The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1934-05-07

newspaper ana also Tie local ucWS VI
spontaneous origin published herein
All rights Of republication Of all other
matter herein are also reserved.
A Party's Ruins!
President Hoovers regime probably
brought the Republican party to as
low an ebb as any of its titular heads
in the political annals were guilty Of.
Even the bitter Roosevelt schism
did not scourge the party organiza-
ton as severely as did the politically
weak and inept Hoover administra-
ton.
OF course, Herbert Hoover was an
unfortunate choice for the presidency.
like" Hoover, in his memoirs Of the
White House, said that Calvin Cool
idge was bitterly disappointed that
he was not drafted in 1928. His
delphic reply to inquiring newshawks
at Rapid City, 8. D., Il do not choose
to rum" was taken literally by the
party leaders. The draft Coolidge"
movement at Kansas City fell flat.
The famous White House usher was
Of tho firm conviction that Coolidge
left public service disappointed over
the turn Of the political wheel Of
fortune.
Be that as it may. tho Republican
party in 1928 had as candidate for
the presidency one who had allowed
his name to 60 into the Democratic
presidential primaries in Michigan
and who, for a time at least. did not
know whether he was . Republican
or q Democrat. The war rescued him
from the oblivion Of q quiet London
suburb where he lived the easy life
of an English gentleman. During the
whole Wilson administration. while
not actually tagged or classified po-
litically, Hoover was associated In the
public mind, at least, as Democrat.
He was watching political develop
ments closely with both eyes on the
White House and finally, at the
dramatic finish OF the Wilsonian era,
Hoover cast his lot with the Repub-
licans. President Harding, under
pressure, reluctantly gave Hoover Q
portfolio in his cabinet of best
minds"
This sketchy background OF the
political career Of Mr.. Hoover can
hardly be challenged. During al his
service under the Republican ban
ners, Hoover never was trusted great
~ or much sought after by the po-
litical leaders. He was not . poll
tician, disliked most of the common
political expedients and strategy, and
cast about himself an impenetrable
reserve which chilled the buoyant and
breezy completes of the boys who de-
liver the votes on the firing line. To
the back-slappers and hand-pumpers
Hoover was cold fish who cast q
frost over the whole political parade.
In such an atmosphere, then, the
Republican party organization went
from bad to worse. Hoover was q
technical expert. His mind and poll
cies leaned toward blueprints and the
laboratory. OF his ability. patriotism
and idealism there can be no ques-
ton, but of such attributes strong
party lines are not always formed In
these days Of the direct primaries.
Hoover delivered the party organiza-
ton to group Of men who knew not
the "hot and greasy citizens" Most
OF Hoover,s advisers were dignified
and decorous professors, brain trust
If you please, Of rather exclusive
clan whose ideas were attuned per-
fectly with Hoover's. Members Of the
Hoover brain trust and the Roosevelt
PROFESSIONAL clique might all belong to
the same college fraternities and wear
identical scholarship keys, but there
the similarity abruptly ends. The
Hoover brain trust and the Rooee-
yeltian variety are ct the antipodes-
they are adherents Of decidedly DIFF
ferent political philosophers.
Anyone interested can ascertain. u
he will. that Hoover had . brain
trust in his regime as well as Roose.
welt. although It's members were mol
as vocal or articulate q those Of thu
president. The Hoover brain trust
belonged TO the Bourbon variety
while the effervesoent personalities
about Mr.. Roosevelt are Of the cru
sading type-reformers, 8 II were
and always In motion. evidently from
the sheer delight Of the sensation.
In several issues Of The Congress.
sional Record Of the Hoover era. on
can find reference to HooverS col
lege professors BY leaders Of the Dem.
ocratic party. Il was . common O.
currence In the halls Of congress fol
q Democrat to arise aud say sarcas.
tically, I'VE suppose. II We give Pred'
dent Hoover this new commission, b.
viii I'LL 1t with professors from Le.
land Stanford q the University o
California" That became . stool
joke Of the minority during 81 Of tn
Hoover regime. but thsre was ~