ickes, Harold L., The Secret Diary of Harold L. I ekes (2 vols., New York, 1954), II, 5Google Scholar.
9 Emporia, (Kansas) Daily Gazette, 11 4, 1936Google Scholar.
10 New YorkDaily Worker, 11 4, 1936Google Scholar.
11 New YorkHerald Tribune, 11 7, 1936Google Scholar.
12 Rocky Mt. News (Denver), 11 13, 1936Google Scholar. A week earlier, Lippmann termed the election a normal American landslide and compared the Democrats to the G.O.P. in 1896 and 1920 (ClevelandPlain Dealer, 11 5, 1936Google Scholar).
13 Vandenberg, Arthur H., “How Dead Is the G. O. P. ?,” Saturday Evening Post, CCIX (02 27, 1937), 14–15, 89–92Google Scholar. He went on to note that great parties (like generals) rarely die, sinking perhaps to a dangerous pulse, but usually reviving. He felt that a lack of electoral votes belied the “political vitality” of the G.O.P. at the grass roots.
14 New York Times, November 8, 1936; Christian Science Monitor (hereafter CSM), November 5, 1936.
15 New York Times, November 4, December 9, 1936.
16 BostonHerald, 11 12, 1936Google Scholar; Hartford (Conn.) Courant, 11 6, 1936Google Scholar.
17 Clapper, Raymond, Watching the World (New York, 1944), p. 150Google Scholar.
18 New YorkWorld Telegram, 11 6, 1936Google Scholar; Thompson, Charles Willis, “What the Election Teaches”, The Commonweal, XXV (12 4, 1936), 152–153Google Scholar; Vandenberg, loc. cit.
19 Proceedings, Republican National Committee (Meeting, 12 17, 1936, Chicago)Google Scholar, Library Research and Editorial Division, Republican National Headquarters, Washington, D. C. (hereafter cited as Proceedings or other title, b Rep. Nat. Com.); New York Times, January 17, 1937, April 19, 20, 1938.
20 Charles L. McNary, “Republicanism — Its Future”, CSM “Magazine Section,” April 27, 1938 in Charles L. McNary MSS., Library of Congress. See also Taft, Charles P., You and I — and Roosevelt (New York, 1936), pp. 106–7Google Scholar. House Minority Leader Bertrand Snell summarized what could be considered the G.O.P. program: elimination of monopolistic business practices, balance the budget through an elimination of wasteful expenditures, provide honest relief, return the control of finances to Congress, improve the social security system, liberalize governmental assistance to farmers, end child labor, revise the NLRA, and limit the Federal bureaucracy. Congressional Record, LXXXIII. Pt. 18, 75 Cong., 3 sess. (06 18, 1938)Google Scholar.
21 Lincoln, (Neb.) Star, 12 23, 1937Google Scholar in George L. Norris Scrapbooks. George L. Norris MSS., Library of Congress.
22 WashingtonStar, 05 16, 1938Google Scholar in McNary MSS.; U. S. Guyer (Rep., Kansas) to William A. White, November 24, 1936. W. A. White MSS., Library of Congress. Arthur Krock described the Republican Concurrent Resolution (sponsored by Senators Vandenberg and Townsend and Representatives Reed and Jenkins) improving social security as an interesting experiment designed to organize and demonstrate effective opposition techniques and serve as an aid to legislation rather than the usual hamstringing. New York Times, February 3, 1937.
23 New York Times, October 1, December 16, 1937.
24 Gifford Pinchot to Amos Pinchot, December 7, 1937. Gifford Pinchot MSS., Library of Congress.
25 Moines, DesRegister, 11 6, 1936Google Scholar.
28 Brogan, Denis W., “The Future of the Republican Party”, Political Quarterly (London), VIII (1937), 180–193Google Scholar. The BostonHerald (11 12, 1936)Google Scholar hoped that the G.O.P. would not confuse conservatism with static obstructionism.
27 Gifford Pinchot Diary, January 20, 1937. Pinchot MSS. Pinchot felt that the 1936 Election showed the “little man” what his power actually was. Pinchot to Landon, January 12, 1937, Pinchot to W. A. White, March 18, 1937. Ibid. Pinchot also referred to the G.O.P. leadership as “badly asphyxiated by the poison gas of concentrated wealth.” New York Times, November 23, 1936. Landon believed that the G.O.P. should be composed of conservative and liberal Republicans. Landon to Pinchot, January 8, 1937. Pinchot MSS. It should be noted that W. A. White withheld official and warm public support from Landon because of the latter 's Old Guard connections. White to T. J. Sullivan, Los Angeles, California, July 1, 1937. White MSS. In the spring of 1936, Hoover stated that if William R. Hearst became a Landon adviser, he would become alienated and predicted that no Republican could withstand the resultant Democratic bombardment. Herbert Hoover to W. A. White, April 14, 1936.
