Evening star., 1945-09-03

his predecessor in the last half of
his White House incumbency.
During his first two terms the
overwhelming weight of undistrib-
uted patronage, the eagerness of
Senators and Representatives to
obtain for their States and districts
their share of the public funds with
which the New Deal was drenching
the country, plus his own prestige
and popularity. enabled Mr.. RooSe-
welt really to dominate Congress.
But that was not true after the
Supreme Court fight. 1t became less
true after Mr.. James A. Farley
left Washington. There was no one
in the administration to take his
place.
Veto Often Overridden.
As a result. after 1910, Mr.. Roose-
velt's veto was more than once
overridden, many of his recommen-
dationS were disregarded and he
had to exert all his power to pre-
vent Congress from passing legis-
lation to which he was opposed
such, for example, as measures to
regulate union labor and outlaw
wartime strikes.
Mr.. Truman is more advantage
ously fixed For one thing, his per-
sonal relations with Congress are
better. They like him personally
much more than they did Mr.. Roose-
welt, not so much because he was
one of them, but because he is less
patronizing.
1t is astonishing how few real
friends Mr.. Roosevelt had among
the Democrats in Congress, how
many of his supposedly devoted
followers privately resented being
treated like old and trusted family
servants.
No Patronage In Truman.
There is not a trace of patronage
about Mr.. Truman. He never pre-
tends to be, and he does not think
himself, superior. Members of Con-
gress feel more at home with him,
trust him more, would do more for
him personally For another thing
from the standpoint of party poll
tics, the Truman cabinet is in
comparably more potent than the
Roosevelt cabinet.
After Mr.. Farley dropped out
there was not really flrst-rate po-
litical mixer and maneuverer left in
the latter. Certainly Mr.. Wallace,
Mr.. Biddle, Mr.. Morgenthau. Mr.
Walker or Mr.. Ickes would not SO
qualify. Mr.. Jones and Mr. Hull
were the only members with any
personal strength in Congress and
neither of these ever represented
Mr.. Roosevelt politically, the fact
being that, though both were COM
pletely loyal, neither was ever fully
in accord with his political ideas.
In contrast, the Truman cabinet
is heavily weighted with seasoned
Democratic politicians of the organ
tzation type, most of them astute
and all of them with personal
friends In House and Senate.
Examples Are Cited.
For example, there are Secretary
of Agriculture Anderson, Attorney
General Clark and Postmaster Gen.
eral Hannegan. All three of these
have had long experience in Demo-
cratic politics in their respective
States and know their way around
the hill" In addition, Mr.. Hanne-
gan is chairman of the National
Committee and dispenser of pat
ronage.
He was chairman under Mr..
Roosevelt, too, but the latter had
not raised him to cabinet rank, and
his political power was not fully
expanded. Mr.. Walker, the Roose-
Velt Postmaster General, had been
a committee chairman but never
was patronage distributor nor a
politician. He was just a devoted
personal friend of the President:
one of the few unselfish ones he
had.
1t will be conceded that the COM
bination of Anderson, Hannegan and
Clark is pretty formidable one in
dealing with Congress. But Presi-
dent Truman has a good deal more
than that.
Byrnes Is Experienced.
He has Secretary of State Byrnes
and himself. Mr.. Byrnes is one of
the most experienced, effective and
persuasive political conciliators who
has ever been in public life. He is
adroit, honest and likable. What
kind OF Secretary of State he will
make remains to be seen but no one
doubts his potency as a force in
Congress.
Finally, there is Mr.. Truman. He
Is probably the most personally pop
ular man with both parties in Con-
gress who has sat in the White
House for many years.
So far as known he has no per-
sonal enemies, either Republican or
Democrat, and he knows personally
more members of Congress than any
other President who can be recalled.
He is smooth, smart, deeply sea-
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