Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-19
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. C. NJ.

Two Near Presidents. Charles Will
lis Thompson. The Bobbs-Merrill
Co.
A clear blend of privilege profit and
pleasure waits upon any one who here
sits down beside Charles Willis Thomp-
son to listen while he brings back his
personal recollections and impressions
of one after another of the Presidents
between Mckinley and Hoover.
A 30-year stretch is covered by this
body of "reminiscences. At the far end
of this line IL is not hard to see youth
full reporter whose natural bent turns
him early upon the absorbing subject
OF politics. A thoroughgoing young
fellow this must have been. For, OBJ
viously he was not content to trail the
quadrennial furore of presidential cam
paigns In their not altogether ennobling
aspects OF enlightenment and persuasion.
To be sure, he did this campaign serv-
Ice. along with the rest of his craft.
That was the job at stated periods.
Did 1t so well, too, that he became
political correspondent at Washington
for papers OF metropolitan significance
and power. But he studied politics
thoroughly for the essence Of this ma
tional medium of leadership, studied
the opposing parties for the special
purpose and aim of each in relation to
the common need and well-being. He
must have done just about this, for in
the course of wide experience Charles
Willis Thompson became one of the
wise men In political affairs. Here is
man seasoned by experience to clarity
OF observation, to analytical acumen. to
cnirtf nf ut vel hin t~
Of opinion.
One learns just this about the man
by listening in here. In a kind of play-
time spirit. this writer Of political i'm
portances recalls for us the Presidents
with whom he and other news men we're
associated during the storm and stress
periods of campaign activities, during
the subsequent years of administrative
Office. 1t is in this free turning back
ward that the nature and spirit of
Charles Thompson come into the wide
open, giving a special illumination to
the real substance of this renewal of
earlier political experiences. A franker
study could not be imagined than this
one is. Such full disclosure is the first
striking effect of these recollections.
There is here. however. a proper dis
tinction between frankness and the
slurring abuse that so often takes its
place. A case in point Is that of the
popular writer who, disappointed at the
defeat OF his party, designated the new
President of the United States as
Boob! This the sum of his contribu-
ton to the body of current political
thought Or that other one who deliv-
cred himself to the effect that "that
man in the White House is 100 per cent
wooden"
No, no, 1t is not In the nature nor in
the intelligence of Charles Thompson to
serve that brand of frankness to the
public. Instead, out of the facts and
situations themselves does he make
wise and mellow restudy of the leaders
that live within his own acquaintance.
within his own immediate journalistic
experience. BY way of this resurvey
we ourselves review certain known facts
about one or another Of these Through
this better resetting of material we
gather new views by way of which we
correct earlier impressions A new light
is shed not only upon these men them
selves, but upon the subject Of politics
as well.
startling disclosure? All of that,
certainly. Indeed, bit of shock
comes now and then out OF this nearer
approach to the leaders of the Nation.
Not for minute does Charles Thomp-
son dodge the issue upon which he is so
clearly headed. Yet, never once. no
matter how severely he may jostle a
cherished tradition at this point or that
one, is there in the revelation any SEM
blance of narrow partisan bitterness.
There the leader is. You can scan his
behavior for yourself. You can probe
into his nature on your own account
You can add and subtract among his
doings for your own conclusions. I'm
derstand-the material for such per-
sonal investigation is no hearsay, no
rumor, no make-believe. Here is au-
thentic stuff. gathered through imme-
diate eyeSight and actual hearing.
through a prompt deduction while the
affairs were still In operation. And
well, the effect is truly an establishment.
Yet, 1t should not be, for these are
human reactions to certain situations.
And, by and large, the subjects of this
study are In debt to this honest and
astute observer, to this most entertain
ing and convincing reporter of their
ambitions and their public service.
Everybody wants to write book. But
an all-seeing and kindly Providence
takes the matter In hand for the happi-
ness of the majority. The next best
thing to writing book is to find one
tnat gives a reader the sense of COL
laborating with the author, agreeing
here. questioning there. approving gem
you see, the substance
OF the matter is familiar to this reader.
He Is in a position to accept or reject.
Here is that kind of book It's scope Is
within the memory of the most of us.
It's freshness lies in the authors vision
and mode of treatment. Let us stop a
minute beside the last chapter in this
book. the last subject of Study-Calvin
Coolidge. We know him, so we are pre-
pared not only to read. but to check up,
on that author. At once q surprise re-
specting Mr.. Coolidge leaps out in chal-
lenge to the common thought. The sur
prise runs to the effect that, except for
Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge is the
finest master of letters to occupy the
White House. In proof the author
quotes:
do the days work. If it be to pro-
tect the rights of the weak, whoever
objects, do 1t. II 1t be to help power
full corporation better to serve the peo-
pie, whatever be the opposition. do that.
Expect to be called a standpatter, but
cont be standpatter. Expect to be
called a demagogue, but don't be
demagogue. Don't hesitate to be as
revolutionary as science. Don't hesitate
to be as reactionary as the multiplica-
ton table. Don't expect to build up the
weak by pulling down the strong"
And once more:
No man was ever meanly born.
About his cradle is the wondrous
miracle of life. He may descend into
the depths. he may live in infamy and
perish miserably. but he is born great.
Men build monuments above the graves
OF their heroes to mark the end Of
great life, but women seek out the
and build their shrine, not
where a great life had its end but
where it had its beginning, seeking with
a tr1fnr instinct NOT tba copop,or cOllrrp