28 Newsweek, VIII (12 26, 1938), 15Google Scholar.
29 William E. Borah to R. O. Tufts, San Francisco Young Republicans' Business Manager, May 6, 1938; Borah to Mrs. In a Skillman, Waterloo, Iowa, May 6, 1938. Borah MSS., Library of Congress.
30 Congressional Record, LXXXI, pt. 10, 75 Cong., 1 sess. (06 10, 1937)Google Scholar, app., 1832; ibid., LXXXII, pt. 3, 75 Cong., 2 sess. (Dec. 6, 1937), 301–2; see Literary Digest, CXXIV (12 18, 1937), 8Google Scholar for a series of reactions.
31 Congressional Record, LXXXI, pt. 9, 75 Cong., 1 sess., app., 331–333; ibid., pt. 10, app., 2126–2127.
32 “Pinchot for Governor” State Committee release, April 25, 1938. Pinchot MSS. An example of Hamilton's concern for youth was his establishment of a national monthly, The Young Republican.
33 Fortune, XV (04, 1937), 112, 185Google Scholar; Cantril, Hadley and Strunk, Mildred, eds., Public Opinion, 1935–1946 (Princeton, New Jersey, 1951), pp. 749–750Google Scholar.
34 Interview with Mr. Edwin F. Jaeckle, Buffalo, New York, November 6, 1957.
35 New York Times, May 15, 1937; February 26, 1938.
36 Ibid., February 28, 1938. See also Republican Record, I (04 12, August 28, 1937)Google Scholar; New York Times, April 26, 27, 1937; Rep. Nat. Comm., Press Release, April 26, 1937; Interview with Mr. John D. M. Hamilton, Philadelphia, Penn., August 21, 1958. Hamilton established The Republican Record and later Republican Progress Letters to promote intraparty communication. Hamilton even journeyed to London in 1937 to study the organization and techniques of the Conservative Party. His two-week stay resulted in a mimeographed publication, Memorandum on English Conservative Party Organization and was intended to serve as a guide to G.O.P. revival efforts. On Hamilton's contributions, see Lamb, Karl A., “John Hamilton and the Revitalization of the Republican Party, 1936–1940”, Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters, XLV (1960), 233–250Google Scholar.
37 Krock, Arthur, “Roosevelt Shapes The Line-Up for 1940,” New York Times Magazine, 10 24, 1937Google Scholar. Hoover, Herbert, “The Crisis and The Political Parties,” Atlantic Monthly, CLX (09, 1937), 257–268Google Scholar; New York Times, October 15, 24; November 1, 1937. Landon opposed the Mid-Term parley on the ground that no clear-cut policy definition could affect local issues, that party leaders did not necessarily represent party sentiment, and that a majority of G.O.P. Congressmen were opposed to it. (Ibid., October 13, 14, 1937). Pinchot saw defeat in a Convention if the call came from the Old Guard. Pinchot to Landon, January 5, 1937. Pinchot MSS.
38 San FranciscoExaminer, 11 1, 1937Google Scholar; Milwaukee, Journal, 11 4, 1937Google Scholar.
39 Ickes, , op. cit., II, 364Google Scholar.
40 SeeWoolf, S. J., “Dr. Frank Scans America's Political Horizons,” New York Times Magazine, 05 15, 1938Google Scholar; Frank, Glenn, The Problem of the Republican Program Committee (Stamford, Conn., Overbrook Press, 1938Google Scholar, address before the first meeting of the Committee, Chicago, February 23, 1938).
41 The Nation, CXLVII (08 13, 1938), 138Google Scholar. The Committee could not accomplish its purposes in time for the 1938 election, a fact that pleased Congressional leaders worried over any possible embarrassment. The story of what happened to the Frank report after it did appear in 1940 is beyond the scope of this paper. In creating the committee, the Party recognized its traditional weaknesses and the results showed that the weaknesses persisted.
42 Clapper, , op. cit., p. 149Google Scholar. In fact, one Congressman called his party the Progressive Republican Party, Congressional Record, LXXXI, pt. 1, 75 Cong., 1 sess. (01 26, 1937), 463Google Scholar.
43 HartfordCourant, 11 1, 1937Google Scholar; AtlantaConstitution, 11 30, 1937Google Scholar; Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, 11 5, 1937Google Scholar; ChicagoTribune, 11 5, 1937Google Scholar; ClevelandPlain Dealer, 11 13, 1937Google Scholar.
