Glacier County chief., 1939-10-27


initely he has that elusive something
we call personality. Five feet eight,
about the same height as his idol
lied Teddy" he gives the same
impression that Colonel Roosevelt
gave at his age, of perfect physical
fitness. Virility is stamped all over
the young mans broad-shouldered,
athletic figure, his thick, dark wavy
hair and eyebrows, the trace of
heavy beard that shows on his close
shaven chin as the day grows older.
There is something reminiscent of
T. R. in the set of his jaw, the
bulging of the muscles when he sets
his teeth to clinch an argument.
The kindliness of his wide, brown
eyes is coupled with the determi-
nation and persistence which his
face shows from any angle.
So far, so good. Tom Dewey's
charming person, but how did he
get so far so fast? What has he
done? Glance at the record.
Became Famous Over Night.
Young Dewey, like young Charles
Evans Hughes, popped out of the OBJ
scurity of humdrum law practice
to find himself famous overnight.
Like the present chief justice, he
won fame by fighting the peoples
battles. In 1881 President Hoover
appointed George z. Medalie Unit
ed States attorney for New York
city. Mr.. Medalie had met Tom
Dewey, had been impressed by his
knowledge of the law and his hatred
of the crime and corruption which
he saw all about him, and made him
his first assistant, in charge of the
office. Dewey likes to think of the
three years he spent as the ad-
ministrative head of the federal at
torney's office, with a staff of go
lawyers under him, as the time
when he was "chief counsel for Un-
Gle Sam" In that period he handled
two-thirds of the big income-tax
suits, as well as criminal cases.
He went after the big racketeers
from the start. He proved his abil-
ity as a prosecutor by marshalling
the evidence against "Waxey Cor
don," beer baron of the Atlantic
seaboard, and so presenting it be-
fore grand jury and federal court
that the racketeer is now serving
l0-year term in prison. The whole
underworld was watching every
move in that case, and so were
the overlords of Tammany, under
whose protection all rackets -four
ished. That they never ''got any,
thing" on Tom Dewey speaks louder
for his personal character than any
encomium. The press and the legal
profession were watching the young
prosecutor, too, and New York real
lied that new legal light had
blazed forth.
Second Call to Service.
With the change in the federal
administration, Dewey returned to
private practice and by 1885 was
earning $50, 900 a year. Again came
the call to public service. A run
away grand jury of the state courts
threw the New York county district
attorney out of the jury room, took
matters in its own hands, and de-
manded of Governor Lehman that
he appoint Thomas E. Dewey a spe-
cial district attorney to investigate
and prosecute rackets from which
politicians were prospering. The
governor demurred, but yielded to
pressure from the New York bar.
Tom Dewey went back to battle
against Tammany and crime. Again
he went after big game and brought
it down. In his two years as spe-
cial prosecutor the record shows 70
trials of racketeers, big and little,
and 72 convictions.
By 1887 the voters of New York
decided they wanted to keep Tom
Dewey on the job. He was elected
district attorney by huge majority.
One of his earliest acts in office was
to obtain the Indictment of Richard
Whitney, Wall Street financier, who
pleaded guilty to embezzlement and
is now in Sing Sing. Then he went
after the biggest game Of all. Jim