Evening star., 1944-07-22
Pendergast Backing
And Hard Work Gave
Breaks 10 Truman
~ the Associated Press.

DTedkS 10 uumdI
~ the Associated Press.
KANSAS CITY, July 22.-Nur-
tured to political maturity by Boss
Tom Pendergast's old Democratic
machine in Kansas City, Senator
Truman, 60, virtually unknown out
side of Missouri until 1884, sur
vived the spectacular Pendergast
crash in 1898 to become Demo-
cratic party leader and chairman
of the vigorous Truman Senate
Committee investigating war ex-
penditures.
First elected to the Senate as
the machines candidate 10 years
ago when Pendergast was at the
zenith of his power, Senator Tru-
man stood for reelection in 1910
after the Pendergast organization
had been riddled bytFederal attack
and its leader sent TO prison.
Senator Truman subsequently be-
came nationally prominent through
his uncompromising fight, after the
attack on Pearl Harbor, against
contract favoritism. extravaganza
and waste in the United States
frenzied preparations for global
warfare.
Two Big Breaks.
Friends say Senator Truman's
secret of success has been luck
and hard work"
His two big breaks, they say, were
his sponsorship by Pendergast in
1922 which took him off farm, and
three-way primary in 1910 which
divided the anti-Pendergast vote,
sending Senator Truman back to a
second term in the Senate.
On the hard-work side, they point
to his tireless direction of the inves-
tigating committee, his application
to details of his job-he usually Is
AT his Office by am.-and extensive
study and reading of current af-
fairs.
Senator Truman obtained his first
political Office in 1922 when Pender-
gast picked him for one of the three
positions on the county court OF
jackson County, which in Missouri
is not a court in the legal sense, but
the counties governing body, equiv
alent to county commissioners or
supervisors In other States.
Veteran of World War.
Senator Truman is affable. we'll
known and liked by his neighbors,
and lived on a farm, an essential
qualification since the district was
predominantly rural. He won ham
diiy, but was defeated for re-elec-
tion in 1924-his only defeat to date.
He was elected again in 1926 and
held the post until he went to the
Senate.
Senator Truman faced a bitter
fight for Senate reelection in 1910
after the Pendergast machine had
been smashed. Gov. Lloyd Stark
and Maurice Milligan, former Fed
eral district attorney who had
prosecuted some vote fraud trials
that helped wreck the machine, op-
posed Senator Truman, who won
the nomination by 1000 votes, COM
pared with his 100000 majority
when Boss Pendergast was in full
flower.
Ignoring his opponents, Senator
Truman based his campaign on ma
tional issues-his loyalty to Presi-
dent Roosevelt, adherence to the
New Deal and his record in office.
Soon afterward Senator Truman
was, stirred by reports of waste in
the war or defense preparations. An
artillery major in France in 1918,
Senator Truman was particularly
bitter at some graft disclosures
which followed that conflict.
Sponsored Inquiry.
Senator Truman sponsored legis-
lation for current investigation of
defense contracts and won chair
manship of the Senate committee to
do this. He undertook the assign
ment with great vigor and a few
months after Pearl Harbor issued a
startling and documented report
charging millions of dollars had
been wasted in war contracts.
He directed broadside at the
dollar-a-year men then directing
much of the war preparation pro-
gram, charging many of them were
still on private payrolls and in some
cases actually were working as lob
byists. Subsequently the war pro-
duction direction was concentrated
under one man and the Truman
Committee, which had begun in a
small way, wound up investigating
nearly every phase of war admin
istration.
AS the committees work expanded
and he became better known, Sem
ator Humans name began to be
mentioned as possible successor to
Vice President Wallace. The dis
cussion was centered on his newly
acquired reputation as an investi-
gator, his friendliness to labor and
his answering loyalty to President
Roosevelt and the New Deal.
Denied Candidacy.
His name first was mentioned pub
licly in February, 1914, and by late
spring had grown to such proper
tions that he issued a statement
saying he was not a candidate. He
repeated this statement only week
before the convention, saying he
was not interested in the Vice Presi-
dency, and wanted to stay in the
Senate
Senator Truman's family lived in
jackson County, Mo, just outside OF
Kansas City, for more than a CEN
tury. but Senator Truman was born
at Lamar, Mo. May 8. 1884. while
his parents lived away from the old
home briefly. His mother, Mrs
Martha Truman, 81, still lives or
the farm Senator Truman was work
ing when Pendergast called him tc
a political career. She has recovered
from fall last April in which she
broke her hip and shoulder and now