44 New YorkHerald Tribune, 11 3, 1937Google Scholar; BostonHerald, 11 7, 1937Google Scholar.
45 The LaGuardia Manuscripts contain many letters of inquiry by voters as to the Mayor's real political beliefs. One recalled that in 1933 he gave every indication he would co-operate with the G.O.P. but noted a later “indifference” and “contemptuous behavior”. A possible “subterranean” arrangement with Tammany was also mentioned. William Ziegler, Jr., to “Fellow Republican,” August 12, 1937. LaGuardia MSS., Municipal Archives and Records Center, New York City. Another writer urged the Mayor to grant him a favor — to let him vote for LaGuardia's re-election on the G.O.P. ticket. Robert McG. Marsh to LaGuardia, July 15, 1937. Ibid. Some wondered how the Party could swallow its pride after LaGuardia supported the Democrats in 1936. Even a Democrat was better than a “turn coat!” Richard S. Childs to LaGuardia, November 4, 1936. Ibid. LaGuardia stood squarely in the liberal camp. In a letter to Minnesota Governor Elmer Benson's appeal for support, he stated that he was watching with keen interest the fight Benson was waging against illiberal forces. LaGuardia to Benson, November 5, 1938. Ibid. So liberal was he that the San Francisco Examiner (November 8, 1937) felt LaGuardia to b e Roose-velt's successor in 1940, hence ruling him out from G.O.P. considerations. F.D.R. to LaGuardia, August 27, 1937. LaGuardia MSS. Interview with John D. M. Hamilton, August 21, 1958.
46 White, W. A. to Edmundson, Charles, St. LouisPost Dispatch, 08 30, 1937Google Scholar. White MSS.; Alvin G. Bohm, Edwardsville, III., to LaGuardia, November 19, 1937. LaGuardia MSS. BurlingtonFree Press, 11 6, 1937Google Scholar; CSM, November 5, 1937. In an interview with John D. M. Hamilton (August 21, 1958), he told the author that White was for t he man he last wrote about! White was to admit to Hamilton that the Little Flower had become a cactus in his pants!
47 LaGuardia to Louis Hollander, Chairman Kings County American Labor Party, October 5, 1938. LaGuardia MSS.; Milwaukee, Journal, 11 14, 1937Google Scholar; AtlantaConstitution, 11 4, 1937Google Scholar; PhiladelphiaEvening Bulletin, 11 14, 1937Google Scholar; ClevelandNews, 11 3, 1937Google Scholar and WashingtonStar, 11 4, 1937Google Scholar, the last two cited from Dewey Scrapbooks, X.
48 New OrleansTimes-Picayune, 11 2, 1937Google Scholar; BostonHerald, 11 5, 1937Google Scholar.
49 Burns, James M., Roosevelt: The Lion And The Fox (New York, 1956)Google Scholar.
50 Address by Smith to Liberty League, January 25, 1936; Carnegie Hall Speech to National Coalition of American Women, October 1, 1936; Philadelphia Speech to Rally of Old-Line Constitutional Democrats, October 8, 1936 in Alfred E. Smith MSS., New York Historical Society. Smith was even invited to represent the G.O.P. point of view at a forum to be held at Vassar College. Frances Lasker to Smith, October 18, 1936. Ibid.; Statement, November 3, 1936. Ibid.
51 Congressional Record, LXXXIII, pt. 9, 75 Cong., 3 sess., app., 440. (Address of Frank, , “The Nation and the Republican Party”, 01 29, 1938)Google Scholar; New York Times, January 30, 1938.
52 Thomas Mack, Washington, D. C. to W. A. White, November 16, 1936. White MSS.; see also Preston Moore, Houston Texas to Franklin D. Roosevelt (hereafter FDR), January 19, 1939. Roosevelt Official File 300 (hereafter FDR OF [Number]). FDR MSS., F. D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park. For an example of a letter from a disaffected Democrat, see Frank J. Wilkins to W. E. Borah, September 17, 1938. Borah MSS.
53 G. Pinchot Diary, January 3, 1937. Pinchot MSS.; G. Pinchot to A. M. Landon, January 5, 1937. Ibid.
54 Edward Alexander, Cleveland, Ohio, to Raymond Clapper, January 30, 1936. Clapper MSS., Library of Congress. Julius E. Ives, Union League Club of Chicago to Charles E. Hughes, November 2, 1936. Hughes MSS., Library of Congress. Amos Pinchot to G. Pinchot, April 14, 1938. G. Pinchot MSS.
55 Tugwell, Rexford G., The Democratic Roosevelt (Garden City, 1957). pp. 441, 458–469Google Scholar.
56 The Bill was sent to Congress on February 5, 1937 and was defeated on July 22 when it was committed t o the Senate Judiciary Committee. See Congressional Record, LXXXIII, pt. 1, 75 Cong., 1 sess., 874 for the recommendations of the Senate Committee. Roper, Elmo B., You and Your Leaders, 1936–1956 (New York, 1957), p. 31Google Scholar reported that in January, 1937, 44% of the people were unconvinced that the Court stood in opposition to their will. In October, the figure increased to 52%.
