The Wilmington morning star., 1946-10-16
As Pegler Sees 1t
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1916, by King Features Syndicate,

some OIL Tie LIllIlSS uldL WGlc OVt1lOOhSu1 LII
the big news of the day.. says Merriman
Smith, the White House reporter for the United
Press, in Thank You, Mr.. President" his
contribution to the memories of those who
knew Franklin D. Roosevelt. The title is the
prearranged signal by which Mr.. Smith, as
senior White House correspondent, closed the
late Presidents press conferences.
Mr.. Smith remains respectful and writes, Il
liked Mr.. Roosevelt very much" although he
proceeds from there to describe a tricky, vain,
regal, selfindulgent and deliberately hypo-
critical man, who would boom well, well,
how in the world are you, B;ll?" to a man Of
whom he had said, only a moment before,
bring in the old bore and let's get it over
with"
Although Mr.. Smith writes that his revela-
tons were "overlooked" in the big news OF
the day, he makes it clear to us that much Of
his material was actually suppressed. And,
although he justly complains, for the record,
against tie exclusion Of the three press as
ISOLATION men-''ghouls" and 'vultures," as
Roosevelt called them - from the historic
meetings with Churchill and Stain. ne ne
elects to observe the important point, further
descriptive of Roosevelt's rue character, that
he did arrange for the presence of his son,
Elliott, knowing that this exclusive privilege
one day would be exploitable for Elllotts
great, personal financial profit. This explolta-
ton is now operating in the sale OF Elllotts
exclusive, though questionable, memoirs a
bv-product of the presidency, worth, at a con-
servative estimate, $40,0 0
During the war it was common knowledge
among reporters in Washington and New
York, and among the people OF Dutchess
county. that the Army had organized a special
household garrison of military police to guard
Roosevelt or his weekend trips home and his
1uooert, Of al fip,pc PASSENGERS on the New
York Central above Poughkeepsie saw the
sentry boxes, reminiscent of royal palaces IN
Europe, flooolights and communication wires.
Yet no word ever was published on this SUBJ
ject until Roosevelt was gone and the war was
over. Military secrecy was invoked TO sup
press a fact which certainly would have
moved many Americans to anger when mil
lions of ne, were called to arms to tight the
but a whole battalion could be as
signed 10 this duty.
Actually, he was a fabulous monarch" Mr..
Smith writes. HE could be and usually was,
socially democratic, but always with a regal
air that never let you doubt that he was in
full command of the situation"
That is a common misuse OF the word
democratic" Actually, Roosevelt was a con-
descending snob who thought 10 put "the com
mon man at his ease in the presence OF the
quality by calling him Bill or Joe. And, be-
cause "the common man." too, is uncon-
sciously snobbish, he teels that the snob who
calls him by his first name while he carefully
keeps his place and uses the mister" form,
is being democratic"
"He loved 70 associate with royalty" we
read further. 'They were his kind of folks.
He was fascinated by the regality Of exchang-
ing gifts with other heads of state when they
met. In regal style, the President had dis
patched the destroyer Murphy to pick up Ibn
Saud-"
During Tom Dewey's campaign in 1914, in
his ribald speech to the royal rulers of the
Transfers union in Washington, Roosevelt
anticipated criticism of mis- Extravaganza in
causing a cruiser to be laid up, taken out of
the war with her crew., and refitted, all at the
expense o. the people, with a special elevator
so that he would not be confined to one deck
on his Pacific cruise. This all was paid for
out of the war bonds and taxes of the COM
mon man. So he invented a republican rumor
that his dog, Fala, had been left behind some
where and that it had been necessary to de-
tach a destroyer to fetch Inc mutt, an eXpen-
Sive Feat, il true, and denied it.
when MI. Roosevelt made an extended
cruise on e naval vessel, it required the in
of special elevators between at least
two decks" Mr.. Smith reveals. He mentions
three such cruisers, the Augusta, the Balti-
more ana the quincy.
1t may ne remembered that a drunken brawl
Roosevelt's speech to the Transfers
under the personal auspices Of Dan Tobin, the
who also enjoys truly regal status
and style ebove his 800, 600 subjects and at
their expense, including luxury without limit
for himself and his family and a winter palace
in Miami Beach. 1t was generally denied, of
course, thai any of the Tobin mob were drunk.
On this poir,, Mr.. Smith writes: Zone excited
teamster democrat showed his approval by
beating a silver bread tray with a soup ladle. !
The noise was terrific. Two tables away from
me, another royal teams.er applauded by
smashing glasses with a wine bottle, taking a
full swing for each of the Presidents punch
lines and sending a shower of glass over the
nearby tables"
l can see no excuse for the failure of any
reporter who saw this to describe the scene,
except a prudent consideration tor his own
future status in the circle of the White House
who, sometimes, submitted to de-
aspersions on their honor.
Had any such disgraceful conduct occurred
at a Dewey dinner, it would have been re-
ported in detail. '-..
When Roosevelt 'began to worry about his
safety" Smith now reveals, the
Hyde Park estate was turned into a land of
wizardry. An elaborate electric eye
system was installed with a complicated and
system of floodlights which blazed
on at the slightest suspicious sound. Com
panies Of specially trained, and investigated,
rO1ico Mere ctatione6 hoth ~ +he