Evening star., 1947-03-02

oQCCCooo1 q MCGAlILCys
History records the words but
portly Cleveland drawing Mckinley
of the White House, jerking dis
dainful thumb in the direction OF
the Capitol and cautioning the in
coming President to beware OF
"those men," even though Mckinley
was to have majorities of his own
party to deal with.
Cleveland was one Of the 10 other
Presidents of the United States to
whom Mr.. Truman referred in his
state-of-the-Union message on jan
uary 6.
IT am the twentieth President OF
the United States who, at some
time during his term of Office, has
found his own party to be in the
minority in one or both Houses OF
Congress" he said. He added later
that men who differ "can still work
together sincerely for the common
good"
Disagreements Come Fast.
Now, less than two months after
his message with its implication
there need be no conflict between
Congress and the President, Mr.
Truman faces the practical cer-
tainty of seeing his budget trimmed
a tax cut which he opposed, and
a bitter fight on his most important
appointment, that of David E
Lilienthal to be chairman of the
Atomic Energy Commission. shap-
ing up are labor bills which the
President is almost certain to dis.
approve.
While the President called atten'
ton to the fact his position, facing
Republican majorities in botf
houses, was not novel, he did no
cite instances where a Presiden
and a Congress dominated by th'
opposition worked together harmoni
ously. There are none in our time
He could have cited many in
stances when they did not, ant
where relations became steadil!
worse as presidential election
drew near. And he could have citee
instances of disputes between Con
gress and the President even wher
they were of the same political faith
Cleveland had not been too happy
with a Democratic Congress. Then
in the final two years of his SECOND
administration, he had to face
Republican Congress in which ever
some Democrats were hostile. Will
liam Jennings Bryan was one. Bryan
denounced Cleveland openly In the
House.
There is little doubt 1t was a
heartfelt warning that Cleveland
gave to Mckinley.
SBig Stick" Was Bloodthirsty.
Theodore Roosevelt never had te
face Democratic majorities in Con-
gress, but he faced troubles there
anyway. A dinner guest at the
White House one evening told OF
seeing 16 lions in Africa. Roosevelt,
turned to friendly Representative
at the table and remarked he
wished he had those 16 lions to turr
loose in Congress.
.eBut Mr.. President" interposee
the Representative, aren't yor
afraid you might make mistaken
Not if they stayed there Ions
enough" the President replied
grimly.
Taft had an unhappy final two
years in the White House with
hostile Congress at the other enc
of the Avenue-and with Theodore
Roosevelt at Oyster Bay. Later or
insa lecture he said:
"Not infrequently the seconc
Congress of an administration con-
taina a majority politically adverse
to the President in either one OF
both of its houses, and when thai
Is the case legislation is limited tt
appropriation bills and nonpolitica
measures, if there are any such
The President in such cases nat
urally chafes under an inability te
put through important bills which
he deems of the highest value"
BY that time Q915) Taft hao
become philosophical. And, besides
he didn't like some of the bills the
opposition put through. In discuss
ing a President and a politically
hostile Congress he said:
Didn't Think 1t Hurt Nation.
ION the whole, however, I dc
not think the country suffers. Ger.
tainly not in this age and genera.
ton when the bane Of political
methods, when the danger to the
best interests of the country, is In
the overwhelming mass of ill-di.
gested legislation. ."
I'VE live in a state of politics
and public mind where legislators
seem to regard the passage Of laws
as much more important than the
results of their Endorsement -
People writing of the conflicts be-
tween Congress and the President
usually do so in terms of warfare
or sports events. They speak OF
the triumph" of the Executive over
Congress, or the other way around
II q President is to triumph" OF
at least to exercise leadership, there
are three forces which can help
him If he has a Congress of the
same political faith as his. These
forces may be described briefly as
Personality, Pressure and Patron
age.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's person
atty made it possible for him te
appeal to the people over the heao
of Congress with results favorable
to his policies. The pressures Of
the times were in his favor. GER