For statements in support of FDR, see: address of C. A. Beard over N.B.C, radio network, March 29, 1937, President's Personal File 3847 (hereafter referred to as F DR P PF [Number]; Harold J. Laski to M. A. LeHand, January 11, 1936. FDR P PF 3014; Gov. Fred P. Cone (Florida) to FDR, August 19, 1937. FDR PPF 4735; Rep. R. M. Duncan (Mo.) to FDR, March 30, 1937. FDR PPF 4511; R. G. Tugwell to FDR, August 26, 1937. FDR PPF 564, all in FDR MSS.; Norman Thomas to Arlene Conzelman, North Platte, Neb., November 3, 1937. Thomas MSS.; “American Born Citizen” to C. E. Hughes, February 17, 1937. Hughes MSS.
57 New York Times, February 13, April 11, May 6, 16, 1937.
58 Ibid., September 26, 1937; Interview with Mr. John D. M. Hamilton, August 21, 1958.
59 Bean, Louis H., How To Predict Elections (New York, 1948), pp. 26, 193Google Scholar; New York Times, April 18, 1938; Cantril, , op. cit., pp. 62–63Google Scholar; Tugwell, , op. cit., p. 444Google Scholar.
60 Hamilton's radio address, September 18, 1937. Rep. Nat. Comm. Press Release; New York Times, September 22, 1937.
61 Rauch, Basil, The History of the New Deal, 1933–1938 (New York, 1944), p. 318Google Scholar. Targets of the purge included “Cotton” Ed Smith (S. C ), Walter George (Georgia), Millard Tydings (Maryland), and John J. O'Connor (New York). ClevelandPlain Dealer, 10 4, 1938Google Scholar; Roosevelt Press Conferences, September 2, 1938, XII, 71, FDR Scrapbooks, Group 39, No. 26. FDR MSS.; New York Times, September 3, 1938. FDR, for example, crossed party lines supporting Benson who sought re-election in Minnesota on the Farm-Labor Ticket. FDR Scrapbooks, Group 39, No. 27. FDR MSS.; New York Herald Tribune, November 4, 1938.
62 Tugwell, , op. cit., p. 469Google Scholar; Roper, , op. cit., p. 33Google Scholar, reported in January, 1939, that 47% of the people approved the renomination of the “purged” senators.
63 Kansas CityStar, 09 8, 18, 1938Google Scholar.
64 Judge Henry Ellenbogen, Pittsburgh, Pa. to FDR, September 16, 1938. FDR PPF 1586. FDR MSS.; Address, September 26, 1938, Edwin F. Jaeckle MSS., University of Rochester Library; Hiram W. Johnson to Charles L. McNary, September 7, 1938. McNary MSS.; George Gallup, “Is The Country's Political Lineup Shifting?”, New York Times Magazine, November 6, 1938; New York Times, September 25, 1938. FDR's only success was the defeat of O'Connor of New York.
65 The Republican National Committee advised of a poll that indicated a G.O.P. gain of at least sixty in the House. In May, another census showed that if the elections were held then, the Republicans would have won the largest bloc of seats since 1930.
66 Time, XXIX, Pt. II (04 19, 1937), 18Google Scholar; Rep. Nat. Comm. Press Release, April 23, 1938; New York Times, March 6, May 8, June 12, July 7, 1938; Release of Rep. Nat. Comm., August 8, 1938 in “California, 1938” file, Clapper MSS.
67 New York Times, August 27, 28, 29, 10938. Life, V (09 12, 1938), 36Google Scholar reported only 4,500 chickens and 40,000 clams but did agree on the cornon-the-cob!
68 Charles McNary to H. W. Johnson, August 31, 1938. NcNary MSS.; Life, V (10 17, 1938), 11–17Google Scholar; SpringfieldDaily Republican, 10 26, 1938Google Scholar.
69 Dewey Scrapbooks, editorials (hereafter cited as “e”), XX, XXI.
70 Farley, James A., James Farley's Story, The Roosevelt Years (New York, 1948), p. 48Google Scholar.
71 PhiladelphiaEvening Bulletin, 11 9, 1938Google Scholar; Thompson, Dorothy in WashingtonPost, 11 9, 1938Google Scholar.
In the Senatorial vote in 27 states exclusive of the Solid South, the G.O.P. polled 48.4% of the vote, carrying 11 states and securing better than 45% in 5 others. For the House, the Republicans polled 50.7% as opposed to 43.6% in 1936, gaining ground in 35 states. Republicans were re-elected to 89 seats held by the G.O.P. plus 81 additional ones. All 89 Representatives re-elected increased their margin over the 1936 figures. In gubernatorial contests, the Republicans carried 18 states and in 5 others, polled 45% or better of the vote. Spectacular gains were made in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, and Rhode Island. The Party controlled half the legislatures in 24 states and both houses in 19 others. Twenty-one states with 221 electoral votes were unquestionably in the G.O.P. camp. Report on 1938 Election Results, an analysis of the November 8, 1938 Elections Compiled by Research Division, Rep. Nat. Comm.; see also, Martin, Marion E., “Significance of the 1938 Election Results,” The Woman Republican (pub. by N. Y. S. Republican Women, Inc.), XV (12, 1938), 12–14.Google Scholar
72 Leo M. Mitchell, Chm., Iron County Dem. Party, Stambaugh, Mich., to Farley, December 12, 1938. FDR OF 300. FDR MSS. Many letters in this file allude to similar influences.
