Evening star., 1936-07-19
Face-Lifting for
the Candidates
BY OVEN L. SCOTT.

ing changes In personal style designed to
attract and to hold voters.
There now is assurance that the IA
nous Roosevelt smile will be less heavily
worked during the next four months.
A Landon smile that promises to become
equally famous will MI the gap.
President Roosevelt, seeking reelection,
will strive for q different effect than he
did four years ago when first campaign
ing for the Office. Then he was gay.
even Ight-hearted. as he sought to buoy
the spirit of a people looking for some
daShing new figure to lead them to VIC
tory over the depression.
Today he finds 1t necessary to over
come an impression that, as President,
he is too daring, too ready to dash from
one venture to another without counting
the cost.
So as q candidate, Mr.. Roosevelt al
ready is displaying serious mien and q
fighting quality, in rather sharp contrast
to his earlier attitude. There Is more
evidence Of q jutting jaw and less Of
q Smile-wreathed face, even though the
latter will continue to have its place.
The fact is that the Roosevelt smile.
and some other New Deal smiles. had
become an actual embarrassment through
frequent use.
It reached the point where the Presi-
dent could make almost no important
observation in his bi-weekly press con-
ferences without having some writer say
that he had leaned back in his chair
and laughed heartily while making
known his views.
Just the other day one commentator
had him in particularly jovial mood
when discussing the effect Of the drought
on the country's food supply. The inn
preston seemed to be that Mr.. Roose-
yelt thought he had put over a good one
on Mother Nature. Actually, the Presi-
dents attitude was anything but jocular
during that conference.
But there has grown tendency to pie
ture him as reacting with broad smile
or laugh to every reverse for himself
or for the country. Out Of that ten
dency developed the story Of presidential
laughing fits and irresponsibility on his
part-a story which Mr.. Roosevelt felt
important enough to scotch some months
ago by taking notice Of it.
Last January another New Deal smile
caused trouble.
Then it was that q photographer
caught Henry Wallace, Secretary Of Agri-
culture, and Chester Davis, A. A. A.
administrator. smiling broadly at a con-
ference called to figure a way out of the
situation caused by the Supreme Court
upset of the Agricultural Adjustment
Administration. Farmers, looking at the
picture, received the impression that OH
cials took the decision as a joke.
They let their reaction be known and
Mr. Wallace decided that 1t was neceS-
sary at that time to explain over the
radio that the smiles did not grow out
of the Supreme Court decision.
President Roosevelt's problem is pretty
much the same. He has to let the public
know that he does not accept everything
that happens as joke.
The problem of Candidate Landon is
different.
People have had little opportunity to
become acquainted with his personality.
His smile is an attractive feature Of that
personality and shows him as a like
able friendly individual But 1t Is OBJ
vious at the same time that Mr.. Landon
is not one to overdo laughing and rather
is a chuckler. Few individuals would
think of him as irresponsible.
His misStepS in the matter OF person.
ality display may be of different sort
Until now he has followed the method
of former President Calvin Coolidge. who
was ready to assume almost any pose for
a photographer. The former President
even was not averSe to redoing scenes
for photographers if the weather did not
happen to be right for the best picture.
Once, when taking trip up mountain
in the Black Hills, he got out Of horse
drawn wagon, at a photographer sug-
gestion. and helped the horse by pushing
at the wheels while cameras clicked.
Candidate Landon has obliged in much
the same way. For time the public
had reason to wonder whether he ever
wore a collar and necktie and whether
he would be at home in ordinary shoes
after such a long experience with high
laced boots.
But the Republican nominee Is rapidly
adjusting himself to the publicity prob
lens that crowd in on an individual
whose personality becomes q subject Of
sudden national interest.
A new uncertainty concerns the radio.
Mr.. Landon's voice in conversation is
pleasant enough. but on the radio and
in the moving pictures it records some
what harshly. Two steps are being taken
to overcome what might otherwise be-
come disadvantage. One is to cultivate
the rasp out of his voice before it is
widely used. as 1t is to be this next week.
The other is to emphasize that the Re-
publican candidate does not pose as a
radio artist, but rather Is a practical
business man offering the country COM
mon sense and experience rather than
grooming.
The President finds himself with an
unusually fine radio voice, but with
counter effort by his opponents to con-
vince people that there is something
blameworthy about any person possess
ing such voice.
Mr.. Roosevelt's tone qualities on the
radio rival those Of the best announcers.
There isn't much he can do about that
fact because there is only recording of
his natural voice. This endowment can
only be set down as special advantage
in this day of radio campaigning.
The contrast between the candidates
Is even more striking out on the stump.
Nominee Landon has won his political
success through personal contacts with
small groups Of voters. His method Of
campaigning called for much travelling
and frequent stops to chat with individual
farmers or groups Of people. He would
get acquainted, swap conversation and