Evening star., 1946-12-22
Reviewing The New Book,
American Political History Comes to Life in the Pages Of
James NJ Coxs Journey the Autobiography of an AIsoRon
JOURNEY THROUGH
MY YEARS
An autobiography by James
M. Cox. (Simon 8 Schasfer;
$780,.

An autobiography by James
NJ. Cox. (Simon g Schasfer;
$780,
Reviewed by
WILLIAM H. HARRISON.
Political students are generally
agreed that James M. Cox will
be remembered in our history as
one of the great "also-ranS"-a
Democrat who lowered over the
Republican who defeated him
for the presidency In 1920. II
comparative records mean any
thing, this point may be stated
as a matter of dogma. Had this
man been chosen to succeed
Wilson, had the ill-starred, ILL
advised and carelessly genial
Warren G. Harding been retired
to a blessed obscurity, the subse-
uuent course of American and in
ternational affairs almost GER
tainly would have been far more
wholesome. It may even be ar
gued-though perhaps tenuouS-
ly-that there would have been
no Second World War.
BY and large the story of the
Harding administration and the
reckless Republican assault on
the League of Nations is familiar
enough. But Mr.. Cox's book con-
tains timely and vigorous re-
telling of it. As Ohio's first
three-term Governor, he writes
with particular authority about
the arrogant corruption and the
shocking moral 'myopia of the
"Ohio gang" Similarly, as the
man who campaigned for the
League in 1920, he gives us a
fresh insight into the hypocrisy,
the ugly racial pressures, the
personal spite and the calculat-
ing lack of principle behind the
drive-led by Senator Lodge and
his cabal-that brought such a
cruel and heart-breaking finish
to wilson's career and shattered
his dream of achieving lasting
peace through world co-opera-
ton.
A Rich and Varied Experience.
But all this constitutes merely
a part of Mr.. Cox's long and
meaty book. His journey has
been through many years, and
his experience-as well as his
contribution to his times-has
been rich and varied. Born in
1870, he can look back now over
several decades of highly useful
living-as a distinguished editor
and publisher, as a member of
Congress, as a Governor re-
sponSible for great political, So
cial and economic reforms in
Ohio, as a presidential nominee
whose defeat did not diminish
his stature, and as an Ameri-
can and world citizen whose
counsel even to this day, in the
late evening of his life, merits
attention, being of that wise and
perceptive sort of which there
can never be too much.
Far-Ranging Memoirs.
Although subtitled an auto
biography, the story Mr.. Cox
tells may be described more ac-
curately as a set of far-ranging
memoirs-rather loosely organ
lied and written, but having an
attractive informality for all
that. Nor does this informality
detract from the books historical
value. Dozens of half-forgotten
personalities and events parade
through it's pages in a favorful
"only yesterday" atmosphere,
and many of Mr.. Cox's personal
remembrances-bri by a
wealth of anecdote-throW a new
light on the issues of the past.
Thus, to cite but a few exam
Piles, historians and others will
find much to interest them in
his Interpretation of the fight
to give credit to the Wright
brothers for the first successful
airplane flight; and in his ac-
count of the 1920 Democratic
convention and the choice of
Franklin Roosevelt as his run
ming mate; and in his portrayal
of what he regards as Raymond
Moley's bumptious role at the
bewildering London Economic
Conference in 1888 subject
still open to controversy.
A Man of Generous Impulse.
Taken all in all, Mr.. Cox's
book, besides being pleasant to
read, deserves a wide audience
as an outstanding addition to
the important and frequently
exciting story of American poll
tics. AS for the man himself,
the unadorned record of his ca
reer proves him to have been a
public servant of generous i'm
pulse, exceptional administra-
tive ability, fine vision and we'll
balanced liberalism in the best
sense of that much-abused word.
How differently everything
might have worked out had Mr..
Harding, and not he, been the
"also-ran."
APortruit of