Evening star., 1938-08-22
I Wanted to Be President
-Bv ALFRED M. LANDON

y ~
y The Republican candidate for tue
presidency in 1896, further enforc-
ing his statement that he pould not
accept the nomination "in the re-
mote contingency" !. Dds offered to
him in 1910, presents here, in the
second OF series of four daily ar
aticles, his impressions OF his losing
tight and the lessons he learned
in 1t. -
TOPEKA, Kans., Aug. 22.-Over-
night the Cleveland convention had
made me the leader Of our party and
the commander in chief Of the battle
for our cause. I found that it. was
not enough to say that the Republican
party had been shot to pieces. 1t had
been shot to slivers. Its one-time
battalions of trained workers, scat
tered and nursing their wounds, had
lost spirit and cohesion. The party
organization was in worse state than
had anticipated, inevitably so, and
distressingly so.
We faced an unprecedentedly
powerful machine, flushed with VIC
tory, intrenched in the old offices in
augmentation with the new it had
created. In spite Of corrupt prac-
tees acts, we had new form of po-
litical bribery, not less and often more
effective than If the bribe takers had
been conscious they we're its accom-
piices-helpless accomplices in their
dependence upon Federal relief meas
ures.
1t required no modesty on my part,
only realistic approach, to recognize
the campaigning genius and resource
fulness of my opponent, Franklin
Roosevelt, in making the most OF his
claim of having rescued the country
from chaos. The spell of his personal
charm and his facile words were the
cover for his inconsistencies and his
experiments which had failed.
He was the patrician Of inherited
private wealth, the great giver OF the
public monies, as though, in the gen.
erous warmth OF his heart, he had
taken them out Of his own pocket as
personal benefactions. lie had an
endless store of bright new balls
which he could keep in the air In
adept prestidigitation to divert atten-
ton from the balls that had slipped
out Of his hands and broken at his
feet.
what Chance Had I?'
What chance had simple Governor
Ct Kansas, who was not accustomed
TO keeping his promises by making
more promises, against this master OF
political magic? What chance Of VIC
tory had we against the enormous
odds? had no illusions.
But, once in a fight, you make the
fpht with all there is in you for your
cause, however outnumbered you are.
You never let down in your confidence,
which you try to impart to those
around YOU. You never admit to your
self, even in your bedroom, which Is
the only time presidential candidate
is alone, that you will not win. You
feel as deeply the responsibility that
has come to you as though you were
In the White House.
Surrounded by the forces Of levita-
tion, you must keep your feet on the
earth. You seek candid associates who
will help you to. II you listen only to
yes-men, you will soon be up in the
air on the nebulous footing of cloud
of fattery.
A thousand tongues of contrary ad-
vice about policies and what to say
and to do to carry this or that State
press their pleas. Men whose company
YOU have never sought appear with
their former boards Of disguise shaved
OF, and frank, open countenances as
their new disguise, as evidence that
they are reformed characters. When
they are seen looking over your shoul-
der, the word goes out that the old
crowd has you, after all.
But the impelling, overmastering
desire Is how to get past them with
your message to those who pass judg-
ment on election day-to the multi
tude Of voters who expect neither
Offices nor personal favors.
There was concern about my radio
delivery in comparison with Franklin
Roosevelts, which had been perfected
IN long practice in its ingratiating in
tinacy to my friends" in his "fireside
chats" But the delegates had heard
me over the radio before the nominat-
ing convention met.
:. I had not thought of myself as an
orator. There is a certain deceit in
oratory in that it may appeal to the
emotions more than to reason. The
important thing to me in what had
to say was the idea would convey
and what stood for. The presidency
Is primarily an executive Office, not q
broadcasting station.
There are different accents in differ
ert sections Of our country. Naturally,
mine was Western accent, that of
the environment in which I had
been reared. Mr.. Roosevelt's adapta-
bility appeared one night when
heard him say war with the New York
accent, which made it "waw" to
Western ears, and then change to
war; with a sturdy "r' the next time
reason that man should be himself
Is that he can no more have all &C.
cents to all men over the radio than
he can be all things to all men in his
policies.
After my nomination, all the neces-
sary apparatus for me to hear the
sound Of my own voice was sent to
me, accompanied by an Instructor who
would teach me the technique of radio
delivery. But I had little time in the
unremitting pressure upon me for
practice. A consciousness at times of
the reminders I had had from the
Instructor was a handicap. in my ac-
ceptance speech, under the floodlight
and flashing cameras, on the steps
Of the Kansas State House The way
for me was to talk straight ahead in
honest conviction in the hope that
this would be an Offset for sheer
facility.
-. Since there cannot be too much
evidence at the command of the