73 Article, October 12, 1938, in “Ohio, 1938” file. Clapper MSS.
74 James Farley's Story, …, op. cit., p. 149.
75 Detroit, Free Press, 11 12, 1938Google Scholar.
76 Bart E. McGonigle to Farley, January 3, 1939; A. K. Torgerson & C. U. Landrum, Lake Park, Minn., to Farley, December 17, 1938; W. W. Jones, Glearwater County, Gonvick, Minn., to Farley, January 7, 1939 all in FDR OF 300. FDR MSS.; New OrleansTimes-Picayune, 11 10, 1938Google Scholar; Draft of November 15, 1938 column in “Minnesota, 1938” file. Clapper MSS.
77 Lubell, , Revolt, p. 168Google Scholar; in The Future of American Politics, p. 145, Lubell asserts that the heaviest G.O.P. gains occurred where the collapse of the Progressive and Farm-Labor elements boosted the Republican vote; MinneapolisJournal, 11 10, 11, 1938Google Scholar.
78 “Iowa, 1938” file, November 9, 1938. Clapper MSS.
79 Ickes to Gov. Frank Murphy, November 1, 10, 1938. Ickes MSS.; Detroit, Free Press, 11 10, 1938Google Scholar.
80 Reisman, Bernard A., Republican Resurgence in the Prairie States, 1936–1940 (Unpublished M. A. Thesis, University of Buffalo, 1950)Google Scholar. FDR was so confused by the Kansas situation (so he said) that he appealed to William A. White to let him know any information available, sending it on via his secretary or by verbal word through a trusted intermediary! F.D.R. to White, June 8, 1938. White MSS.
81 SpringfieldDaily Republican, 10 5, 1938Google Scholar.
82 George C. Ebbert to Ickes, November 11, 1938. Ickes MSS. The Old Guard upstate New York group was outmaneuvered and it was the urban forces which nominated Dewey. See Morris, Harry W., The Republicans In The Minority Role, 1933–1938 (Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of Iowa, 1960), pp. 262–263Google Scholar. For an analys is of this and other local contests, see, pp. 257–280.
83 See, for example, Robert L. Ramsey, Wellsburg, W. Va. to Farley, December 9, 1938. FDR OF 300. FDR MSS.
84 New YorkWorld Telegram, 11 11, 1938Google Scholar; Mrs. Cortis D. Stringer, Lebanon, Ohio, to Farley, January 19, 1939. FDR OF 300. FDR MSS.; Telegram to E. F. Jaeckle, December 16, 1937. Jaeckle MSS.
85 Letter to Farley, November 21, 1938. FDR OF 300. FDR MSS.; New York Times, October 29, 1938; LaGuardia to William S. Murray, October 20, 1938. LaGuardia MSS.
86 Cantril, , op. cit., p. 137Google Scholar. F.D.R., in responding to a question at a press conference whether W.P.A. workers were being given jobs in shipyards if they voted Republican, answered that every effort was being made to prevent mixing politics with relief. (Roosevelt Press Conferences, XII, November 4, 1938, 207–208. FDR MSS.) A Bronx politician asserted that Democrats lost New York City by 200,000 votes because of the W.P.A. scandals. (Nathan Friedman to Farley, January 23, 1939. FDR OF 300. Ibid.); Jerome A. Paul, Colorado to Farley, December 23, 1938. Ibid.; Current History, XLIX (November, 1938), 9; New York Times, November 3, 1938; Rep. Nat. Comm. Press Release, November 3, 1938.
87 L. E. Linnan, Algona, Iowa, to Farley, December 30, 1938. FDR OF 300. FDR MSS.; EmporiaDaily Gazette, 09 27, 1938Google Scholar; Henry Dworshak to W. E. Borah, October 31, 1938. Borah MSS.
88 CSM, November 10, 1938; The Wichita (Kansas) Eagle (11 10, 1938)Google Scholar felt that curtailment of wheat acreage with cash payments was unpopular.
89 New York Times, August 15, December 18, 1937.
90 Interview with Mr. John D. M. Hamilton, August 21, 1958.
91 Rep. Nat. Comm. Press Release, September 21, 1938 (Hamilton's speech of September 22 at Sterling, Illinois).
92 J. Joseph Boyle, Cayuga County, New York to Farley, December 13, 1938. FDR O F 300. FDR MSS.; see also Mathew J. Murphy, Niagara County, New York to Farley, December 12, 1938. Ibid.
93 Tugwell, , op. cit., pp. 449, 450, 460, 478Google Scholar.
94 John T. Adams, Iowa to W. E. Borah, May 21, 1936 in “Borah for President” file. Borah MSS.; Borah to Adams, May 28, 1936. Ibid.
