Evening star., 1940-07-23
The Political Mill
6. o. ?. Builds Up 'DictotorioI' Third Term
As Prime Issue to Beot Roosevelt

Nearly q score Of candidates for
the vice presidential nomination
were in the field, many Of them men
Of real ability. Many Of them
thought they had word the race
for the vice presidential nomination
was to be m open affair. In fact.
1t Is reported that the President only
day or two before the nomina-
ton was made had given such as
srrance-within the limits that the
man must be acceptable to him.
Well, there were q lot OF gentlemen
who believed they would be accept
able to the President If they were
nominated. The decision Of the
President that it must be Wallace,
therefore, came as a real shock to
some Of these candidates.
All But Bankhead Withdraw.
They folded up their campaigns
for election. to be sure, like good
soldiers. But 1t left their followers
angry and disappointed. Speaker
Bankhead Of Alabama alone of the
major candidates for the npmina-
ton remained in the race against
Wallace. He said afterwards he had
had no word from the President
requesting him to withdraw. He
denied the President had telephoned
him. The President may have felt
that he could beat the Speaker with
Secretary Wallace, anyway, and
Bankhead's race would take some
thing of the dictatorial curse Oh the
affair.
At all events. the Democratic lead
ers Of the North and West and some
Of them from the South, like Ray
burn Of Texas and Byrnes Of South
Carolina, joined to put the Presi-
dents selection, Mr.. Wallace, across
the line a winner.
After the fact had been bruited
abroad that Mr.. Wallace was the
Presidents choice it became q ques-
ton whether 1t would look worse
for the President to be turned down
or to be depicted as a dictator, tell
ing the convention Just what to do.
The President withheld his address
accepting the nomination until after
Mr.. Wallace had been named the
candidate. 1t was even whispered
around that he would decline the
nomination If the convention turned
Wallace down. But that scarcely
seems within the bounds OF proba-
biity.
Mrs. Roosevelt Accepts"
Furthermore. Mrs. Roosevelt ap-
peared before the national conven-
ton just before the vote for Mr.
Wallace was taken and virtually ac-
cepted the nomination for the Presi-
dent. There was no way to inter-
pret her remarks other than to read
into them an acceptance of the
nomination by the President. In
addition. the Presidents radio ad-
dress to the convention, $500 words
or so In length. had obviously been
carefully prepared some time before
it was delivered.
The third-term issue has beer
hanging over the country for the
last four years. Friends Of the
President began working for third
term nomination early in his second
administration. They never let up
Nor did the President ever do OF
say anything publicly to discourage
them. In a measure the Presidents
candidacy for third term can be
compared to the situation in which
the Democratic party found itself
in 1928. Then AL Smith, Governor
of New York, had been knocking at
the door for the presidential nomi-
nation for years. The Democrats
took the bull by the horns and nomi-
mated him. BY that motion they
got rid of the Smith problem. Per-
haps by their nomination now OF
the President for a third term they
have taken step to get rid of this
problem, too.