Evening star., 1946-05-29

a matter of practical politics. For
example, there is the fundamental
political fact that there is no such
thing in national politics as dark
horse" meaning a candidate, not
seriously regarded before the con-
vention, who either rushes in when
things are in tangle and captures
the prize or is drafted.
In refutation of this, the able and
experienced Mark Sullivan cites the
late Wendell Willkie as dark
horse" Actually, there was nothing
in the least dark about Mr.. Wilkes
candidacy.
For months before the 1910 con-
vention he was widely discussed as
a candidate. For nearly year he
had with pen and voice been cam
paigning in all parts of the country.
And certainly, no one who witnessed
the extraordinary personal fight he
made at Philadelphia would asso-
ciate the word draft" with his ef-
fort. He went after the nomina-
ton with everything he had and
landed it in an absolutely breathless
state.
Harding Case Cited.
The nearest thing to dark
horse" in our times was Warren G..
Harding, who was nominated by
Boss Penrose after Gen. Leonard
Wood and Gov. Frank Lowden had
fought each other to standstill.
But Senator Penrose was the last
of the big national bosses and he
had Mr.. Harding up his sleeve all
the time.
There are no more Penroses and
there are no more Lowdens and
Woods to afford such opportunities
If there were. And, of course. it
would be ridiculous to think of Mr.
Harding as having been drafted.
The truth Is no one is ever drafted
without conniving in the draft. The
two so-called drafts" in our time
Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1910 and
again in 1944-were both phony,
and so admitted by everybody ex-
cept the most blinded and besotted
of his partisans.
There are a number of reasons
for the lack of substance to the
talk of Gems. Marshall and Eisen-
hover as dark horses" who might
be "drafted." Chief among these
is that neither Gen. Marshall nor
Gen. Eisenhower wants to be Presi-
dent. Their most intimate friends
who have their confidence are COM
pletely convinced of that. In the
case of Gen. Eisenhower, one of
these friends Is SO convinced that
he is certain should Gen. Eisen-
hover ever believe that there was
any real probability of his nomina-
tion he promptly would take effec-
tive steps to make it impossible.
And, says this friend. he knows ex-
actly what steps to take.
Nearing 20 Years.
In the case of Gen. Marshall he
has as much, and perhaps, more
disinclination to be President than
Gen. Eisenhower But, in addition,
If nominated and elected he would
be in his 69th year before he took
the oath of Office and II years old
before his term was half over, which
is too old.
1t was always too old-even in the
days when the presidential burdens
were lighter and the problems far
more simple. Today, 10 is no age
to take on this job-and no clear
headed man of 10 would think of
doing it. And If this is true of Gen.
Marshall it is equally true of Gen.
Macarthur
Thus, the plain truth about Gems.
Marshall, Macarthur and Eisen-
hover is that they will neither con-
nive in the draft" nor allow them
selves to be groomed as dark
horses" To do either is beneath
their dignity and not in harmony
with their character. In the first
place, they are not conniving men.
In the second place, it is impossi-
BILE to conceive of them conniving
for an objective they do not want
to reach. The reasons they do not
want to run for the presidency are
personal, clear, simple and convinc-
ing.
OF course, there will be votes
cast for them by scattered delegates
in both the Democratic and Repub-