95 Adler, Selig, The Isolationist Impulse, Its Twentieth Century Reaction (New York, 1957), p. 267Google Scholar; this was denied by Moley in his After 7 Years (New York, 1939), p. 376Google Scholar. As early as March, 1937, Frank Knox wrote former Secretary of Treasury Ogden L. Mills that if the domestic situation worsened, F.D.R. had some “cockeyed scheme” for a world conference on peace to divert attention. Knox to Mills, March 22, 1937, Mills MSS., Library of Congress. And in February, 1939, Senator Taft accused Roosevelt of the same diversionary tactics. Rep. Nat. Comm. Press Release, Feb. 11, 1939, speech over N.B.G. radio, Feb. 12, 1939.
96 ClevelandPlain Dealer, 10 17, 1938Google Scholar.
97 WashingtonPost, 11 9, 1938Google Scholar.
98 Newsweek, XII (11 14, 1938), 12–14Google Scholar. Chairman Hamilton attempted unsuccessfully to interest his party in using isolationist sentiment and the danger of war as campaign arguments. Lamb, , op. cit., pp. 9–10Google Scholar. Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota, in a C.B.S. radio address on September 24, 1938, asserted that it was the duty of the opposition party to prevent our being led to war. Rep. Nat. Comm. Press Releases, September 23, 1938. The New York Times (August 15, 1938) reported that The League of Women Voters campaigned for the consideration of such items of foreign policy as war debts and revision of the Neutrality Act.
89 Lubell, , Future …, p. 231Google Scholar. Lubell has written that economic conservatives and isolationists helped in the G.O.P. gain, conservative southern Democrats and New England Republicans supporting a strong foreign policy against the Axis as opposed to the liberal but isolationist western Democrats and Republicans.
100 WashingtonPost, 11 11, 1938Google Scholar.
101 ChicagoTribune, 11 10, 1938Google Scholar; CSM, November 9, 1938; San FranciscoExaminer, 11 12, 1938Google Scholar; ClevelandPlain Dealer, 11 12, 1938Google Scholar; BaltimoreSun, 11 13, 1938Google Scholar; New York Times, November 10, 1938; Clapper, Raymond, “Return of the Two-Party System,” Current Hist., XLIX (12, 1938), 13–15Google Scholar.
102 Mabel W. Willebrandt to FDR, September 3, 1938. FDR PPF 1986. FDR MSS.; “Coasting,” Saturday Evening Post, CCXI (12 10, 1938), 22, 97Google Scholar; Salina, (Kansas) Journal, 11 11, 1938Google Scholar in Ickes Scrapbook, XXVI. Ickes MSS.
103 New York Times, December 1, 1938; see Life, V (12 12, 1938), 22Google Scholar; New Republic LXXXXVII (12 14, 1938), 157Google Scholar; Aubrey E. Taylor to Ickes, November 30, 1938. Ickes MSS. Hastings had been the only senator to defend the Liberty League in Congress (April 20, 1936).
104 EmporiaDaily Gazette, September 16, 12 2, 1938Google Scholar.
105 The Nation, CXLVII (12 10, 1938), 606Google Scholar.
105 Saturday Evening Post, CCX (03 19, 1938), 22Google Scholar.
107 “Issues of the Campaign: Two Views,” CSM, October 5, 1938 (Views of Farley and Hamilton). All the well-worn clichés and stereotypes came out of hiding. For example, voters were reputedly fed up with New Deal “excesses” and quackery, liberal expenditures, and friendship with radicals. Newly elected Robert A. Taft also criticized Democratic experimentation, direct relief to lowincome groups, government regulatory measures, and such activities as T.V.A. Congressional Record, LXXXIV, part 12, 76 Congress, 1 sess., app., 1355–1356 (03 18, 1939)Google Scholar; H. D. Kissinger, Kansas City, Mo. to Harold F. Ickes, November 11, 1938. Ickes MSS.
108 FDR to Mrs. Tracy Dows, Rhinebeck, New York, November 12, 1938. FDR PPF 5638. FDR MSS.; Roosevelt, Elliott, ed., Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Personal Letters (2 Vols., New York, 1950), II, 741Google Scholar; FDR cited Curley of Massachusetts, Quinn and O'Hara of Rhode Island, Cross of Connecticut, and Hague of New Jersey as Democrats the Party could well do without. Ibid., II, 827.
109 Lubell, , Future …, p. 13Google Scholar; The United States News, VI (11 14, 1938), 1Google Scholar; PhiladelphiaEvening Bulletin, 11 10, 1938Google Scholar; Life, V (11 21, 1938), 15–17Google Scholar.
110 BaltimoreSun, 11 20, 1938Google Scholar; ChicagoTribune, 11 13, 1938Google Scholar; New YorkWorld Telegram, 11 10, 1938Google Scholar.
