Evening star., 1941-03-19

tAioAA q WIN.
This early concept of the Pennsyl-
vania small-town boy who became
a Chicago lawyer in 1907 rather
| than remain a reporter on the old
Chicago Record, fell into focus when
he began civic reform campaigns in
Winnetka and Chicago and carried
his Independent Liberal" following
for Theodore Roosevelt, Hiram
Johnson, Robert M. La Toilette,
James M. Cox and Alfred E. Smith
in their presidential campaigns.
Mr.. Ickes was officially listed a
Republican" when he entered
Franklin D. Roosevelt's cabinet, a
definition which made him a target
of both major political parties. He
had organized a Midwest "Inde-
pendent Republican Committee for
Roosevelt" in 1882, a move which
old-line Democrats opposed, but
whose criticism Mr.. Roosevelt con-
sistently ignored.
He's a "No.-Man."
This consideration and the Roose-
welt policies apparently won endur-
ing allegiance from the Holidays
burg PaD lad of German ano
Scotch-Irish stock whose girth now
leads friends to call him the ad-
miniStration's little battle wagon.
They say he is 5 feet 8 inches tall
and weighs about 200 pounds.
Time has not tempered the wild
cat" in him, they say, although hi:
blows for liberalism, as he sees it
have taken on the prestige and
power of a cabinet officer.
Some say Mr.. Ickes has quarreled
with all of his Washington col
leagues, including the President, sno
essentially is mo" man unless ad-
ministrative policy mees his fancy
| Nevertheless, he was the first of
the Roosevelt official family to urge
the President for a third term and
to forecast his election.
1t is legend that for eight years he
has been Mr. Roosevelt's trial and
error" source. He swung the
hatchet on everything and every one
the administration opposed and he
poured oil on problems confronting
its programs and personnel. The re-
actions Mr.. Ickes produced helped
to shape White House policy.
Mr.. Ickes took up the cudgel
against Wendell Willkie for Presi-
dent and against all other 1910 Re-
publican candidates when leaders in
both parties hesitated to break
ground. He admired Mr.. Willkie
personally, and in return had the
power magnate's expressed friend
ship. Their bitter campaign tangles
were purely political, in the more
notable of which Mr.. Ickes dubbed
Mr.. Willkie "the simple, barefoot
Wall Street lawyer"
Let the Chips Fall.
Most commentators say Mr.. Ickes
probably has made more ardent
enemies and more fiercely Loyal
friends than any other Roosevelt
cabinet officer They know him as
a "neck-sticker-ou and a man
who does not care where the chips
fall. He will take any side he ap-
proves, no matter how popular OF
unpopular it may be. He is a rich
man and has told his friends that
he truly wishes, when Mr.. Roosevelt
leaves the White House, to retire
to his Maryland estate, where he
raises flowers and shrubs and his
wife has a commercial chicken
ranch, or maybe sell out the whole
shebang and go back to Chicago"
White House sources have said
that Mr.. Ickes is the only cabinet
officer whose voluntary offer to re-
sign has been on the Presidents desl
for executive use when and if Mr.
Roosevelt wishes to replace him.
Veteran Washington reporters
know another Ickes trait which is fal
from the pugnacious, nettlesome anc
| cantankerous attitude usually asso-
ciated with his countenance, voice
and aspect. This, they agree, is
something few who have crossed
him in Government business deals
will concede, but they refer to
numerous personal sacrifices he has
made to accommodate persons who
had no claim on his generosity. He
never has permitted these acts tc
be made public.
Tough Mug" He.
Mr.. Ickes' loyalties, likes and dis.
likes are intense. He is slow to make
friends, rarely loses one and as
rarely forgives an enemy. Most peo.
pie call him a tough little mug
and can prove it. But newsmen say
he likes to "wisecrack" and often
gets himself into a jam when he
thinks he is being funny.
There is no better example, they
say, than his so-called attack or
freedom of the press" He wa.
bitter against majority of the
press which he called unfair to Mr.
Roosevelt in his 1896 and 1910 cam.
paigns. Many critics said he favored
| censorship. However, he has opposed
| Government censorship in favor O.
censorship Of the press by the press
The remark that got him in bac
with newspapers was his sometime.
misunderstood "wiSecrack" tha'
what we need Is freedom from thu
| press" He referred to press com.
ment on private affairs of publ,
men.
Some say that Mr.. Ickes, 32d In.
terror Secretary. probably won more
commentator and criticism from
his obsession to make his depart.
ment a national conservation fore,
than from anything else he ha.
done.
Square Deal for Indians.
He began Immediately after TAX
ing the oath of Office to reverse tn,
| EDUCATIONAL.
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