Nogales international., 1928-06-26
NEW YORK EDITOR
UNUSUAL TYPE
FOR POST OF
CHAIRMAN

HOUSTON, June 25 Omitted
Press) "A slight man drawn from
the anonymity of an editorial
writer's office and the quiet of
scholars study tomorrow steps in
to the spotlight of national pol
itical convention and the publicity
of thousands of loud speakers to
sound the battle cry of the DEM
ocrats for the Presidential Cam
paign.
Claude G Bowers, once an In
diana editor and candidate for
! Congress, now an editorial writer
on the New York Evening World
is a phenomenon among keynoters
i for national conventions. Usually
the political parties choose for
their temporary chairman, to make
F! the keynote speech of national
convention, man who is in the
thick of the political fray, most
frequently a man holding public
office.
| But Claude G.. Bowers has not
participated actively in political
campaign for eleven years, since
he left his post as secretary to
Senator John Worth Kern of In
kdiana. He was defeated in race
for Congress IA years ago, but
today leads off the biggest battle
his party has faced for years.
Women Started 1t
! The women Of the party may be
said to have started it. Since Bow
ers left active political life, he
i has devoted much of his time to
research into the history and prin-
ciples of his party. Out of his
! study, he wrote two books, "Par-
tty Battles of the Jackson PERIOD"
snd "1effMA5M nd FEamilton," in
! which he revitalized those two cru
cial periods in the history of the
Democratic party and their part
| in the history of the country. The
women of the party promptly
adopted those volumes as textbooks
i in their campaign schools.
| Somebody who had been arous-
| ed to enthusiasm by these books
suggested that Bowers be asked to
/. speak at the Jackson Day dinner
/ in Washington this spring, when
the Democrats, torn asunder by
the Madison Square Garden dis
aster four years ago, attempted
the difficult job of reuniting the
sundered party in a Harmony"
fest.
| Bowers did the job. A few of
those who bought tickets to the
dinner knew when they saw his
name on the program that he had
written some books about Jackson
and Jefferson, those two patron
saints of the party.
!; Stirred Audience
i, AS Will Rogers said when he
addressed the same dinner, "The
rest of the speakers might as we'll
have stayed at home" Bowers in
a few minutes of rapid and vigor-
Gus speaking made his hearers for
/ get that AL Smith and William G.
McAdoo had ever had any unpleas-
antness in New York, and stirred
a fairly blase audience of season
ed politicians into an unprecedent
ed enthusiasm for the principles
of Jefferson and the fighting spirit
of Jackson.
The question Of who would be
chosen to "point with pride and
view with alarm" II the national
/ Democratic convention was settled
that night, by acclamation.
They had not expected the writ
er to be an orator. They did not
know then that he had won an
oratorical contest back in high
school in Indiana; that he had
fought many Democratic battles as
editor of the Fort Wayne Journal
Gazette, that he had been a can
didate for Congress.
Bowers is not quite SO years
old. He has born in Indiana, and
has been in newspaper work all
his life except for the dozen or so
years in politics.