111 Carter, Boake in San FranciscoExaminer, 11 10, 1938Google Scholar; EmporiaDaily Gazette, 11 3, 1937Google Scholar; Roper, , op. cit., p. 34Google Scholar; Robert Dahne, Iosco County, Whittemore, Michigan, to Farley, December 8, 1938. FDR OF 300. FDR MSS.
112 Thomas F. Ford to FDR, July 19, 1937; FDR to Ford, July 20, 1937. FDR PPF 2627. FDR MSS.; FDR to George W. Norris, August 20, 1938. FDR PPF 880. Ibid.
113 Article, October 29, 1938 in “Kansas, 1938” file, Clapper MSS.; Augusta (Maine) Daily Kennebee Journal, November 10, 1938; PhiladelphiaEvening Bulletin, 11 11, 1938Google Scholar; C. L. McNary, “Republicanism — Its Future”, loc. cit. As proof that the post-1938 G.O.P. was the party of progress, its views on child labor, minimum wages, governmental and business activities, tax revision, and the Hatch Act were cited. Congressional Record, LXXIV, part 14, 76. Cong., 1 sess. (08 5, 1939)Google Scholar, app., 4105; Ibid. (August 5, 1939), app., 3968–3969, 4140; Ibid., part 11 (March 9, 1939), app., 929. Remarks of Reps. Leonard Hall, New York, George H. Bender, Ohio, and Noah M. Mason, Illinois.
114 Edwin J. Jaeckle to William S. Murray, November 18, 1938. Jaeckle MSS.; Alf M. Landon to Norman Thomas, June 2, 1938, Thomas MSS.; Barton, Bruce, “After Roosevelt — What?”, Colliers, CIII (01 21, 1939), 12–13, 35–36Google Scholar; Aiken, George D., “Pushing the Elephant,” CSM Magazine, 01 4, 1939Google Scholar; New YorkWorld Telegram, 11 16, 1938Google Scholar.
115 New OrleansTimes-Picayune, 11 9, 1938Google Scholar; Newsweek, XIII (03 27, 1939), 52Google Scholar.
116 The Nation, CXLVIII (05 6, 1939), 520–523Google Scholar; Clapper's column, September 20, 1938, Clapper MSS.; Clapper's, column, 10 1, 1938 in WashingtonNews, October 1, 1938Google Scholar; New YorkWorld Telegram, 10 15, 1938Google Scholar; EmporiaDaily Gazette, September 30, 10 25, 1938Google Scholar; Theodore Roosevelt to W. A. White, November 14, 1938, White MSS.; Release, October 16, 1938 in Jaeckle MSS.; BrooklynEagle, 03 5, 1939Google Scholar in Dewey Scrapbooks (e), XXII; ChicagoJournal of Commerce, 11 10, 1938Google Scholar in Ibid., XXI; New YorkPost, 10 27, 1938Google Scholar in Ibid., XX.
Editorial headlines from various newspapers in the Dewey Scrapbooks (e), XIX include: “A Young Champion”, “Grooming Dewey”, “Dewey Becomes New White House Hope of GOP”, “A New Leader for A New Party”. As of November 27, 1938, Dr. Gallup reported Dewey out in front of Vandenberg and Taft for the 1940 bid. WashingtonPost, 11 27, 1938Google Scholar. An Albany, New York lawyer urged LaGuardia to support Dewey predicting that he in turn would be strengthened among upstate Republicans and admonished that no matter how “big” anyone was, he could afford to follow! William E. Woolard to LaGuardia, October 7, 1938. LaGuardia MSS. However, Ernest K. Lindley spoke for the skeptics when he asked whether Dewey stood in the conservative or liberal camp. Lindley reminded the people that Dewey‘apos;s availability ought to be considered in the light of his refusal to strike sharply at the New Deal. Knoxville, (Tenn.) Journal, 11 8, 1938Google Scholar in Dewey Scrapbooks (e), XX; New YorkSun, 11 11, 1938Google Scholar.
