Evening star., 1944-07-23
Truman's 5 Candidacy
Renews log Cabin
Tradition in Politics
BY JOSEPH II. BAIRD.

The log cabin" tradition In
American politics unites with the
Colonial "squirearchy" of Hyde Park
In composing this years Democratic
ticket for President and Vice Presi-
dent.
Harry 8. Truman of Missouri,
nominated by the Democrats to run
with President Roosevelt, scion of
an old New York family, fits into
the Abraham Lincoln pattern of
Americana, projected by a few de-
cades Of history. Yet, like Lincoln,
he has proved himself in recent
years to be the peer of ty-dwellers
and to have a broad vision of ma
tional problems.
Unlike Henry A. Wallace, whom he
defeated, Senator Truman doesn't
view the broad vistas of Internal
tional idealism. He is essentially a
realist-the product of a Missouri
farm, . drug store and a corrupt
political machine which, somehow,
failed to taint his own name. But
his work in investigating the care
less use Of Federal money in con-
nection with the war effort shows,
his colleagues say, he has a broad
grasp Of national problems.
A remark Of the Senator's mother,
now 81, possibly gives an accurate
index to his character.
Plowed 4 Straight Row.
THAT boy" she said some years
ago when someone was discussing
his Senate career, could plow the
straightest row OF corn in the coun-
try"
When Harry Truman (the IS"
stands for nothing, being merely an
adopted middle initiaD first came
tc the Senate in 1884, he distin-
guished himself by his quietness.
Unlike some of his colleagues, he
did not attempt to stamp his per-
sonality on the Senate by fef>id
oratory. But workers in the Con-
gressional Library frequently saw
him there late at night, poring over
data bearing on problems before the
Senate.
Until America joined in the World
War, few people outside the Senate
and the State of Missouri knew
there was a man named Truman in
the Senate. But, from the beginning
OF military preparations for the war,
he became impressed with the vast
spending of the Federal Govern
ment. His financial acuteness de-
rived perhaps, from his own proven
ty-stricken boyhood and also from
the fact that as a judge of the
Jackson (Mo) County court he had
administered a SIS 100000 highway
program, and had been responsible
for seeing how every dollar Of 1t
was spent.
Report Spotlighted Him.
In 1941 Senator Truman's COM
mittee issued report charging ex-
cessive expenditures on war con-
tracts. The country Immediately be-
came aware of the Missourian. Since
then his committee has carried on
scores of hearings and has been a
watchdog on the War and Navy
Departments, careful to note every
dollar which they believed was be-
ing wasted. Although he has backed
all expenditures for necessary ma
tional defense, he explained his
intense interest in waste at one time
by saying:
THE chief difficulty in our war
industrial program is usually the
human factor. Suspicion. rivalries,
apathy, greed lie behind most of the
bottlenecks."
Senator Truman was born May 8,
1884, on Missouri farm. For four
generations his family had lived at
"Grandview," rolling, bottom land
farm on the outskirts of Kansas
City. His own parents had little
money, and his formal education
ended in high school.
The World War was largely re-
sponsible for enlarging Senator Tru-
mans horizons. He had been
member of the Missouri National
Guard before the World War, and
with Americas entry into the strug-
gle he went into the Army and be-
came, in time, a captain in COM
mand of Battery B of the 129th
Field Artillery. After the war he
returned to Missouri and was given
commission as colonel in the
Reserve Officers Corps.
One Of the future Senator's first
acts after returning from France
was to marry his childhood sweet
heart, Bess Wallace. His married
life has been consistently happy.
The Trumans have one daughter,
Margaret, now 20, student at
George Washington University.
Became Pendergast Protege.
The former farm boy and drug
Store clerk had his first opportunity
for success in politics in 1922 when
Tom Pendergast, political boss" of
Kansas City, had him appointed
as one of the three members of the
Jackson country court-not a court
In the usual sense, but the county's
governing body. He carried out his
duties ably. and, meanwhile, built
up many friendships in the county.
In 1884, with the backing of the
Pendergast machine" Harry Tru-
man ran for the Senate, defeating
his opponent by 264,000 votes-a
tribute to the power of the Kansas
City political clique in those days.
1t is that victory which is most
likely to be used against him in
the coming race by his political
opponents. But, it can be pointed
out, no trace Of political corruption
ever touched the Senator himself.
The Senator's popularity with the
people of Missouri after one term
in Washington was shown when
he again sought his seat in 1910.
BY then the Pendergast machine"
had been smashed and many OF its
former leaders sent to Jail. He
ran "on his own" He did not pile
up the tremendous plurality he had
earlier, but was elected by a sub