117 While Dewey was perhaps the one most widely acclaimed, others certainly were 1940 contenders. Arthur H. Vandenberg, party war horse in Congress, was at the top of most people's lists according to the polls! Robert A. Taft, an intelligent conservative, was also a possibility. Bruce Barton's 1937 victory also put him in the front rank. A businessman doing a tour of civic duty, Barton was hailed as the “right” kind of Republican. Rockland, (Maine) Gazette, 05 31, 1938Google Scholar; Congressional Record, LXXXIV, part 13, 76 Cong., 1 sess., app., 2701; Guy H. Lagroe, New Haven, Conn, to William E. Borah, November 18, 1937, Borah MSS.; S. J. Woolf, loc. cit.; HartfordCourant, 11 4, 1937Google Scholar; New York Times, February 12, 1938; Newsweek, XII (07 11, 1938), 14–15Google Scholar; Look, II (09 13, 1938), 13Google Scholar. From the author's analysis of the press, other names mentioned less often were: Governor Aiken, Senator Henry C. Lodge (called a moderate conservative and like Dewey a “comer”), Representative Joseph Martin, and John Lord O'Brien. Even Al Smith and Herbert Hoover received some publicity albeit in the latter instance, most was unfavorable. One story had it that as usual Hoover committed a faux pas, picking an evening to speak against the President when the world anxiously listened to European broadcasts for news of peace or war. “Three Redheads” were described as men to watch within the G.O.P.: Glenn Frank, John Hamilton, and Bruce Barton, men pictured as doing whatever thinking was being done within the party. Other politicians who were subjects of stories were Frank Knox, Alf Landon, Styles Bridges, Hamilton Fish, Harold Stassen, and Charles McNary. See Bell, John B., “A Republican Looks Ahead”, (Aiken), North Amer. Rev., CCXLVI (1938–1939), 317–324Google Scholar; Alsop, Joseph and Kintner, Robert, “Republican With a Bite” (Lodge), Sat. Evening Post, CCXI (07 20, 1938), 8–9, 49–50, 52Google Scholar; Louisville, (Ky.) Courier, 10 2, 1938Google Scholar; “Redheads to the Rescue”, Colliers, CII (09 3, 1938), 58Google Scholar; ed. from Affairs Magazine (July 14, 1939) cited in Congressional Record, LXXXIV, part 14, 76 Cong., 1 sess., app.,3315.
118 ClevelandPlain Dealer, 11 10, 1938Google Scholar.
119 New York Times, December 7, 1937; November 10, 1938.
120 Danbury, (Conn.) News-Times, 11 11, 1938Google Scholar in Ickes Scrapbook, XXVI, Ickes MSS.; Kansas CityStar, 10 29, 1938Google Scholar; Lippmann, Walter in ClevelandPlain Dealer, 10 25, 1938Google Scholar; “Return of the Two-Party System”, Current Hist. (December, 1938) in Clapper MSS. Clapper pointed out that Dewey, Barton, and Simpson were not liberals in the F.D.R. sense but were more progressive than the old-timers, operating more like English Tories who could see the wisdom in giving a little to save any at all (Clapper's column, September 20, 1938); Harold B. Johnson to Alf Landon, October 10, 1938, Landon MSS. quoted in Morris, Harry, op. cit., p. 263Google Scholar.
121 Clugston, W. G., “Landon Charts A Course For The Republicans”, New York Times Magazine, 08 7, 1938Google Scholar: “You Can't Go Back”, ed., Colliers, CII (11 12, 1938), 74Google Scholar; Lindley, Ernest K. in WashingtonPost, 11 6, 1938Google Scholar.
122 New York Times, November 4, 11, 1938. Secretary Wallace felt just the opposite, that the New Deal went down to a resounding defeat. Walter Lippmann felt that if the Republican opposition had been ineffective, there would not have been such general agreement on so many measures and hence such laws as C.C.C., S.E.C. and T.V.A. received little comment during the campaign. (ClevelandPlain Dealer, 11 8, 1938Google Scholar).
123 Interview with Mr. John D. M. Hamilton, August 21, 1958. Mr. Hamilton asserted that the Old Guard Republicans were the heart and soul of the Party.
124 Johnson, Hugh in New YorkWorld Telegram, 11 10, 1938Google Scholar; Thomas P. McCoy, Providence, R. I., to Farley, December 16, 1938. FDR OF 300. FDR MSS.
125 William A. White to Henry A. Wallace, November 15, 1938, White MSS.; New York Times, November 29, 1938.
126 Stromberg, Roland, Republicanism Reappraised (Washington, 1952), p. 55Google Scholar. According to Arthur Krock of the New York Times Washington Bureau, the Second New Deal failed to solve the unemployment problem and to restore a normal economy. He felt that its controversial nature, especially with regard to the government reorganization program, the Court plan, and labor's “special privileges” accounted for the Republican victory. (Letter to author, April 7, 1958.)
127 Key, V. O. Jr, Politics, Parties, and Pressure Groups (4th Ed., New York, 1958), p. 615Google Scholar.
128 Interview with Governor Thomas E. Dewey, December 27, 1957; Letter from Commentator Lowell Thomas to author, April 8, 1958; Letter from Cousins, Norman, Editor, Saturday Review to author, 05 9, 1958Google Scholar.
129 Letter from Commentator Ned Brooks to author, April 16, 1958.
130 Letter from Lindley, Ernest K., Newsweek Magazine to author, 04 10, 1958Google Scholar.
131 Adler, Selig, “The Congressional Election of 1918”, South Atlantic Quarterly, XXXVI (10, 1937), 447–465Google Scholar.
132 William A. White to Henry A. Wallace, November 15, 1938. White MSS.
133 Letter from Governor Alf M. Landon to author, July 14, 1958.
134 Stretton, A. P., Republican Reveille (New York, 1940), pp. 11–12Google Scholar.
